Hitachino Nest White Ale

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Belgian White (Witbier)
Ibaraki, Japan

Appearance: Pours a slightly hazed, yellowish body with a full finger of white foam. Smell: Soft wheat aroma with a particularly pungent, juicy note of wet orange peelings and lesser hints of coriander spiciness. Taste: Initial delicate taste of wheat, a tad tangy and sweet along with, as with the aroma, a very distinct kick of juicy, oily orange peels (like having a splash of triple sec added to a witbier). Zip of spices. Minimal hop character with only the lightest touch of bitterness present. Final touches of orange citrus, spice, and tanginess on the dry, crisp finish. Mouthfeel: Medium-light body. Medium-plus carbonation. Drinkability: A nicely refreshing and nicely orange-y wit! Pass the Spider Maki and Rainbow Maki, please.

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy pale yellow color with a small white head. Has a fruity malty wheaty coriander aroma. Sweetish malty wheaty citrus flavor with some hints of coriander. Has a sweetish fruity wheat malty finish with some hitns of citrus in the aftertaste.

pours a cloudy yellow with a small white head that goes away quickly, lots of sediment, and no lacing. smell of wheat, lemon, tangerine, and a touch of banana. taste is light, semi-tart, lots of citrus, and wheat, ends a little dry.

Bottle poured a cloudt golden yellow with a small diminishing white head. Aromas of wheat, yeast, lemon and coriander. Palate was light bodied and crisp with a lightly dry finish. Flavors of wheat, yeast, light spice and light citrus with a crisp lingering citrus finish.

Hazy blonde in color with a medium sized off white head. Aroma is spicy with some coriander, pepper, thought I got ginger but I could be wrong, as well as some musty yeast and wheat. Taste is nice and bright, spicy with coriander, citrus, vanilla, earthy yeast, and some lightly tart wheat. This was very well done.

Bottled at Monks Café, Seavägen, Stockholm. Pours out in a opaque yellow colour with a medium-sized sticky white foam. A rather solid aroma for a Wit with notes of pomerance, neutral yeast and coriander. Light to medium-bodied with notes of coriander, ginger, orange-peels, yeast and vanilla. Long well-rounded fruity finish of tangerine, mint and yeast.

Bottle shared by Crosling. Poured a hazy, bright yellow color with a 1/4 inch white head that faded to a layer. Aroma is mostly dominated by spice, but not what I traditionally think of in a wit. Nutmeg overpowers everything else in the aroma, although there are faint hints of coriander and fruit (orange peel and faint lemon). Crisp, lightly fruity entry with hints of orange and some lightly tart lemon leads into a moderate spiciness with hints of coriander and a bit of nutmeg. High carbonation and a full, crisp mouthfeel. The nutmeg seemed a bit out of place to me, and overpowered some of the nuances of the beer, but overall it was an enjoyable wit.

Pros: Gorgeous appearance, long lasting cream. Well conditioned. Excellent mouth feel and weight on the palate. Has a lot going on. It’s a fairly complex beer, with several spice elements.

Cons: Out of balance coriander and nutmeg notes in both the nose and flavor.

Overall, it’s kick ass. But could be improved.