Hitachino Nest XH

Brewed by Kiuchi Brewery
Style: Belgian Strong Ale
Ibaraki, Japan

Serve in Trappist glass, Tulip, Tumbler

330ml bottle. Pours a hazy ruby chestnut, with a medium off-white head, which lasts very well, leaving some lacing. The nose shows sake, wood, nutty malt and a touch of sweet fruitiness. There’s not a huge amount going on up front: mild fruit and spice hops are augmented by some sweet, sake-like flavours. Rye bread and light chocolate malt improve things, lending a bit more body to the beer, before leading into a sweet, fruity finish. This is very different to every other Belgian strong ale I have tried, mainly because of the pervasive sake flavour, presumably derived from the distilled sake barrels. Not something I would drink everyday, but certainly a pretty unique beer.

330 ml bottle from El Irlandés. This one pours a cloudy dark amber/copper color with a beautiful medium off-white head that laces well. Aroma is different, amazing, fruity, yeasty and slightly phenolic. I found notes of tamarind sauce, sake, late harvest sauvignon blanc, tangerines, cranberries, aniseed and some spice. It is kind of a fusion of Japanese and Belgian traits. Fantastic! In the taste a bittersweet and slightly tart, fairly complex character shows hints of oak wood, pears, champagne, spices, caramel, sake, grapes, apples, sour cherries… incredible. I’m sold. The body is medium and the texture is surprisingly dry. Well carbonated and with a woody, sake-ish aftertaste. This is one of the best beers I’ve tried, hands down. Daring and outstanding. Far better than what some other brewers call revolutionary.

bottle thanks to poibag. poured red with not much head. had aroma of what i can only describe as plum sauce. taste was same thing very unique beer

Haselnötsbrun öl med smutsvitt skum. Svårdefinierad doft med viss maltighet, lite alkohol, kryddighet och tallbarr. Samma går igen i smaken tillsammans med en rostad ton.

Location: 12 oz bottle from Colonial Wine and Spirits, 1/10/12

Aroma: The nose has caramel malts, citrus/orange notes, a little spice, and hints of vanilla and chocolate
Appearance: This one pours a slightly cloudy caramel-brown color with a small tan head and spotty lace
Flavor: The taste is medium sweet, with caramel and other sweet malts, a little oak, and light hops too
Palate: The body is medium, it is a touch chewy, a little oakey, and with some light heat on the finish
Overall Impression: This was another pretty interesting offering. The flavors that seem to develop from the Sake barrel aging are kind of unique and somewhat recognizable. Overall, this is a pretty interesting beer.

The pour is a somewhat murky light brown color with a finger of off-white head. Wow, a really strange aroma to this. It’s got an almost grape soda kind of note to it. Seems like a little bit of chocolate and anise not to it as well. Maybe a light fruity tartness. Tastes quite toasty with some more of the sweet grape soda flavor. A bit of grass and bready malt is also there, maybe a hint of chocolate. On the light side of medium body with medium carbonation.

Super interesting beer. Nose of spicy fruity Belgian yeast brown sugar cedar some sake essence pepper. Sweet and spicy with an earthy wood character. Plural brownish reddish hazy nice lasting fizzy head. Flavors os spicy fruity Belgian yeast. Clove black pepper sake brown bread. Fruity finish with athin nice dry bitterness either hoppy or woody or both. Nicely carbonated solid brew.

Most common Japanese beers (asahi, Sapporo, yebisu etc) are very clean, crisp, filtered and dry. The hitachino nest xh is anything but. The xh is warm with strong flavours of plum wine instead of crisp like asahi, it is very thick and cloudy instead of clean and filtered, and finally it is malty rather than dry and bitter. Both styles make for great drinking, but I find the xh more enjoyable than the Japanese standards as it is far more complex and interesting. I encourage anyone to try this (and any other Japanese beers you can get your hands on) as Japan is grossly underrated in the brewing world.