Appearance - 4 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6

Bottle, mail order from the brewery. Rather light copper color, very low head quickly turning to lace. Fruity, amber malt aroma, lots of yeast character. Some warm caramel malt in the background, earth, a bit of hops but not all that much. Flavor is more inclined towards caramel malts, slightly sweeter, with caramel as well as earthy amber tones. There is a more distinct hop bitterness, but little aroma. Yeast character is still there but not as strong as in the nose. Slightly fruity, with some citrus. Finish is dry and bitter, with a bit of that yeast. This is one of those very Japanese kinds of ales that is part pale, part amber, with a strong yeast taste and decent bitterness. Decent hopping, and interesting flavors, but the malt sweetness is not really strong enough, and it doesn’t seem to know what it wants to taste like—it is a little too much all over the place. Not bad, but not really good enough.