Revisiting this beer I’m struck by it’s pretty deep mahogany brown hue and dense beige creamy foam. Sankt Gallen’s Brown Porter clocks in at 5.5% and has a soft cocoa aroma with mild caramel bites. Medium to light bodied the taste reminds me of malty English beers with cocoa, hints of caramel and even fainter gifts of tobacco. It’s well balanced and has held up well, these days I probably wouldn’t go for the pale ale but I’d buy this again. ——-2013 review 3.5————— On sale at Yodobashi Camera. 5.5% As my wife made leftover curry, right away I thought it’s a perfect chance to have my Sankt Gallen Brown Porter! Lovely chocolate malt aroma, on a very dark brown body with a tan head of foam. The flavor is quite sweet, almost syrupy chocolate with a silky mouthfeel. Wow I got some vanilla notes in the aftertaste, it really rocks with curry.

12 ounce bottle from goodbeer.jp brought over by the wife, arigato. Pours a pure black color with a large brown head. A rich nose of chocolates, pepper and mint. The flavor is mostly dry milk chocolates, some light vanilla, green pepper, light roast. Dark fruit inches in. Very smooth and tasty. Hefty but also easygoing. Damn good.

5.5% on sale at Kyoto’s Yodobashi Camera supermarket. It pours a clear dark gold & had a hint of funk in the aroma. The flavor was a nice pine & floral hop taste over a sweet malt base. A solid pale ale with a nice crisp bitting bitter finish, really refreshing on a hot day like today.

Tap at Watering Hole, Tokyo. Golden colour with a white head. Heavy lacing. Weak citrus, orange aroma. Flavour is fruity, vanilla, pear with a bit of spiciness.

Tap at Watering Hole, Tokyo. Golden colour with a large white head. Heavy lacing. Floral cherry perfume spice aroma. Flavour is citrus, hops, spices, cherry.

Tap at Ant n Bee, Tokyo. Golden colour with a white head. Hops, citrus, fruit aroma. Flavour is sweet, fruit, some hops.

33 cl bottle thanks to Ingo! Sampled on April 8, 2013. Marked (BB?) 2014.2.14, purchased late December 2012.LAbel also had "2012" marked on it.Clear dark brown color, brown head. Sweet, lactic, alcohol scent. Malty, grainy, dry taste. Dry bitter finish. Medium mouthfeel, medium bitterness. Roasted finish.

Draught at Watering Hole. Amber, clear, fine head. Malty, earthy nose, caramel, citrus, grass. Very earthy and malty flavors, but super dry and bitter. Grassy and astringent finish with light sweetness. Astringency is a bit hard to handle. Unpleasant, really. Just too bitter and unbalanced.

Judging from KyotoLefty’s rating they nailed what they were trying to do with this beer! I had to enjoy it on a picnic below a cherry blossom tree out of a bottle. It poured a dark yellow with a fluffy head of foam. The sakuramochi aroma was obvious if you’ve ever had that particular japanese sweet. The flavor started off spicy with sakura flavor passing into biscuit and ending in a quite bitter aftertaste. A really interesting seasonal beer, I’d prefer it to be a tad sweeter but otherwise pretty good.

Draft. Hazy golden yellow color, medium white head. Aroma of baking biscuits and hay. Taste is bready straw.