Baird Natsumikan Summer Ale

Brewed by Baird Brewing Co.
Style: Fruit Beer
Numazu, Shizuoka, Japan

Serve in Flute, Shaker

send corrections   |   shelftag   |   edit barcodes   |   update pic

Bottle courtesy of sebletitje. Pours a hazy caramel color with thin foamy whote head. Aroma is sweet and floral with notes of caramel, honey, spice, lemon, citrus, and hints of ripe fresh fruit. Flavor is sweet and malty with notes of lemon, citrus, spice, flowers, some fresh fruit. Light to medium body with a tangy finish.

22OZ bottel pours a very cloudy pale orange/light amber. Small off-white head. Aroma is orange mango or tangerine and sweet citrusy hops. Malt flavors are light and fruity and while there is some hop flavor, there is not much bitterness from them. Strange fruity flavors but not bad. Soft carbonation.

Pours hazy orange gold with thick white head. Citrus/apricot fruitiness, light dusty malt. Flavour is bitter fruits. Dried golden fruit sweetness underneath. Green banana tones, light spice in the maltiness. Bittersweet finish.

Japan is known for many things: anime, manga, sushi, sake, samurai, bushido, tamagotchi, onsens, whisky, and yes, beer. Until the last few years though, the Japanese beer scene was as dull, bland, and barren as ours was just a couple decades ago. Archaic laws stunted any desire and ability to craft brew on a small scale similar to here in the states. That is changing, and at a progressively faster pace. Just recently, Japan changed the minimum output a brewery had to produce to be legally recognized as a business. In the wake of and despite of, an outcry for good beer, for craft beer has fueled the growth of many artisanal breweries scattered throughout Japan. As with all things Japanese, imported and native, the rebellious and innovative Japanese craft brewers are drawing their inspiration from Europe and the West, all while retaining a unique Japanese personality when it comes to styles, tastes, and ingredients. This brings me to the Baird Brewery in Shizuoka, Japan and their Shizuoka Natsumikan Ale, aka Baird Summer Ale.

She poured a hazy, almost dirty straw into my glass. Little head or carbonation to speak of at the moment, but a few playful swirls produces an impressive white head. Still no lace though. Her appearance might be off-putting to some who rely too much on visual stimuli to formulate a pre-conclusive decision, but I am not such. At least, I try not to be. Her nose is tossed with mushrooms, oranges, moss, and damp leather while sour zest and lemon drops tease and tingle in the background. Further interesting players of sliced cucumber, mint leaves, buckwheat noodles, and dank, wet wood. Fascinatingly different, my curiosity has been piqued and my interest intrigued. This is a virgin beer voyage on many levels; multiple native Japanese ingredients that are foreign to one such as myself are evident in her nose which I am sure applies to her palate, also. All of my beer geek senses are tingling. My first quaff is clean, light, and mild. Gentle waves of cucumber and mint leaves leave a tinge of dryness on top of my tongue while spruce and herbs continue to flesh out her developing palate. What I had thought was clean is still true, but simple, not hardly. Her palate is a double challenge also in that I am trying to place my finger on as many aromas and tastes as I can, even despite the fact that a good many of them I have never heard of, touched, smelled, or tasted. A subtle undercurrent of sour esters carries her palate past my tastebuds each time, though she doesn’t have a long, lingering presence at all. Besides being clean, her body is soft and earthy, resembling the buckwheat noodles, mushrooms, and oranges I smelled earlier. Wow. I could spend forever trying to break apart this fabulous beer, and never be able to get everything down. This is as foreign as a foreign beer can get. Placing my pen and pad down, I close my eyes to savor the last of my Baird Shizuoka Natsumikan Ale, and as I open them, for just a moment, I am in Japan.

I seriously cannot rave about this beer enough. It may be very hard to approach for a lot of people because it is just so different, but for me, that draws me ever closer. It’s not often I get to enjoy a beer that so expertly represents its people, its culture, and its passion, and yet, at one time, it was as foreign in Japan as sushi and sake were here in America. Truly, we are an international world, and Baird Brewing is pushing the borders with their Shizuoka Natsumikan Ale and others.

Hope I’ve got the right beet here? Was sold out in at the Baird Taphouses but on tap at Tadg’s in Kyoto. Golden Ale to my thinking (at least it looks that way) with a decent layer of spice. Flavours of orange juice (with subtle citrus) are very pronounced, almost to the extent you could be excused for thinking you are drinking fizzy orange juice. Points for the flavour intent but it doesn’t really hit my mark.

Pours a hazy orange with a tall white head. Very bubbly. Flavor is light cirtus hops, orange, sweet with a yeast finish. Solid beer, good summer beer.

Pale Golden color beneath a thin white head. Doughy malt and honey aroma. Lightly sweet honey and biscuit like malts accompanied by some unidentified fruitiness. Light bitterness shines through in the finish. Well balanced and very drinkable.

You have to really have a couple of these to really appreciate all it’s nuances that are there for the taking. The Natsumikan is a Japanese Tangerine, and it gives an interesting nuance to the nose. Known mostly in its home prefecture for its juice in ice cream. Tangy and sour and extremely refreshing for a great summer time beer.

Bottle, courtesy sebletitje. Hazy cloudy yellow copper pour, frothy head, thick lacing. Big spices in the nose, pineapple, tropical citrus, zest and some clove. Spicy flavors, creamy sweet malts, some mango and other soft citrus notes. Full-bodied, soft on the palate, creamy and balanced.

This was on the light side of fruit beers. Easy drinker and very refreshing. Pours a light hazy gold with a small white head. Aromas and flavors of tart citrus and a slight sweet malt presence. Fizzy carbonation and light bodied.