White Nile
Kizakura Sake Brewing Co., Ltd.

This beer has an incredibly delicate and pale color and yet is topped with a persistent and foamy head. It almost has the appearance of a lager with the head of a hef. Lacing sticks to the glass here and there.

At first whiff I immediately noted the aroma of sun-dried hay and the barnyard aroma characteristic of saisons. After spending a little more time with this brew, I also picked up the scent of lemon rind, resinous pine, and slight phenols. A few buttery notes snuck in as well.

Light buttery malts followed by faint earthy pine hops. A slight hef-funk finish rounds this beer out nicely.

Slightly more carbonation than normal for a saison, but that's not necessarily a disservice. It makes it seem more refreshing. Also, the taste really sticks with you.

All around I think this is a pretty solid beer. It's definitely very light for a saison and could use a little more yeasty funk to more appropriately represent the style, but on the other hand it's a unique take on a saison that's well done.

Ingredients: Barley Malt, Hops, Durum Wheat (20%)(apparently the closed to what the ancient egyptians had)

This beer is the result of a project of sorts between Kyoto University and Waseda University, both of Japan, to create a beer similar to what was drunk in ancient Egypt. It uses the city water of Kyoto.

Murky yellow orange body and a nose that's both sour and sweet and wild -- a good set of aromas for an "ancient brew". Real gentle mouthfeel of restrained bubbles blends perfectly with the soft wheat flavor that dominates the palate after some initial sweetness and fruitiness. There's some mild diacetyl towards the finish of the beer, but it's balanced with a punch of bitterness that gives the beer refreshing finish.

Not being able to find any info about the yeast used and there not being a beers modeled after ancient recipes and this beer not mentioning any use of herbs or spices, I went with the saison style.

Kind of a cool beer, although all the press on it I could find was extremely vague on where this "recipe" came from. And the Egyptians using hops has to be another question.