Brown Ale
Isekado Brewery

 

 

A huge beige foam fills the Dogfish Head fisheye pint glass on initial pour. Slowly settling after a long while a dark brown old copper, murky beer emerges (SRM 21-23). Eventually the glass is coated in lacing.

Sweet malt is powerful with moist wheat bread followed by old leather and oak.

Sweet with hoppy bitterness. Notes of figs, pumpernickel and toasted malt are modest but linger in the musty, bitter finish.

A medium body with modest carbonation and hints of alcohol comprise a soft texture that dries late in the session.

This is a good brown ale for a warmer summer day, however it is more assertive than I think the style calls for.

 

A: The beer is very hazy brownish amber in color and has a light amount of visible carbonation. It poured with a two finger high frothy beige colored head that took a long time to die down, consistently leaving a quarter finger high mushroom-shaped stack of bubbles in the center and a short head around it. It left some lacing down the sides of the glass.
S: Moderate aromas of earthy and musty yeast are present in the nose along with some notes of oak.
T: The taste is similar to the smell, except that the oak flavors are stronger and stand out in front of the musty yeast, the latter of which contributes slight amounts of sourness.
M: It feels light- to medium-bodied on the palate and has a moderate to high amount of carbonation.
O: This beer doesn't taste anything like an American Brown Ale and offers little in the way of hops or malts in the smell and taste. Perhaps the beer needs to be had fresh instead of in a bottle shipped across the Pacific.

Had this on cask at Cheers in Kilograms, Japan. It's billed as an American Brown but my husband and I felt it tasted almost like a Belgian Brown. Very tasty. I'm not a huge hop fan but this still had enough hops to come across as very well balanced. And it's great to find a local real ale in a country that doesn't always celebrate good beer.

Had this on tap at Vivo in Ikebukuro, Tokyo. A wonderful brown ale in a country which does not offer such flavors. Very reminiscent of Sierra Nevada but with a different woody twist. Nice appearance with an off-white thick head, and a smell that captured the fermenting/wood history of the brew. Nice and thick in the mouth with a pleasantly bitter aftertaste. I would recommend this beer full-heartedly if you can find it!