Japanese Classic Ale

Purchased at Beverage Castle, Tampa. A sediment laden pour looked somewhat hazy with orange/copper hues. The aggressive carbonation created an initial inch and a half tall light tan head. The aroma is sweet grapefruit hops mixed with sweet smelling malts. It starts to smell like orange flavored hard candy. The big carbonation causes an initial explosion of citrus hop bitterness that is quickly sweetened with malt. Then there is an earthy quality that surfaces along with grain or pale malts and then more earthiness. The whole while there is a persistent citrus hop bitterness that rides right into the after taste. Nice IPA.

Lightly sweet aromas of mixed fruit. Slightly hazy light amber color, with a decent white head. Starts a bit tart, moves to light fruitiness. The body is not strong. The wood casks seem to contribute a light earthy, woody aspect. It’s really quite pleasant, and there is a decent amount of hop bitter. If it wasn’t so expensive, I’d buy it on a regular basis.

330 cl bottle in tulip glass. Poured straight into the glass, kicks up only a modest, well-behaved head of spongy foam over a coppr body. Pretty clear, just some floaties apparent. I keep thinking I’ll smell cedar and thus I do. Light, on top of a slight hop nose. I realize that a cedar cask for sake is not going to smell like a sock drawer freshener but likely have a slight residual cedar sensation, and that’s what I get (It would have been easier to describe in a Haiku, perhaps). Unexpected gunk in the bottom of the bottle gets into my glass. This would seem to favor English hops: a bit more earthy, peppery and slightly piney, which plays well in here. Just the right bit of sweetness. A slightly gassy finish, but overall very nice. A foreign beer that actually has some character of its origin culture, instead being another pale Heinie clone. Worth serving at a beer tasting for newbies.

Slightly hazy amber body with a thin white head. Sweet caramel aroma. Sweet cedar flavor with lots of spice.

I called this beer II, simply because there are three beers called Classic Ale avialable at Isetan, with the main difference being the label (this is pink). I also don’t believe this is 5% as it says on the label as it feels alot bigger than that and Dan the brewer indicated so. Med-dark amber color, with a huge head. HUGE caramel and cedar notes in the nose, with a touch of floral hops. Mouth is med-full with lots of carmal and cedar, though very well balance. Finish has mild bitterness, but not exciting. Not exactly sure what it was aiming for. Kind of like a bastardized (albeit tastey) strong English Ale. Interesting, but still prefer the original.
Earlier Rating: 10/6/2004 Total Score: 4
Similar to their new years ale as it had virtually no head, vanilla, apples, cinammon, cardomon and leaves in the nose. The body was rich with a bit of malty sweetness, ending with a chocolately, cardamon finish. If this is what classical ale tasted like in Japan, put me in a time machine and send me back!

Pours hazy gold into a tulip. Significant off-white medium-sized head. Asian flowers and ladies powder room notes. Bubbly with up-front fruity notes that quickly turn very bitter and unpleasant -- perhaps it’s the cedar.

Bottle. Pepper and orange aroma. Amber color with explosive head. White pepper and malt flavor with hints of orange - I would have never guessed that this was an IPA. Not much hops flavor to this but a truly unique taste.

Oh my god, these guys just keep doing weird things! At the base its a nice IPA, plenty of hops, a smooth malt body, nice natural carbonation - very cloudy amber. But man, the cedar character is very strong, and cedar is not exactly a wood I associate with consumption, more like an effective way to protect your sweaters from moths. The cedar character is almost solventy, especially in the aftertaste.

Thanks to Suttree for this one! Way overcarbonated, the pour was all foam and took forever to settle into the glass. Sweet spicy aroma. The cedar barrel gives this a cinnamon and ginger note to it. Differently bitter, but not bad, just unusual.