6.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 6
Texture 4
Overall 7
Bottle from Yamaoka. Big citrus hop nose, lemon and orange, with chocolate malt, dark rye bread, and just a touch of carmel and coffee. Black with a pretty, rocky, low head. Flavor is citrus hops and very roasted malts, plus hop bittering. Really burnt finish, with more coffee than chocolate. Light body. Crisp and dry. A bit too dry. Could use a bit more sweetness to balance. Lower alcohol shows in the body too. Great nose, but it can’t really live up to it. Not bad, though, overall. They need to make it closer to a black version of their PA.
Tried
from Bottle
on 02 Jul 2014
at 01:07
5.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 6
Flavor 5
Texture 6
Overall 5
460 yen bottle from Yamaoka. A cloudy gold with a thin filmy head. A nice fruity, slightly spicy aroma. The taste is wheat, cardboard and cloves on a somewhat thick body. Ok but needs more work to be good. Not too refreshing the finish is very dry, somewhat club soda like. We were thirsty and wanted to be sated not made thirstier.
Tried
from Bottle
on 27 Jun 2014
at 01:59
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 5
On tap at Bungalow. It pours a red or pinkish orange, similar to their tomato beer(tasted like pizza!) with a light pink-white head of foam. The nose is if fresh-cut strawberries. As it warms up the aroma becomes more of a strawberry jam, appetizing. The beer is smooth & quite full-bodied. The taste is sweet, syrupy strawberries with that Freezee kind of artificial quality to it. Very sweet, somewhat cloying. The only thing really beer-like about it is some biscuit/malt notes lurking behind all that berry sweetness. Decent enough though...
Tried
from Draft
on 22 Feb 2014
at 04:20
6.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 4
Overall 7
Tap at Marciero. Glowing orange color with lace. Lemony nose, Sorachi coming through. Flavors of peaches, oranges, estery. A bit syrupy. Full and oily, and a bit too heavy. Feels like Sorachi oil! Nice, but not as good as the regular version.
Tried
from Draft
on 17 Jan 2014
at 19:26
7.5/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 8
Overall 7
On tap at Qbrick’s Strong Beer Event. Another great looking pitch black pour with a light beige head. Served in a nonic half-pint glass. Somewhat too cold a pour initially all I get is a vague umami & light chocolate. Medium to full smooth body, bitter dark chocolate with lots of umami richness. Smooth, light licorice, dark chocolate, hints of bitter coffee beams. A very smooth beer, well done an impressive beer from Noboribetsu, this must have been aggressive at first but after 2 years has really mellowed out into coherent chocolate stouty goodness.
Tried
from Draft
on 11 Jan 2014
at 05:22
7.8/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 8
Texture 10
Overall 7
Cask, 5% on hand pump at Ushi-Tora. 700 yen for 270ml. Clear yellow gold, half cm of creamy foam. The aroma is a pleasing pine & herbal hoppiness. The mouthfeel is smooth, fairly full bodied with that nice cask fullness/smoothness to it. The taste is as the nose light pine, good herbal+flower notes, nice malt profile balancing the hops with maybe a little touch of caramel. The finish is a straight bitter one with pine-good and clean. A really nice beer.
Tried
from Cask
on 30 Dec 2013
at 06:08
6.8/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
Draft - Lemon, grass (Sorachi Ace?) hops, orange and light malts. Pale gold with a thin white head. Grassy, lemon and a bit of bitterness. Clean and crisp finish.
Tried
from Draft
on 12 Dec 2013
at 05:43
7.1/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 8
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 6.5
5% A tomato & basil ale from Hokkaido at Kamikaze. A pinkish red very reminiscent of tomato juice with a thick white head of foam. It totally smells like a pizza! The flavor is a spicy clove beer with basil & tomato overtones. It was surprisingly good.
Tried
on 22 Sep 2013
at 01:22
6.4/10
—
Appearance 6
Aroma 6
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 6.5
On tap at Ant n Bee, August 2013. Almost black with a small head. Aroma and taste of coffee, light roasted malt, light hops and some citrus. An ok one.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Aug 2013
at 23:25
7/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 6
Overall 7
On tap at Ant n Bee, August 2013. Black with a small tan head. Aroma and taste of roasted malt, chocolate and some light coffee. Rather tasty with a long aftertaste.
Tried
from Draft
on 21 Aug 2013
at 23:21