Hitachino Nest Ancient Nipponia

Formerly brewed at Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Golden Ale/Blond Ale
Ibaraki, Japan

Serve in English pint, Shaker

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Interesting brew. It is basically an APA but with some aged character. There is a hint of bright citrus but it’s tempered by a nutty sherry-like quality. This ends up working really well and adds a rich thick texture that makes this drink bigger than it is. Tasty stuff and pretty unique.

Bottle, split 3 ways, pours a cloudy golden with a small white head. Aroma of bready malt, light citrus and wheat. Flavour is pretty mellow, with bready malts, mild citrus, wheat, with some light lemon notes. Pretty mild and restrained, but refreshing and balanced. Good for the style, though obviously nothing extraordinary.

Name: Nipponia
Date: August 11, 2010
Mode: Bottle
Source: Tasting, wabc
Appearance: hazy yellow, creamy white head, thick lace
Aroma: light spicy aroma, sweet malt
Flavor: sweet malt flavor, light spicyness, touch of citrus
Aroma: 5/10; Appearance: 7/10; Flavor: 6/10; Palate: 6/10; Overall: 11/20
Rating: 2.9/5.0
Drinkability: 7/10
Score: ** /4

Tan, cloudy, only a thin layer of bubbles. Herbal, floral and a little bit perfumey in the aroma. Tastes a little bit oxidized with moderate bitterness and more of that floral, perfumey stuff.

Appearance: cloudy orange, small white head. Aroma: oak, balsam, pine, honey. Flavour: honey , oak, pepper, quite a boozy finish. Nice though. ---Rated via Beer Buddy for iPhone

500ml bottle pours a bright golden color with about 2 fingers of solid lasting white head which leaves some really nice lacing on the glass. Aroma is dominated by floral and citrusy hops. Taste is citrusy with a grapefruit like bitterness and a bit of malty sweetness and finishing earthy bitterness. A medium body and moderate carbonation leave a nice feeling on the palate. I really enjoyed tasting this one.

Outstanding aroma and appearance, but unfortunately the taste and the palatedo not give me the same feeling. The aroma is floral and citrusy perfume. The appearance is a bright golden crisp clear brew with an excellent clear hue of of golden sunshine. The letdown is that the flavor has a sharp pungent taste of hops and grass.

Bottle:   Straw in color, sediment lends to a hazy look, large rocky white head, very nice lacing.   Floral nose, slight perfume, a touch of butter, very shrub like.   Its like a mountain scrub brush, with berries.   Very interesting, and unique.   Mealy grassiness on the tongue, slight straw, a little forest like.   Very interesting.   Just cant get over the nose, the floralness and absolute fresh mountain shrub like aroma.   Has a smidgen of earthiness to it, more apparent on the backside.   Body and mouthfeel are fairly full bodied.   For a Golden/Blonde its fairl malty.   Pale mealiness lingers, with a soft floral aspect, some of this mountain shrub/herb like flavors.   Very unique and interesting, nothing else like this one.   Not bad, certainly unique.

Bottles from a store in Portland and a trade on BA a couple years ago. This was underwhelming, to say the least. Especially now that I have the lagered version. I remember the hops standing out a bit more in this version, with the spices being less prominent.

Bottle, got it from Kokoman store. Orange. Mine poured with particulates, tiny ones. Head is stable and white. Fruity aroma, lychee/rambutan and loquat--the sweet white pulp fruits. Tastes a little stale. I am not surprised this is the old one, because it tastes old, rusty, and metallic. Still has a nice juicy body with fruity edges and a bitter finish.