Hitachino Nest Amber Ale

Bottled. Clear mahogany colour, brief head. Orangey and toasty. Light bodied with clean, rounded crisp mouthfeel. Grainy with salty licorice. Fresh orangey hoppiness, medium bodied. Balaned bitterness. Well made all the way through.

Bottled, shared by the OMH gang. Pours out in a brownish amber colour with a small creamy disappearing white foam. Crisp and fresh aroma of black cherries, grass, nuts and blood-oranges. Medium-bodied with a crisp and rather hoppy flavour of cedar-wood, grass and orange-peels with sweet undertones of red berries. Black cherries, toasted malts, nuts and orange-peels in the long aftertaste. Very nice, a hoppy and elegant amber ale, that’s quite rare.

Sampled @ GJBF Yokohama: Copper color, nice thin head, light lacing. Nose of light caramel malt, some light hop and full bodied creamy malty body. Nice and full, rounded and rich.

Another one on tap at the brewery (!) Light, small bubbles in the head. Body a slightly lighter shade of the same deep amber of the pale ale. Again, as with the pale ale, the brewers at Kiuchi have not been shy with the darker roasted malts. The palate is slightly crisper than the pale ale, which is pleasant. The hops here again are not really fruity at all so much as a darker, burnt coffee sort of bitter. Not bad, just very dark for the style. Perhaps Hitachino Nest has taken a cue from Tanizaki’s essay IN PRAISE OF SHADOWS, in which the author characterizes the Japanese sensibility as one of darkness (versus lightness) in everything from bathroom architecture to tea ceremonies. Presumably this would carry over into the present-day world of beer, although Tanizaki wouldn’t have ever tried any Kiuchi brew.

Dark amber-brown color, ample tan-colored head composed of micro-bubbles and some larger "soapy" bubbles. A good amount of lacing on the glass developed as I drank this one. Surprisingly big flavors of malt, balanced by ample hops and a definite coffee-like presence. Hints of cocoa and dark-roasted grains underneath. Smooth, silky mouthfeel that finishes very dry. Just enough carbonation to create a prickly sensation on the tongue, but not too much. An amazingly satisfying brew--this one will be my go-to beer from Hitachino for awhile. Just awesome.