Karuosu
Matsuya Kyoto Machiya Beer Brewery

 

The bottle says "Kölnisch-type" but I think that is the same as the one mentioned in the previous reviews. The bottle also says "a new historical chapter is recorded in our culture," which is perhaps a more dubious claim.

A bit darker color than the usual kolsch, and a tad cloudy. There is a nice white head with large bubbles that quickly dissipate. Carbonation is fairly good, contributing to a nice mouthfeel. Lemon grass-like aroma and flavor, a bit of caramel on the back end. Not too different than a kolsch, in my opinion, but more stylistic. Not a bad beer. I would happily consume more.

I note that there is a born-on and expiration date on the bottle. Born on 13 February, expires 12 March! This is a very short time period (4 weeks). There is also a dire warning (not in English) on the accompanying box about keeping this beer cold, or else. The clerk I bought it from also stressed this to me. I think it must be bought cold, kept refrigerated, and consumed very soon. That might explain some of the other reviews.

I bought this, and a few others, at Kyoto station in a market near the Shinkansen entrance.

I didn't find this beer to be as bad as previous reviewers have noted, although its not a style I would usually reach for. Perhaps the difference is that I had it fresh at their Kyoto brewery on a bitchin' hot late fall day. Golden body with a large white head, served in a lovely kolsch glass. Things are looking good! Aroma has a bit of lemon and some dry grains. Crisp taste, a bit more malt profile than I was expecting, but the flavour could do with a boost. Light body and fairly aggressive carbonation, but good for a hot day. Neither disappointing nor impressive.

This was one of worst beers that I've had in a long time. It had a heavily oxidized flavor making be think that it was bottled incorrectly and/or very old when it was sold. Which is odd because my friend who shared the beer with me had picked up the bottle at the brewery not even one week ago. So there's no distributer to blame here.

Slightly cloudy appearance and certainly not to the Koelsch style. Its a shame because it seems as if the brewers probably started with good ingredients.

As a consolation, there is some great Janglish on the label :

"When you describe Kyoto, you couldn't skip them : pure water, old wooden house in a row and food culture. This beer whose mother is the honorable and whose father is beer boasted of by Germany. A new historical chapter is recorded in our culture."

Yeah, the chapter of good intentions producing nasty microbeer. Which is a shame because Japan could really use some variety.

The most disappointing of the 3 beers I tried at this brewery in Kyoto. Gold, quiet appearance, with a flowery hop aroma. Taste, too, was flowery hop, with something of wheat pushing through eventually. Drinkable, but overall thin and light, pretty boring.