Ozeno Yukidoke Brown Weizen
Ryujin Shuzo Co,. Ltd.

This is a true hybrid between a hefeweizen and a brown ale. The bubblegum and banana/clove are there just like roasty nuttiness of the brown ale. A very intriguing beer indeed.

 

A: The beer is very hazy yellowish amber brown in color—too hazy to determine if there is any visible carbonation—and the appearance looks like an apple cider when viewed from far. It poured with a quarter finger high beige colored head that died down, leaving a small patch of bubbles on the surface and a collar consisting of large bubbles around the edge of the glass. The head eventually faded away.
S: Faint to light aromas of bananas and wheat are present in the nose. The smell becomes a bit stronger as the beer warms up.
T: The taste follows the smell, having flavors of wheat along with notes of bananas and slight bits of sweetness. The wheat lingers into the finish.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate amount of carbonation.
O: The banana-like aromas and flavors are more subdued compared to German dunkelweizens, but it is encouraging to see Japanese craft brewers expand into other styles.

Serving type: bottle

 

Aroma is bread crust-like, especially at first; there is also some tart fruitiness and soft vanilla. One-finger, eggshell-white head doesn't last long; body is cloudy, brown. Upfront flavor includes bread crust and fruitiness, like overripe apple; a little sour yeastiness; banana and clove qualities come through gradually. Somewhat light body is not as full as anticipated; moderate carbonation and crispness; a slight mineral texture.

The malt qualities come through at first but don't seem to last. It's not bad for a hefeweizen—no overt bubblegum, and the yeasty tartness is restrained. For its purported style however, it lacks the character of a malty beer.

Lugged this one back from Japan.

Oak pour with an off-white head that had decent retention and put down a few spots of lace. Spicy aroma, some banana phenols, a lot of brown bread and some sweetness. The flavour is far breadier than I would have expected, but the clues are in the nose. Its quite sweet with a nice touch of spice, and almost reminds me of a dubbel. Moderate body and carbonation.

I think its a decent beer, but it really suffered in comparison to some of the others we worked our way through. Even relative to the Japanese craft scene I wouldn't put this in the upper half. Teir IPA is great, but this is just average.

Appearance: Root beer Dum-Dum opaque stained-glass brown. Respectable off-white nougat head. Good retention.

Smell: Bananas, apple pie, spicy yeast. Buttery caramel with a milky sweetness, almost like a lacto stout. Malts are nutty and solid, like smooth peanut butter. Nice. Not much in the hop department, but the sweet is countered well by the spice.

Taste: Not as complex or as thick as the aroma, predominantly yeasty, tangy, and fruity with a bready pretzel base. Banana liqueur, vanilla ice cream, and leafy hops appear far in the background.

Mouthfeel: Smooth and perfectly carbonated, but a bit thin until you work up a froth in your mouth.

Drinkability: Though I wish the flavor were more robust, this is an easy beer to drink. Not the most interesting Dunkel out there, but the yeast adds enough of a twang to keep it from being boring.

A - Beautiful reddish brown
S - fresh aroma, spicy sweet.
T - Sweet start, fantastic dark bread flavor on the finish that took me by surprise. A bit too sweet for this to get full ratings from me, but many of the belgian beer lovers out there would probably go wild for this.
M - soft and mild carbonation. smooth and yummy
D - This is a great beer. Sweet enough to be interesting, but really not oversly sweet. Try it if you can find it.

Mr. Yahata (Beer Belly) was telling me something about Ginjokura, but I search around on the web for a connection and couldnt find one.