Sorry Umami IPA
Yo-Ho Brewing Company

Yum Yum Fish beer. I always say "It Came From Japan" no further explanation necessary.

Clear yellow colored beer with a medium sized white colored head.

Smells of hops and vaguely of fish. Mildly floral hop scent and that is about it.

Stars out tasting like IPA and wood. Light bitterness. Does't really taste like fish.

Mouthfeel is OK.

Overall a weird beer.

 

No fish taste, vague salinity that passes for umami I guess. Very nondescript otherwise, and not especially hoppy. Paired with Venezuelan taqueños at Bolivar & Lincoln.

 

 

 

Poured from 350mL can into my BeerAdvocate teku. Canning date is a bit indecipherable; I *think* I can make out August 2020, which right now would be a "best-by" date rather than a canning date. Your mileage may vary, I guess.

Appearance: shimmery light-golden hue with a touch of haze and two thick fingers of frothy ivory foam atop. Seems pretty legit.

Smell: aroma is light, green, grassy hops, with a little bit of sweetness underneath. As an IPA, it's a bit wanting; as a pale ale, it is light and springy. Take your pick.

Taste: i mean; it's not bad. I don't think I'd call it an IPA. It absolutely has that hint of umami you might expect from bonito flakes, but it's not like an over-oxidized soy-sauce flavor, which is good. I would call this a perfectly cromulent pale ale; but an IPA, I think, it is not.

Mouthfeel: medium body with a quite-big carbonation and really quite a satisfying creaminess. Actually pretty darn good.

Overall: as the beer warms, I think I get more of the umami in the aroma as well. It doesn't change my opinion that this is actually a pretty solid bonito-flake pale ale, but really not a top-of-the-line bonito-flake IPA.

 

 

I saw this beer at the Asian market near me and curiosity got the best of me. It's surprisingly not gross, and you don't taste any of the bonito flake / fish. This is probably a good thing. Overall, it's a mediocre IPA at best.

 

Pour is pale light golden yellow with a nice finger and a half of pearly white foam that recedes in a leisurely fashion, leaving wonderful lacing as it goes.

Nose is surprisingly bright and pleasant. I was expecting more earthy low notes based on my associations with umami flavours. But this is actually bright high notes and is really inviting, starting to assuage some of my apprehensions around the stated additions. Bright citrus with some light tropical and grassy/floral notes.

Still not getting any fish. That's a good thing for me. Light spritzy citrus with a touch of the same floral/grassy noted on the nose. Finish turns more towards the earthy dank side of things that still doesn't actually present any fish/umami, but heads further that direction enough for my subconscious to throw up warning flags... kind of like how eating tongue is an incredible meat... tender flavourful and just great all around, but when you look down and see the tastebuds and it reminds you of what you're eating and it kind of puts up subconscious flags.

Thin body with spritzy aggressive carbonation. Finish takes a firm bitter line that holds through.

I was wary of this one going in, but it did not present the aspects that I was worried about, and was a pleasant lighter IPA/big APA. Don't be scared off by the threat of bonito flakes, but also don't get your hopes up if you're looking for something weird/gimmicky as I never would have guessed anything umami if it wasn't on the label.

 

 

 

3/14/19 can

 

 

 

Tasted in a snifter from a 12 oz can at Firkin on September 8, 2017. A Japanese IPA brewed with bonito flakes. I do not detect any fish flavors from the bonito flakes. Still, just an average IPA.