Hitachino Nest XH

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Belgian Ale
Ibaraki, Japan

The body is amber in color, hazy with a LARGE 3" head. Took awhile for the beer to lay down a bit. Aroma is fruity (mostly light flesh fruit), subtle tartness, woody, and yeasty. I could also pick-up a faint acidic/vinegary smell. Peaches, malty caramel, orange peel, woody and herbal notes round out the flavor.

Single bottle purchased at Chucks’ in Chagrin Falls for $4.99. Pour was a nice heady one. Lots of foamy cream, densely packed bubbles with a little of the amber color from the beer giving it a tint. Aroma is a nice gently fruity wood scent. Almost like fresh wood and bubble gum. This just gives off a very nice clean woody scent. It isn’t overpowering, and it the sweetness is only slightly fruity. Flavor has this nice dryness at the start. The woody-ricey texture jumps out before the hops and the malt bring you back down to earth. Really runs around the mount, starting crisp, getting smooth and then ending with a lemony crisp hop finish.

(Bottle, Monk’s Café, Stockholm) Reddish amber colour with frothy, beige head. Fruity, rather hoppy nose with orange peel and spicy hops. Fruity, malty taste with notes of caramel, orange peel and spicy hops in a finish with a certain bite of bitterness as well as alcohol. Nice and tasty beer.

Bottle. This one was a gusher. What was left poured cloudy orange with a 2 finger dense beige head that leaves great lacing. The nose is funky cheese, wood and light vinegar. The taste is faint horse blanket, rochfort cheese and wood with some light balsamic vinegar in the finish. Medium prickly mouthfeel. Good stuff – wasn’t expecting a sourish ale. This one was worth the $5 pricetag.

this one is very odd to me. pours almost a crystal brown with small head. fairly fizzy though. aroma is oak/wood, fruits, and a sour i cant place. drinks fairly woody with some dark fruits and apple peel, with an odd mild sour finish, not bad, just not expected. this one is different, but in a good way. try to get one

Bottle. Pours a slightly hazy amber color with a small white head. Has a fruity malty slightly oaky aroma. Fruity malty woody oaky flavor with some sourish hints. Fruity malty warming finish with some oaky hints in the aftertaste.

Pours orange-brown with a pillowy two-finger light tan head that is very well retained. Aroma of oak, cedar, apple, a slight graininess, and a definite wild, bretty character that had me thinking this was gonna be tart - not what I expected at all. Flavor is fruity (peaches, pears), mild tartness, and a strong woodiness. A dry, tannic bitterness in the finish that kind of ruins it for me. Medium body, fairly well carbonated. (12 oz. bottle)

Gusher; made a mess. Bretty aroma, JP-esque, but with some exotic lychee or some such. Hazy apricot orange, medium frothy tan head. Yeasty, more brett, oak or cedar. Fluffy - the powdery texture of a dry pear. I can see the sake influence, thought I wouldn’t have picked it out without it being told to me. This really would fit right in with the rest of Jolly Pumpkin’s lineup. There’s a lot going on here, though comparisons to Orval would seem to be exaggerated.