I was shopping in on of the Japanese supermarket in San Mateo and spotted a brand I had never seen before, Coedo. Though a little pricey, I picked a few bottles of this brew which had a special label on it claiming to have won many awards. Coedo is a small brewery in Kawagoe, Saitama, Japan and produces mostly lager style beer but does have one wheat beer style. Continue reading
Last July (2008) I was in Las Vegas having a meal with some friends at a restaurant called Shibuya at the MGM Grand and we discovered Hitachino Nest beers, specifically the Japanese Classic Ale. Hitachino Nest is a brand of beers that are brewed by the Kiuchi Brewery in Naka-shi, Japan. The Kiuchi brewery has been making sake since 1823, shochu since 2003, and beer since 1996.
I had been casually searching for this beer ever since July and in November 2008 I discovered City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA and that they carried several of the Hitachino Nest beers. One of those beers that I picked up was the Real Ginger Brew.
Unfortunately, there is no information on the Kiuchi Brewery website about this beer. It is a very unique beer and it would by nice to know a little background information about it.
It looks like this beer is bottle conditioned so I might try to harvest some of the yeast the next time that I try one of the Hitachino Nest beers.
Where I Found It. City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA.
Serving Type. Poured a 330ml bottle into a glass.
Appearance. This beer has a foamy but not frothy yellow-white head and does not leave much foam on the glass. A small layer of head remains on top. This beer is hazy, which might be expected of an herb/spice beer, and has an amber or dark honey color.
Smell. Real Ginger Brew has a ginger aroma like that of ginger ale or ginger beer, which is a sweet smooth ginger smell. In fact the smell is almost indistinguishable from ginger ale or ginger beer. The bouquet is spicy with a bit of cloves and is enhanced by the ginger while accompanied by a light fruitiness. The hops are not pronounced and the malt only seems to be a vehicle to deliver the sweet ginger-ale-like smell. There is also a slight bready or yeast aroma present. I enjoy the ginger aroma but the yeast detracts from it a little bit.
Taste. The most pronounced taste of this beer is sweet malty ginger. It is almost as if this is a ginger beer made with malt, instead of cane sugar, and contains alcohol. It actually contains 7% alcohol but the astringent alcohol flavor is masked completely by the other flavors. Backing the ginger beer flavor is a sweet maltiness that is complemented with a touch of smooth hop bitterness. As you drink more of this brew the spiciness of the ginger builds but not so much that is it overpowering. All of these aspects combine to produce a crisp and refreshing flavor.
Mouthfeel. Real Ginger Brew is well carbonated, which adds to the comparison to ginger ale, and is a medium-light bodied beer. The taste of the ginger lingers just for a bit and fades nicely.
Drinkability. This beer is strong in alcohol content and strong in ginger flavor. On one hand it is crisp and refreshing like a ginger ale but also like a ginger ale I rarely want more than one. I would drink this again but I would not want more than one at a time. All in all it is an enjoyable beer.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
The following caption is found on the back of the beer bottles of Real Ginger Brew:
Fresh ginger roots aded to the brewkettle create and intriguing balance of ginger-spicy, sweet-malty and hoppy-dry flavors and aromas.
Last summer I discovered Japanese craft beers when I tried a Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale while visiting Las Vegas. Eager to find more Hitachino Nest beer, I went to City Beer Store in San Francisco to pick some up. While at City Beer, I discovered another Japanese craft brewery, Baird Brewing Company. I picked up a few bottles include Rising Sun Pale Ale.
Baird Brewing started in 2000 by Bryan and Sayuri Baird and is located at the base of My. Fuji in Numazo, Japan. The brewer’s website describes this beer as follows:
This quenching brew is crafted in the American west-coast style. It sports a beautiful soft citrus hop aroma which gives way to a round, honeyed-fruit flavor. The finish is crisp and refreshing.
Where I Found It. I found this beer at City Beer Store in San Francisco, CA.
Serving Type. I poured the contents of a 355 ml (12 oz.) bottle into a pint glass.
Appearance. The head of Rising Sun Pale Ale has the typical egg-shell white color and lasts an average amount of time. The color is a nice orange caramel color but the clarity is semi-cloudy. It was even more cloudy when I forgot to stop pouring and emptied the bottle conditioning yeast into the beer.
Smell. The hop bouquet has a nice citrus, orange, and floral smell, which is noticeable but not intense. The aroma has background hints of sweet malt and grain. There is a slight touch of vanilla and something that I can only describe as Japanese grape-flavored hard candy.
Taste. As the caption on the side of the bottle claims, this beer is well balanced. It has malty sweetness and is not too heavy on the hops and bitterness. The taste is pleasant and has a honey sweetness with a touch of hop spice. Again, I pick up on another type of sweetness in the taste that reminds me of white grape juice.
Mouthfeel. The mouthfeel is a little too watery for my preferences. The initial hop aftertaste on the tongue is pleasant and fades quickly.
Drinkability. Despite the watery nature of Rising Sun Pale Ale it is highly drinkable. It is smooth, easy to drink, and has a nice hop nose while not being huge on the hop bitterness.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score.
The following caption is found on the side of the bottle:
This hoppy, brisk and refreshing Pale Ale is indescribably complex, but holds tenaciously to Japan’s prime aesthetic value — supreme balance. Behold, the Zen Brewmaster’s Pale Ale, a perfect beer for drinking now, later, tomorrow, the next day, every day. “In balance there is harmony.” Kampai!
There is also information about the brewery listed on the side of the bottle:
Baird Beer is brewed at the foot of Mount Fuji by Japan’s pioneering craft brewery. Lovingly and authentically crafted, it is unfiltered, re-fermented in the bottle, and naturally carbonated. Please drink contemplatively, Beer Drinker-san.
The Beach Chalet Brewery & Restaurant is located in San Francisco “where the Park meets the Pacific,” on the edge of Golden Gate Park across the street from the beach. It is a great location to have a locally brewed beer. I’m not sure what stores carry Beach Chalet beers but the brewery/restaurant has a long list of styles to choose from on their website and on their leaflets. They brew everything from stout to hefeweizen and they even have an altbier.
The Beach Chalet describes Fleishhacker Stout as follows:
Medium-boded stout with chocolate notes & a rich, smooth finish.
This description, however, does not explain what Fleishhacker means. It turns out that Fleishhacker refers to the Fleishhacker Pool, which was the largest swimming pool in the United States located in San Francisco, CA near the zoo. With this knowledge, the beer label, which depicts a woman diving into a pool, makes more sense.
Where I Found It. I had this beer at the Beach Chalet Brewery and Restaurant in San Francisco, CA.
Serving Type. When I sampled this brew, it it was served from the tap into a pint glass.
Appearance. The head has a cappuccino color. Although the head was nice and foamy coming out of the tap, it did not last long. This might have been because the bartender seemed a little impatient with the head settling and overfilled the glass several times. Flieshhacker Stout has a black opaque color that you would expect from a stout.
Smell. The aroma of this stout is of very dark roasted malts and chocolate. The hop bouquet is very slight and has a hint of citrus and a more faint hint of concord grape juice.
Taste. Fleishhacker Stout has a nice flavor of toasty, dark roast coffee. There is also a noticeable bitterness, which was more than I expected. The bitterness, however, is balanced well against a pleasant malty sweetness. The flavor also has a hint of chocolate.
Mouthfeel. As described by the brewery, this is a medium bodied beer and I personally prefer a stout that has a fuller and creamier body. In fact, I think the mouthfeel is a bit watery. The aftertaste has a hop bitterness that lingers on back sides of the tongue. Finally, there is a slight chalky texture to this beer, which I also do not like.
Drinkability. Fleishhacker Stout is a smooth beer that can be consumed all year round. It does not, however, give a warming feeling that a winter warmer style beer does and that’s okay.
Rating. My ratings below are on a five point scale with five being the best score. The overall rating is calculated exactly the same way as Beer Advocate.
Gouden Carolus Noël is a winter seasonal ale from Anker brewery, Brouwerij Het Anker, in Belgium. This beer is classified as a Belgian dark strong ale and it certainly fits the bill weighing in at 10.5% abv. According the the brewer’s website, this beer contains three different types of hops, all Belgian, and six different herbs that are added at different stages of brewing.
Beer 47 in a Tumblr
