Draught in Popeye, about 18 months old, drank alongside a 2001 Super Vintage. Almost black, some red, no head. Nose: raisins, some dark chocolate, caramel, fudge, faint but complex. Sweet, spicy, hot flavor, a bit of licorice, huge dried fruit, nice tangy aspect. Sweet, hot, and lovely. Smooth as hell. Much, much improved since it was new. Delicious.

Draught @ Ushi‐Tora, Tokyo. Rated on 16.09.2011
Very refreshing and a bit light aroma with fresh, exotic fruits. Hoppy flavour with bready malt. Sticky finish. An ok IPA, but too malty.

Draught @ Bakushu Club Popeye, Tokyo. Rated on 05.09.2011
Aroma has lots of coffee, roastiness and some dark sugar. Dryish palate. Flavour has sweet, sweet coffee with harsh bitterness and hints of solvent. Coffee becomes even more bitter at the end. Very slight sourness can also be observed here. Expected more sourness because of the oyster in the name. Then again, modern oyster stouts tend not to be sour at all…

Draught @ Bakushu Club Popeye, Tokyo. Rated on 05.09.2011
Looks like berliner weisse. Aroma is sweet with sour apples and citrus, feels kind of Bavaria 0,0% with sour element added. Flavour has citrus and is surprisingly low on sourness, feels like sweet wit. Dry palate. Not lambic in any scale.

Draught at Craft Beer Festival in Ichinoseki, 2011. Aroma of sansho (Sichuan pepper), herbs, and citrus fruits. Flavor is mostly sansho and herbs, with golden malts, citrus. Still doesn’t work, though it is less dominated by the spice than their previous Sansho Ale was. Drinkable.

Draught at the Ichinoseki Craft Beer Festival 2011. Dark, deep golden color. Aroma of honey, pilsner malts, bread, some citrus and grass hops. Decent hop flavor to balance the honey and bread from the malt. Neither are all that distinctive, however. Nice enough but could use more punch.

Bottle from Yamaoka. Big, roaty, caramel and chocolate aroma. Earthy hops, meaty and balanced well. Dark brown with orange and a high head. Sweet caramel and chocolate flavor with dried fruit and earthy, dry hops. Nice bitterness to balance. Rich, thick body. Rather dessert- like but not overly sweet. Rich and tasty, with good balance. Well put together.      

Molasses, not that well blaanced. Dark chocolate, salty full bodied. Not rounded. Needs time.

orange yellow color, a bit of marmalade an spice in the nose. A bit of bread and caramel in the mouth. Has potential, but needs age. Rerate - didn’t think I had this before. hazy mud brown Amber color that isn’t too appealing. The nose shows lots of bready malts, apples and cinnamon. Tempting. Full body, lots of spice with grains of paradise and apples. Smooth. Alcohol well hidden. One of the best triples in Japan. A bit cloying as it warms up. Revised from 3.3 to 3.5

Draught at Wachi. Deep copper color with a medium, thick, fine, head. Caramel malt and earthy hop aroma. Malty but dry and earthy, grassy. Rich caramel malt flavor yet not overly sweet. Good dry hoppy bitterness and nice balance. Reasonably solid body with rather low carbonation, so quite smooth. Long lasting bitterness. Good British hops in a decent English style PA.