Hakusekikan Hurricane

Brewed by Hakusekikan Beer/Stone Iwamoto Co.
Style: Barley Wine
Ena-gun, Gifu, Japan

Serve in Snifter

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2007 on tap at Bakushu Club Popeye. Pours a deep red hued brown with no head. Sweet caramel, oak, complex malts, port wine in aroma and taste. Very smooth. Sweet but not syrupy.

No real head. Clear deep red body. Earthy vinous strawberry malts aroma with alcohol notes. Sweet, and slightly acidic, alcohol and strawberry taste with earthy spicy notes. Fullish body. Mild, yet hot mouthfeel. Dry-sweet sweet cherry and strawberry aftertaste with vinegary earthy toffee and honey notes. Lovely! Amazing sweet/sour balance and harmony. (0.2l draft at Popeye, Tokyo.)

Draught at Popeye Tokyo (rated Apr 2008, vintage 2003). Head is fully diminishing. Body is medium brown. Aroma is moderately malty (cookie, caramel), with notes of wood, honey, raisin, alcohol, orange peel, and maple syrup. Flavor is heavily sweet, lightly acidic. Finish is moderately sweet, lightly acidic, lightly bitter. Medium body, syrupy texture, soft/flat carbonation, moderately alcoholic. Surprisingly enjoyable aroma for its age, and not obviously oxidized in the usual stale ways. Quite sweet, as expected, but still drinkable. Boozy but not over the top. Quite a bit better than expected.

On tap @ Popeye’s February 2009. Brewed by Niwa at Hakusekikan. Clear dark pour. Fresh flowery aroma. Metallic, gooseberries. Even more complex in taste adding tar and honey. Recommended!

Draught at Popeye. Clear dark brown (red glow) - offwhite head. Lots of berries, black berries, chocolate, bitterness, sweetness, rubber, licoric, light wood, oak, high malty, good sweetness. Nice complexity.

A big, BIG beer. THe nose is huge. Notes of caramel, sugar and alcohol obviously. Mothful is big and sweet and very intense. Perhaps a bit too much for me. Definetely worth a try if you like the style.

ON Tap @ Popeye’s in Ryogoku. An extreme barley wine. Brown, thick, opaque a very thin brownish head. Very malty, but with vinous touches... maybe like some port or shery had made it’s way to the batch. Slightly hot from the alcohol. Very interesting stuff...

UPDATED: JAN 24, 2012 2007 version at Popeye. THis beer rocks. One of my absolute favorites, I am realizing more and more. Huge fruity flavor, vinous and wonderful. Sour nose, almost resembling a Flemish Red, with fruit and sherry. Very sweet and alcoholic flavor, with sour fruits, berries, spices and vinous notes. Very nice, mature, aged flavor. Like a fine port.

on tap at popeyes, 03 vintage. dark brown with no semblance of head, caramel and honey aroma, somehow not too sticky though, plenty of dried stonefruits, prune and sultana, hints of sherry, delicious stuff

2003 vintage on tap at Popeye’s in Tokyo. 150mL(6oz) sampler. This was almost too much. Brown color. Alchohol apparent in the aroma Mild in flavor. Sweet, but not as much as I expected out of 15%. A little past it’s prime washing the flavors a little too much, but still pretty good.