Sakitumi Heavyweight
Lagunitas Brewing Company

special edition of the rice and sake yeast ipa they did, but in barleywine form with a bunch of richer and heavier malts, fermented rather dry, so its strong as heck. i think the hops show up as more balanced in this version since there is some grain in support. its neat with the rice because the body stays incredibly light for a barleywine, even though the flavor contribution is minimal at best. the sake yeast is subtle too, to me slightly green grapey and peary, a little mineral thing to it too, slate and clay, its run over a bit by hops, this is a bruiser in the american style, but its nuanced enough to stand out, really clean on the finish for what it is, bitter but fast finishing. the hops bring a little spiciness to this, some pine, might have been worth trying to get something other than a classic northwestern high alpha profile in this, but i like the way it turned out overall. faint penny metallic thing as it warms, some graham cracker and honey character to the malt, and an almost white wine ester in the mix as well. this is a lot of things happening at once, but it works. adventurous brew for these guys, solid result. i think both the rice and the special sake yeast could be more prominent and this would be even more remarkable, but i appreciate the effort. boozy but also dangerously light to drink.