Abashiri Prison Stout
Abashiri, K.K.

 

 

L- Initially black to the eye, but held up close to a halogen lamp you see the quite typical stout-like deep ruby red glints through the edges of the glass.Pours with 3mm fine pale tan head, clearing pretty swiftly.
S- Coffee, slightly smokey, roasty/toasty.
T- Taste completely mirrors the Smell^, and in order of prominence.
F- Quite rich, deep and complex, it would make a good winter beer. Decent carbonation in the mouth, something that JPnese beer drinkers reeeally expect.
O- Nice, complex, idiosyncratic beer, but I'm unlikely to ever see it on sale again.
Bought from The Japan Centre, off Leicester Square, London/UK. 330ml bottle. Side-note: Japanese 330ml bottles tend to be shorter and wider than Western ones.... hmm. Ticket price £8.99, reduced to £4.50 (to clear?). BB: 7-Sep-2019.

Some research on the beers name dug up...
- Abashiri was a prison town from the late 1800s onwards. (x-ref the isolation of being in prison on a then remote island off the mainland).
- Apparently the prison held political prisoners. (So a form of political exile far away from the more southern centres of power?)
- The city prison is now in new facilities. The old one is now a museum and also houses this brewery.
- This was gleaned from Japanese local news source soranews24.com

330 ml brown bottle from Abashiri on the train from Abashiri to Asahikawa. BB date stamped 2018-09-19.
The body is clear reddish-brown but very dark. Thin off-white head.
Excellent flavor with plenty of dark malts, hints of chocolate, no smoke, and faint black coffee. Rich yet mild.
Creamy smooth, full body with light carbonation.