Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Stout
Ibaraki, Japan

Black pour with thin brown head, aroma of sweet roasted malt, chocolate, and alcohol. Tastes of caramel malt and yeast, chocolate, vanilla and dark fruit. Nice bitter finish of roasted coffee. Great brew.

330 mL bottle from Grape & Gourmet. Dark brown, almost black, pour with a thick tan head. Aroma is pure dark roasted espresso. Espresso dominates the palate but there is some dark chocolate and dark fruit as well. The alcohol is undetectable. I really, really liked this one.

330ml bottle. Pours very dark brown, black in the glass, with a huge three-finger brown head. Head eventually settles down to a light cap. Rings of sticky spotty lacing. Rather attractive. Aroma big on coffee, with a slight funkiness, roasted malts, and some dark fruits. Flavor is coffee, chocolate, dark cherries, and other dark fruits with a light sour tang. Delicious. Wonderful smooth creamy mouthfeel, low carbonation. An excellent brew! Only thing holding this back is the price @ $4.99/bottle. Still worth it and I’m glad I finally got around to trying this wonderful beer.

Black pour with a dark tan head that dissipates rather quickly. Aroma is dark roast coffee, cream, lactic sugar, dark chocolate, lightly roasted barley, and molasses. Flavor is unsweetened chocolate, cocoa nib, creamy mocha, roast, and gratuitous coffee notes. Palate is thick and rich for the style with a distinct caressing velvety smoothness and a dry chalky finish. Quite tantalizing.

Beautiful black pour, brown head, small but attractive. Aroma holds coffee, cream, sweet chocolate, caramel, roasted malt- really solid aroma. Flavor is also excellent; lots of coffee and roasted malt, along with caramel and cream and chocolate. Flavor notes are similar to the aroma, but hit in a different order; coffee is robust at the front and the bitter roast complements it well, then the sweet aspects come through closer to the finish. Palate is very full for a regular stout, and glides across the tongue beautifully. Really nice brew, particularly for a Japanese brewery’s efforts on such a good style.

Very nice. Has a strong coffee taste that I think would cover up any other delicate or less-pronounced flavors. Only complaint would be that I didn’t think it had the gravity or fullness I would expect from a stout. However as a coffee snob as well, I loved it!

A lot of chocolate in the aroma-dark chocolate. A great great pour. Very black with thick dark head. Taste is thick, both chocolate and coffee. Finally a truly great beer form these gives, especially given their relatively high prices.

13th August 2008. Glorius thick tan head on this beer with a wonderful tangy coffee creaminess. The beer itself is opaque black with a very strong coffee flavour. Also has tang about it that borders on fruity. Not that bitter even in the finish which has that espresso roastiness about it. Thought I wouldn’t like this beer. Very pleasantly surprised.