Kyūri Sake Bīru
Black Hog Brewing Co.

 

From the 16 oz. can. No date but sampled on Oct. 20, 2018.

The pour is a light amber color with a long -lasting foamy white head and lacing.

I pick up a subtle aroma of roasted malts, milk or cream, and a low hop profile. An odd sort of vegetable oil thing.

Medium and smooth body.

This one is brewed with cucumbers and that vegetable is quite evident in the taste. I got it immediately! Otherwise, sweet bready malt sweetness and a dry finish.

Appearance - Pours cloudy yellow with huge white head even with a light pour that lasts forever. Not much lacing.

Aroma - Very cucumber forward, the sake yeast is coming through well. Some sweet fruit and light citrus.

Taste - Lots of fresh cucumber, drinks alot like a saison with the yeast and a touch of funk.

Feel - Light bodied higher carbonation slightly dry finish.

Overall - Very unique beer and really tasty, light crisp flavors.

 

Well, this is a pretty unique idea! The label says that this is a 4.5% ABV rice ale with cold-pressed cucumber juice, fermented with a sake yeast strain. BA lists it as a 6% beer, but I guess that was likely when it was brewery only, or another batch or something. This one made it out to market and I picked up a single. Black Hog has been hit-or-miss to me, but when they hit I'm weirdly satisfied by their creations. Let's hope this is one of the good ones!

Pours a golden color with very little clarity and a nice steady stream or two of carbonation rising from the bottom of my glass. The head is dense, retentive and surprisingly well-formed, sitting at about a finger-and-a-half even after ten or so minutes in my glass, following multiple pours. This beer has awesome legs, solid sticky lace and a really nice color, so I'm going to go ahead and give it some really high marks. This is impressive right off the bat!

The nose is cucumber forward with some light notes of ruby-red grapefruit. I also get distinct notes of two different, specific kinds of candy: peach rings and watermelon Jolly Ranchers. As you can probably tell, this has a sweet aspect to it that is undeniable, but it also has some light biscuity malt showing up here and there as well. Very cool!

The flavor profile is watermelon candy, cucumber, apricot and peach with a side of fresh-baked biscuits. Very fruity with a light citrus note that definitely leans on grapefruit without having any astringent bitterness. This is a very approachable beer with a complex concept. I really wish more breweries would work with this kind of ingenuity, because Black Hog has created something that is more than the sum of its parts here. I initially thought this was going to be very strange, but I would say it boils down to being one of the better "sessionable Summer ales" I've had in the past few years.

The feel is light upfront, with some heft toward the mid-palate as the juiciness takes hold. The finish is lighter still toward the end of each sip with a very nice dry aspect combining with the peach-like flavors, providing a thirst-quenching element that I very much appreciate. This is awesome! One of the best lower-ABV brews I've had lately, with an amazing concept and execution to boot.