Japanese Beers

Last night a couple of good friends had me and C over for dinner to congratulate us on our engagement.  The food was Japanese, so I picked up Japanese, or Japanese-esque, beer at Whole Foods.  We found out the hard way that not all beers go together.

First off was one of our favorites, the Hitachino Nest White Ale from the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan.  It’s, like the name suggests, a white ale, with a beautiful spicy and citrusy flavor.  It comes in both 12 oz. bottles and the larger bomber bottles.  It’s one of my favorite beer labels, too.  One thing I still have yet to do is to drink it out of my official ceramic Hitachino Nest cup, given to me when my favorite neighborhood bar, Sparky’s, closed down.  Damn I miss that bar.

Next up was another beer we have loved, but tasted all sorts of wrong after the Hitachino, the Rogue Morimoto Soba Ale.  Not Japanese, but Japanese style.  Definitely worth a try if you haven’t had it before, but have it on its own.

Last beer was one I’d never heard of before I saw it in the store, Ise Kadoya IPA.  This is an English style IPA, and pretty good.  I insisted on having this one last, since IPAs can really overpower everything else.  I’d like to try this one again on its own, but still don’t think I’ll love it.  Could also be that I prefer American style IPAs over English style, so if you’re into the English IPAs, it would be worth seeking this one out.

Great evening overall.  In retrospect, the order should have been the Rogue, then Hitachino, then Ise Kadoya.  Drink and learn….