Japanese Lager
Buoy Beer Company

Look: Medium yellow and nearly clear on the pour, which generates a head to form and deflate to a lid, leaving nice lacing behind

Aroma: Rice water, pilsner malt, floral hop notes, a nectar-like sweetness, and crackers

Taste: Opens up with rice and the nectar-like sweet note and those hold for a moment and deepen. Flowers come next with notes of petunia, honeysuckle, and daylily in play while cracker-led pilsner malt and rice water battle for malt superiority until it closes out with sweet floral notes

Mouthfeel: Light but full, clean, medium-high carbonation, and smooth and clean on the finish with a hint of crispness

Overall: I dig it. This is a solid and tasty Japanese Lager and something I didn’t figure I’d see these folks make since it has been trending up lately but they hadn’t gotten onto the bandwagon until now. I’ll be buying more of this while it’s around, although I can’t say it’s top-tier in my book, but it’s worth checking out just the same

Pours a light golden yellow with a medium foamy head. Aroma is semi-sweet malt. Taste is sweet, malt and a bit of hop bitterness. Good Japanese Lager. BOD 6-26-2025

- golden yellow, a bit darker than typical for the style. A softer, more substantial mouthfeel than other northwest craft Japanese lagers. The Rice is evident and pleasing. A couple pints of this would be perfect (I’m have a simple 12 oz can into a pilsner glass). Very tasty.