Hitachino Nest Espresso Stout

Pours thick and rich, viscous black with aerated brown head that dissipates fast. Enormous coffee bean aroma, like stickng nose into a bag of beans. Dark roast, would never believe it were anything but coffee if blindfolded except for the whisper of chocolate malt. Fizzier and thinner body than expected. Lingering roasted malt and coffee in the aftertaste. Not burnt. Some lactic sourness at the sides of the tongue and a strange bitterness both detract from the experience. Poorly priced at $4.75 for small bottle in store.

<b>In short: </b>A full bodied chocolaty-coffee stout. Very satisfying.
<b>How: </b>Bottle 12oz, consumed fresh a month or two after receiving it as a bonus in a trade. Sorry I forget who sent it to me, but thanks a lot man for this fine brew.
<b>The look: </b>Black body topped by a medium tan head.
<b>In long: </b>Nose is roasted with some coffee beans. Body is pleasantly full, creamy yet roasted. For an Espresso stout the taste is not really dominated by coffee. A ton of dark malts, chocolate and cacao, espresso, roasted coffee beans, a light astringency (lemony hops?) in the finish increases drinkability. This is very tasty and with a big body showing that you don’t need a 9%+ beer to make a heavy stout. This one proves that bigger is not better, and unsurprisingly it comes from Japan.

What a pleasant surprise.Great nose of caramel and coffee. More carbonated than most Russian Imperial Stouts but this led to a balancing lightness and a great mouthfeel. Sort of like Peche Mortel lite. Love it.

<b>12 oz. bottle</b> from Plaza Liquors - Pours a dark brown color with a small tan head. Faint lacing. Aroma is coffee, tobacco, and esters. Flavor is roasted malt, coffee, tobacco, chocolate, and esters. Dry palate. Light to medium body. A nice beer, just a little pricey.

A good balance between coffee and beer. Flavor has a really good mix of the two, with some nutty overtones, but for some reason falls a little flat. Taste is good but has a weird sour astringent character too it. Some fresh melon. Slightly thin.

Black with a thin tan head. Aroma is espresso, roasted malts, dark chocolate. Taste is dry with espresso, chocolate, light alcohol.

<i>Bottle (330ml).</i> Pours a very dark brown, almost black, with a large lasting frothy tan head. Aroma: Weird, I get jalapenos first and foremost followed by espresso, dark malt and a hint of chocolate. Flavour: Again I’m getting jalapenos, which is odd I think, along with espresso, some chocolate and light hops. Average roasty/bitter finish. Medium bodied. The jalapeno aspect of this beer doesn’t belong here in my opinion, it’s a detriment to what would otherwise be a good Stout -- as it is I find it just O.K. -- I am obviously in the minority though based on most of the other ratings, oh well, different strokes and all that...

Basically black. Tan head. Roasty, vegetal chocolatey aroma. Rich character. Burnt bitterness. Some vegetal bean stuff, hints of scorched cherries. A bit too heavy on that vegetal character - good espresso does not taste like that.