Friday 5 August 2011

Beer # 64 Hitachino Nest White Ale


Kiuchi Brewery
Kounosu Naka-Shi Ibaraki, Japan (Independent)
Belgium Style Wheat 5.0% ABV Brown Glass Bottle 500 ml.
$3.85 (Canadian) At LCBO.


Today is International Beer day and to celebrate I have a couple of international beers to post. First trip out we are heading to Japan to a place that was ravaged by the earthquake earlier this year. The brewery in question had some roof damage, heaved roadways, a broken bottling line, and *Gulp* 500 smashed bottles of product and 800L of lost sake! But in true rebounding spirit, the brewery fixed it's bottling line and began bottling water to aid survivors and rescue crews during the clean-up of one of the worst earthquakes in Japanese history. The Brewery has since restarted and is back up to full capacity.


Kiuchi Brewery began life in 1823 when it's founder Kiuchi Gihei started a small sake operation. Over their 180 years they perfected the art of sakes and decided to expand. in 1996 They began the Hitachino Nest beer line and began using the iconic "white owl" as the logo for the beer. The brewery also makes Shochu a rice wine that is part rocket fuel. As of 2004 Kiuchi had started purchasing grapes with the intent of making wine.

Onto tonight's tasting:

Washed out straw colour, translucent with copious amounts of sediment and particulate. Head is bright with small bubbles and short lived. Cinnamon and clove on nose with slight mustiness. Dry wheat sweet flavour of concentrated orange juice and bitter orange peel. Aeration brings out orange peel and sharply bitter hops.

Impressions: Fail, So-so, Pass, Exceptional
                                                                                                               

Cost:  5/6  PASS
Colour:  5/6  PASS        
Beer Style:  5/6 PASS  
Re-Order:  4/6 PASS   
Experience:   4/6  PASS

Final Thoughts:
I was excited to try this beer as I had only previously had the Japanese staples (Sapporo and Kirin) It does reflect the Belgium style for a wheat beer, but it is not spectacular. 


Cheers
CJT

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