Tap at the Hibiya Fest. Low on hops. Tiny bite. Lots of malt, caramel, maybe even some cherry. Bit weird for a red.

Bottle, 6% about 450 yen from the brewery in Numazu, Japan drunk at home from a pint glass. Stylistically they’ve nailed the color again as it pours a clear amber brown with a fluffy beige head. The aroma is malty sweet with mild toffee notes & some fruitiness to it. The taste is syrupy, sweet, cacao, nutty, biscuity while the mouthfeel is a touch chalky. Not bad but it isn’t so balanced, the sweetness begins to get a bit cloying. It needs more hops to balance it out a bit. That being said, I would say though it is in the ballpark for an amber beer and fairly to style.

Bottle, picked up at Lambert wine shop in Kyoto. Fruity, honey nose, cherry, orange, caramel, and toffee. Diacetyl too. Clear reddish-orange-brown with a low, thick head. somewhat pretty. Sweet, medicinal, fruity. Lots of toffee, slightly roasted, candy, cherries. Cloying. No hops to speak of. Not disgusting, but very sweet and one-dimensional.