Bottle shared in Bermondsey. Picked up via trade. Pours mostly clear orange-gold with a creamy, mostly white head. Medium sweet flavour, hearty yeast expression, a little candi sugar, wheat, biscuits. Medium bodied with average carbonation. Lightly warming finish, more lightly aged yeast, nips of melon, flaked wheat. Tasty.

Bottle, gusher thanks to LKS. It pours hazy amber - blonde with a thick, fluffy white head. The aroma is sweet, sticky, fizzy candy, sherbet, peachy, candy, mango, pic n mix, bready malt and juice. The taste is smooth, bitter - sweet, sugary, bitter - sweet, bready malt, doughy, candy, tangy citrus, pithy, zesty, candied peel, sugary, rich tea biscuit and a touch of alcohol with a drying finish. Medium body and high, foamy carbonation. A bit sweet... Ok.

ga Kogen Snow Monkey IPA IBU 15 6% This is the new hazy (hazier?) version that looked like a glass of orange julep with a wisp of off-white foam. Orange juicy hop notes while the taste ads a woodsy green bitterness and some hop burn. It is medium to light bodied but feels too light for me. It’s alright but doesn’t really match an over the top proper hazy in my book.

Tap at Komachi. They came out with 2 this year, this one is supposed to be less sweet, and it probably was. Kinda muddy dull yellow. Nice hop nose, orange juice, dankness. Flavor is lacking in the big juiciness you want in the style. It's all right, but really the bitterness is what is most prominent. Disappointing.

Shiga Kogen Pils!? 5% Crystal clear with white foam that leaves a tiny bit of lacing behind. The aroma is an earthy herbal bouquet evocative of grolsch or Heineken. Bitter herbaceous taste, earthy with hints of sweet grapes and balanced wafer biscuits malts. It’s ok but I find it a touch rough, I think I preferred the Helles!?

Ba Yamabushi Raspberry Brown 7% Brown with some Ruby highlights and thick brown quick vanishing head. The aroma is a touch funky and off-putting while the taste is a lightly tart slightly sweet Oud bruin type flavor. I’m really loving the lovely soft body with a scratchy mildly mouth puckering finish.

Yamabushi BA Grand Rouge Sour Ale with blueberries & blackberries 4.5% Lovely salmon pink color with a musty cork sour berry aroma. Nice sour taste reminiscent of a raspberry lambic.

Bottle mail ordered from the brewery. Salmon pink to orange with a thin, white head. Tart berry, strawberry, raspberry. Dry, tart flavor, leather, nicely balance. Nice but not awe-inspiring.

Bottle. Funky, dusty nose, caramel, raspberry, light chocolate. Touch of vinegar in the flavor, raspberry, chocolate, caramel. Soft, lingering sweetness. Low carbonation. Nice.

Shiga Kogen IBL Masaji the Great COLD IBA 22 IBU 6% I believe this year it’s no longer a double. Tao at bungalow. Lovely mahogany brin with dense creamy beige foam and a mouthwatering citrus and tropical fruit hop bouquet. Medium to full bodied with a semi-dry finish. The initial flavor hit is the same as the aroma but then you get a touch smokey chocolate dark malts before a prickly pear and pine bitterness finish. Yum. FYI the bottle looks the same as the W-IBA Masaji the Great but has an X over the W in W-IBA.
Earlier Rating: 12/23/2022 Total Score: 3.9
Shiga Kogen IBL Masaji the Great COLD IBA 22 IBU 6% I believe this year it’s no longer a double. Tao at bungalow. Lovely mahogany brin with dense creamy beige foam and a mouthwatering citrus and tropical fruit hop bouquet. Medium to full bodied with a semi-dry finish. The initial flavor hit is the same as the aroma but then you get a touch smokey chocolate dark malts before a prickly pear and pine bitterness finish. Yum. 3.8-3.9