Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
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.
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 7 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 5
bottle picked up at the brewery in Numazu. These guys have a very small distribution network though they do sell online. Crystal clear straw gold lager look, fluffy white head, sweet, fruity(grape?) & grassy aroma. The taste is a bit chalky, soft malts giving mild biscuit/graham notes with a slightly acidic but sweet fruity finish. Kind of unusual for a lager but not bad. Then again I don’t like typical lagers...
Kyotolefty (15912) reviewed Samurai Surfer Red from Nippon Beer Jozo 12 years ago
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
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.