Bottle from Yamaoka. Rich, slightly sour aroma, with molasses, raisin, slightly warming and wine-like. Dark brown color with a lot of orange. Low, light colored head. Rich flavor with caramel malt, miso, a touch of sourness, something a bit medicinal, coming off the miso I guess. Rather sour and not as nice as their red miso lager.

Bottle from Yamaoka. Creamy aroma of burnt wood, smoke, dark chocolate, a bit of coffee, and roasted malts. Solid black with a great tan head. Very smooth, powerful flavor, burnt, with coffee more than chocolate, wood and smoke and alcohol. Plus some cream in there too. Very smooth and thick and creamy. Sweetness and burntness balance each other well. Not quite imperial, but tasty as hell.

Pitch black color with nice dark brown head. Nose is all about huge bitter dark chocolate with faint hints of espresso. Med-full bodied, but a bit one-dimensional bitter dark chocolate notes in mouth, but some espresso and nuttiness is there as well. Well balanced and the finish has a long bitterness that I love in Imperial Stouts. Not going to win for depth, but very enjoyable.

From the hand pump during Real Ale Month at Qbrick in Osaka. Bubblegum rich aroma with fruits: cherries, citrus. Great balance with the malt. Flavor of citrus hops, fruit, gumballs, cherry. Nice but missing a kick—too low in alcohol? Nice balance, a very good session beer, but a bit too fruity.

Very pale, light gold color with a tall white head that settled down but remained the whole time. Clear. Pale malt aroma, with hops as well. Rather slight aroma. Medium malt flavor, with a touch of sweetness, but tons of hops. Very bitter for a pilsner and somewhat fragrant as well. A touch of fruit. Rather light overall. Lightish body as well. Very hoppy, bitter finish. Long-lasting as well. A pretty interesting pils, with great hops, though it could use a little more malty richness to balance it out. The hops are surprising, though, and thus quite nice.

Rather dark reddish brown color, with a medium sized off-white head. Seems to have staying power. Amber malt aroma with caramel, nuts, earthy. Earthy, slightly nutty flavor with a bit of caramel. Not too sweet at all, good dryness. Hops noticeable behind the dryish malt. Very well balanced, quite nice indeed. A dry, low-profile alt, and as such is nice but it could use a bit more malt richness and a touch of sweetness for balance. A bit simple and unexciting, but nonetheless well done. Very drinkable.

Bottle. Dark brown with an amber/red tint. Medium head. Aroma is a bit sweet, rich, with caramel and a bit of fruit. Good malt flavor, not too sweet, but rich, dark and slightly roasted, slightly meaty, with light miso flavors. Nice-somewhere between a dunkel and an alt. Rich but not sweet. Rather highly carbonated. the miso is incorporated nicely and really works better than I expected.

Bottled (6%). Clear mahogany colour, no head. Nutty caramelly nose. Medium sweet with dense, clean mouthfeel and medium body. Ligh t bitterness with unusual spices.

Bottled. Clear golden, brief head. Grassy and floral with notes of vanilla. Medium sweet with rounded mouthfeel. There’s doughy malt and spicy grassy hops, notes of red berries. Medium bitterness. Well balanced.