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Hitachino Nest White Ale – 5.5% ABV

May24
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Bob the Brit

I’m sure most readers of The Brew Club, like me, love finding new brews and brewers, and when I stumbled across a few ‘Hitachino Nest’ brews from the Kiuchi Brewery in Japan, I simply couldn’t resist.

I’ve been to Japan a few times, and while I enjoyed their brews when I was there, there were none that I would necessarily write home about.

Hitachino (the name translates to ‘abundant forest’) Nest brews hail from the small city of Naka, about 70 miles north east of Tokyo – that’s halfway between Tokyo and Fukushima. The brewery sustained some minor damage during the 2011 earthquake, but was brewing again within a week.

The Kiuchi Brewery was founded in 1823 as a Sake brewery, diversifying into beers only in late 1996, they now brew a range of eleven beers, many of which have won international awards.  By all accounts they ARE available in the states.

The first of their brews that caught my eye was their ‘White Ale’ with the brewery’s trademark Owl staring out from the label. This is brewed in traditional Belgian style, with a recipe that includes Lager and Wheat malts, Perle and Styrian Golding hops, coriander, orange peel, nutmeg and orange juice.

Okay, let’s see what Japanese craft beers are all about:

Well it pours a pale golden colour, very cloudy, a combination of sediment (this is bottle conditioned) and ‘colloidal turbidity’, with an enthusiastic head that fades quickly.

Hitachino Nest White Beer - From The Brewclub

There’s not too much nose, but what there is, is heady with citrus and pineapple chunks.

There are pineapple chunks in the flavour too, but overall it’s very subtle, not ‘in your face’ like some white beers.

It’s all very pleasant, but in all honesty I’m not sure it merits the ‘beer miles’.  I can think of a dozen white beers that I would turn to before this and none of them have travelled 5,900 miles. If I lived in the Far East, then that situation would be reversed and I would happily turn to this over the mainstream Japanese brews.

As such I’ll give it three stars.

Rating: ★★★☆☆

Bob the Brit

Some of the more exotic Hitachino Nest beers are brewed with rare Japanese hops, and matured in Sake barrels… I suspect this might be the start of a journey of exploration.

Posted in 3 Star Reviews, Not American Or European Beer, Views from a Brit, Wheat Beers - Tagged Asian Beers, belgian style, Belgian White, Japanese Beers

Bière des Ours 8.5% ABV

May17
2013 Leave a Comment Written by Bob the Brit

Bière des Ours translates to “Bear’s Beer” and to avoid any misunderstanding there’s a brown bear on the label of this 75cl bottle. A quick look at the rear of the bottle reveals honey in the list of ingredients, hence (I guess) the Bear reference.

It hails from ‘La Binchoise’ brewery, in the Belgian town of Binche.

Binche is in Western Belgium, about ten miles from the French border, and thus in the French speaking part of Belgium known as ‘Wallonia’. In Flanders (the Flemish part of Belgium) the beer is marketed as ‘Berenbier’ .

The Binchoise brewery traces its history back to 1836, and proclaims itself to be preserving artisan brewing techniques.

This beer had been standing on my beer shelf for some time, and so any bottle conditioning yeast was firmly set in the bottom of the bottle, enabling a clear, crisp pour, of what surprised me to be a blonde ale, for some reason the brown bottle and label had led me to expect a brown beer, go figure.

Biere des Ours - from the Brewclub

There was no head to speak of, and the nose was slightly sour, with hints of citrus and bubblegum, then that undertone of honey.

The flavour, was rich and well rounded, giving flavours of bread and honey, the alcohol was warming, and the honey provided a sweetness that made a pleasant change from the cane sugar that usually underpins strong Belgian ales.

It’s medium bodied, and while I wouldn’t rush to drink it again, all in all it was a very pleasurable experience.

I know Scott’s had some disappointments in the past with honey beers; this one does what it sets out to.

Rating: ★★★½☆

Bob the Brit

Posted in 3 Star Reviews, Belgian Beers, European Beers, Flavored Beers, Views from a Brit - Tagged Belgian Ales, honey flavored beers

Oakham Ales Scarlet Macaw (4.8%ABV)

May10
2013 1 Comment Written by Bob the Brit

When I met the guys from Oakham at a beer competition in London recently I confess I was drawn to their new ‘Scarlet Macaw’ brew by its labelling. Okay, I admit it, I’m shallow, but the brightly coloured bird on the label (in a room full of, frankly, less striking labels) conjured up happy memories of drinking chilled beers on a hot, sunny day in Key West.

Oakham Ales, originally hailed from the town of Oakham in Rutland, they’re now based in Peterborough, about seventy five miles north of London.

They started brewing back in 1998 as a brewpub-micro, but have enlarged their operations in recent years. Additionally they now brew limited edition, speciality beers from their home at the ‘Brewery Tap’ brew-pub under their ‘Oakademy of Excellence’ brand.

They have a proud heritage, their ‘Jeffrey Hudson Bitter’ – a ‘session’ beer brewed to 3.8% was voted CAMRA Champion Beer of Britain back in 2001. More recently, their main range of beers – which includes ‘Inferno’ and ‘Citra’ pale ales that use ‘modern’ new world hops – have won a clutch of awards. These include bronze and gold awards respectively at the 2012  International Beer Challenge.

Scarlet Macaw pours a rich red colour. Oh heavens, does this mean another new category? Alongside IPAs, APAs, PPAs, Double IPAs, and Dark IPAs – do we now have a RED IPA?

Oakham Scarlet Macaw - from The Brewclub

Okay, so be it, I might be shallow, but I’m open-minded.

The nose is Gooseberry and Grapefruit with subtle hints of Peach.

The flavour? Well the brewery describes it as having “Gooseberries and fruit to taste, before an intense bitterness that’s as sharp as a macaw’s screech!” I can’t disagree with that, certainly it’s grapefruit to the fore, with those peachy notes in the background, and intense bitter hops.

That’s them Amarillo and Summit hops from the Yakima Valley in Washington State, Amarillo for the fruit, while Summit that packs a punch.

All sitting on a bed of Maris Otter, Cara & Pro Ant malts.

This is a refreshing American Style Pale Ale, intense but not palate stunning, and on a hot sunny day in Blighty it brought back more memories of Key West.

[Rating 4/5]

And the good news, for you guys in the (ahem) colonies, is that Oakham are now shipping to the United States. Their importers are ‘Grapevine Distributors’ based out of Concord, North Carolina. Grapevine cover the states of North and South Carolina, Kentucky, Tennessee, Georgia and Virginia and have links to a supplier in Washington DC.

The first shipment will comprise their Inferno and Citra ales – both of which I hope to review for The Brewclub in coming weeks – while Scarlet Macaw shouldn’t be far behind.

Posted in 4 Star Reviews, All Brews Reviewed, English Beers, Views from a Brit - Tagged English Beers, english pale ale, India Pale Ale, IPA, red IPA

Blanche de Namur Witbier- Watch out for Colloidal Turbidity

Apr26
2013 1 Comment Written by Bob the Brit

If you have a smattering of French, then it’s not difficult to guess that Blanche de Namur is a white beer from Namur, a town in Wallonia, the French speaking part of Belgium.

Actually the Brasserie du Bocq is sited in the village of Purnode, a village about ten miles south of Namur. The brewery was founded in 1858 by an enterprising local farmer as a means of employing his farm labourers through the winter months – this of course was the time of the Industrial Revolution when the temptation to leave the land and work in the new factories must have been a temptation for out-of-work farm workers.

Blanche de Namur is a Witbier (or White Beer) – that subset of wheatbeers that include Hoegaarden and Celis White.

They tend to be hazy, almost cloudy and contrary to popular belief, that haziness is not caused by yeast sediment – you could leave a glass for hours and it won’t settle out – it’s caused by wheat yeast proteins that are colloidal and remain in suspension.

This is described on the brewery’s website as ‘colloidal turbidity’ – a  wonderful phrase, I think I have some of Colloidal Turbidity’s albums on 8 track in a cupboard somewhere!

Blanche de Namur - from The Brewclub

It pours a creamy, lemonade, yellow, with a full, fluffy white head that fades slowly.  It’s bottle conditioned so there’s years in there as well, but I tend to let my beers settle and pour them without disturbing the yeast too much.

The aforementioned colloidal turbidity is evident, as is the nose – coriander, orange-peel, lemon and spice. Those flavours hail from a time before hops were widely used to preserve beers.

The flavour is crisp, and yet has a creaminess, it’s closer to a Weihenstephaner than a Blue Moon or a Shock Top, and as such it’s really subtle.  It tickles and teases the palate while refreshing. It’s very enjoyable and rewarding.

And in a 750ml bottle and ‘only’ 4.5% ABV it goes down a treat on a warm spring afternoon.

I’m happy to give this 4 stars – it was close to a 4.5.

Rating: ★★★★☆

Posted in 4 Star Reviews, Belgian Beers, European Beers, Views from a Brit, Wheat Beers - Tagged Belgian White, Witbier

Manchester Bars

Apr19
2013 2 Comments Written by Bob the Brit

For the couple of months I’ve been working in Manchester, in the north-west of England, home to both Manchester United and Manchester City (they’re soccer teams for the uninitiated), home to some interesting traditional breweries and some great new bars.

During my first few weeks ‘up north’ I explored the bars in the area around my hotel with an intention of writing a guide to Manchester bars for The Brewclub. But somebody beat me to it! They missed a couple of interesting bars, but if you find yourself in Manchester in search of a pint, then this here is a pretty good starter.

Once you’ve explored those, then I recommend the Oyster House, a Sam Smiths pub that is eminently affordable, selling Sam Smiths Old Brewery Bitter at an astonishing £1.85 a pint.

Sinclairs Oyster Bar - Manchester - at The Brewclub

I also recommend the Oast House at Spinningfields, this has an extensive range of brews that includes Thornbridge Jaipur at a slightly less affordable £4 a pint and, (sounds of fanfare) the new Brewdog bar.

Brewdog Manchester - at The Brewclub

Regular Brewclub visitors will know I’m a Brewdog fan, so while I was disappointed not to have received an invite to the opening (it must have been lost in the post) I visited a few days later. Inside it’s very spartan and industrial, but they have a full range of interesting brews, available in pints, halves and even thirds.

And some of their more exotic brews (Tactical Nuclear Penguin and Sink the Bismarck) are available as ‘shorts’ – just 25ml, or a little less than a fluid ounce. Okay that doesn’t seem much for a beer but when you consider that these brews are the equivalent in strength of premium spirits (you halve a spirit’s ‘proof’ to calculate the alcohol percentage) weighing in at 32 and 41 percent alcohol (64 and 82 degrees proof) respectively, we’re clearly into sipping strengths here. And to be honest, I think I would rather spend ten bucks sipping a sample than spend close to a hundred bucks on a bottle that I might not enjoy.

Anyway, I hope to be ‘up here’ for a few more months, so I will try Sink the Bismarck and report back for The Brewclub.

And if you expect to be in Manchester, soon, give me a shout. I refused a drink once… it was a Thursday, and it was raining… February 1975!

Posted in English Beers, Other Stuff, Views from a Brit - Tagged Bismarck, Brewdog Brewery, Other Reviews, Other Stuff, Samuel Smith, Thornbridge Jaipur
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