Japanese Classic Ale
Kiuchi Brewery - Hitachino Nest in Naka, Ibaraki, Japan 🇯🇵
IPA Regular|
Score
6.97
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This Japanese Classic Ale is a recreation of the first Japanese beer made in the Edo period. Please enjoy the Japanese taste, matured in cedar barrels like the old IPA style method from England. bottle-conditioned IPA. Chinook, Fuggles, and Kent Goldings hops are used.
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6.9/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
33 cl bottle @ hotel room, Las Vegas. Bottled(?) on 03/2011
Quite high viscosity. Aroma is quite nothing with some citrus and hay. Flavour sweet with some resin and fruity hops with mandarin. Also hints of some weird spice. A bit odd but decent anyway.
Quite high viscosity. Aroma is quite nothing with some citrus and hay. Flavour sweet with some resin and fruity hops with mandarin. Also hints of some weird spice. A bit odd but decent anyway.
Tried
from Bottle
on 24 Jul 2012
at 20:21
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
On Tap@Brewdog Edinburgh Hazy copper looks with a middling lingering off white head. Sweetish nose with notes of fruits and wood. Lightish, fruity flavour with notes of caramel, booze and a slight earthy quality. Balance a little off ,but decent enough hop bitterness. A bit left field, but perfectly drinkable and not without some charm.
Tried
from Draft
on 25 Apr 2012
at 14:15
7.4/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Bottle @ home. This pours a dark reddish orange appearance that is a bit hazy and has a one finger, cream colored head. There’s an interesting spicy, brown rice-like element in the nose along with wood, an earthy hoppiness and a caramel maltiness. The flavor has a very unique taste of spices with toasted caramel malts, rice, cedar, wood, and a small amount of fruits. The wood finishes a little stronger on the finish. The cedar plays a very prominent role and it didn’t have nearly as much hops as many IPAs. This was a fun beer to try- extra points for uniqueness.
Tried
from Bottle
on 12 Mar 2012
at 22:21
6.4/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
Sample from bottle at Haket 2012-01-14 Göteborg AR: citrus, blood grape, dry, lychee, red Ferrari cars (swedish candy) AP: reddish brown wee hazy wee white transparent head F: rich sweet, tropical fruits, medium high bitterness, ceder wood, candy,
Tried
from Bottle
on 14 Jan 2012
at 16:15
7/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
Interesting bottle I’m drinking here. Smells overwhelming pilsnerish, but the taste offers a strong malty slap before the cedar steals the show. I am having some trouble with this brew, though. Am I tasting hops or cedar? The finish is modestly dry, with a woodsy, herbal finish that could be cask aging, could be some Euro-hops. Which would actually make sense, since the beer is based on the original IPA, not the roided-out American model. In the end, the cedar overtakes the beer. Which isn’t exactly a bad thing, but I’d like to see a more aggressive beer used with the cedar sake casks, so the brew itself doesn’t get lost amongst the wood.
Tried
from Bottle
on 05 Jan 2012
at 16:58
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
29/12/2011 Brasserie 4:20 (330ml bottle). Ambrata, mielosa, schiuma morbida e liquida, non molto abbondante e non molto persistente. Al naso note di malto evidenti, caramellate e zuccherose, spezie e luppolo. In bocca ha un attacco dolciastro, maltato, leggermente caramelloso, ma con un finale luppolato, leggermente amaro e secco. Corpo medio, carbonazione soft. Niente di eccezionale, ma si lascia bere.
Tried
from Bottle
on 29 Dec 2011
at 11:15
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottled. Amber colour, big off-white head. Aroma is fruits, marzipan, quite sweet nutmeglike notes as well as some mild spices. Flavour is wood, mild smoked wet things as well as spices and quite nutty. Mild vanilla. Very different, yet pleasant brew.
Tried
from Bottle
on 08 Dec 2011
at 16:44
9.5/10
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Appearance 8
Aroma 9
Flavor 10
Texture 10
Overall 10
33 cl. bottle @ home, one of the many bottles I brought back from the ever spectacular Alvinne shop \ Very curious about this one, I have been lately looking for more Hitachino beers \ In slight contradiction with the ratebeer description the bottle states that this beer is a recreation of the first Japanese beer made in the Edo period and matured in ceder barrels like the old IPA’s which used to be transported across the seas \ Pours a clear amber/orange/slight hint of raspberry with a creamy white head \ Smell is sweet slight sake yeast, spices, fruity with a hint of raspberry, hint of caramel and dark fruits with lots of ceder wood \ Taste is with slightly bitter hops, very fruity hops (or at least I think that these are hops) but not in the conventional sense, I am actually getting berries and slight fermenting raspberries, touch of lemon, fermenting malts, fermenting caramel malts (does that exist?) & yeast, toffee, bitter cedar wood in the aftertaste, plenty of spices, I am actually getting some distilled sake in the second half & aftertaste, hint of fruity & flowery sake yeast & distilled sake drenched ceder wood, not sure whether that is possible because I don’t think that is in here, this must be the ceder wood \ Light & slightly \ Amazing like a hybrid between distilled sake & an IPA \ Not sure whether the flavours I am getting can actually be in here but I had a blast drinking this
Tried
from Bottle
on 11 Nov 2011
at 03:43
7/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7
(Bottle) Poured hazy copper with slight white head. Pleasant sweet and citrusy (orange?) aroma. Medium body with nice gentle carbonation. Refreshing flavour with good hop presence and spice. However what initially promises to be a big hop finish falls off substantially to a subtler but long finish. There are some flavours that don’t work for me. They impart some bitterness but not a wholly pleasant one. Whether this is the cedar from the casks or whether it is the high alcohol content inadequately masked, I wasn’t sure. Overall, it’s interesting but not great.
Tried
from Bottle
on 19 Aug 2011
at 20:33
7.1/10
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Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 6
Overall 7.5
Bottle from GBBF 2011 drunk at home. I have to admit of all the beers I had/bought at GBBF this and the Espresso Stout are my two most anticipated. Hazy orange amber colour with lasting beige head. Sweetish resiny hoppy aroma with some rich caramel and very slight touch of spicy wood on the that nose. Bit too sweet to be honest. I like something a little bit drier. But the use of wood is really quite good. Just gives a hint of spice. Yes the cedar does come through and rather dominates the rest of the beer but not to the extent of some American cedar wood beers I’ve had. Yep interesting, and I would recommend to people to drink it, but some of the Baird beers I’d rather have again.
Tried
from Bottle
on 13 Aug 2011
at 08:14