Hitachino Nest Barrel Edition XH Sour
Hitachino (Kiuchi) Brewery

....looking for a little more sour...refreshing to be sure

 

Things are progressing nicely with regard to my ongoing and systematic eradication of the Bottle Backlog here at Chez Woody and the results are noticeable, but it becomes incumbent upon me to drink and review new beers as they become available. I refer to this as "chipping", since it is just odds & sods without any overarching theme, such as brewery and/or style.

From the bottle: "Sour Ale Matured in Wine Barrels"; "Brewed in 2012".

As to that last, this bottle was one of the last on the shelf at Hunger-n-Thirst's bottle shop during a recent visit & my curiosity was piqued just enough to buy it.

I Pop!ped the cap & began a gentle pour, in keeping with my New Year's Resolution and my Lenten denial. Aggro pours from bottles are now (mostly) a thing of the past. An in-glass swirl raised a brief finger of foamy, light-tan head with very limited retention, quickly falling away to wisps. My efforts seem to be paying off as the color was Amber to Deep Amber/Light Copper (SRM = > 9, < 13) with a faint haze that seemed to be clarifying as I typed, suggesting a chill haze. Nose had a sour, vinous funkiness to it, but not in an overwhelming way. I am coming to enjoy these beers more than I used to, but as a hophead, they are never going to be my bag. Mouthfeel was kind of thin, not entirely watery, but pretty close. The taste was lightly sour and I felt it in the hinges of my jaw, but it was not overpowering. It had a dryness like a white wine, but that is an imprecise analogy. To the best of my knowledge, white wine is not usually aged in wood, but instead in stainless steel & there was definitely a woody quality to this one, but without any charring, like white oak. Man, I am really working to try to get this one across. I am not an oenophile by any stretch, but my time in the SF Bay Area with my uncle & his friend as amateur winemakers exposed me to a few things. The take-away from this is not to be intimidated by the word "Sour" on the label. This was a comparatively mild sensation as compared to some that I have drank. Finish was dry, no getting around that, and sour, to boot, but reasonable. The price point was entirely reasonable, hence my willingness to try it, and so I would encourage other curious types to give it a whirl & report back. We may all be surprised.

 

 

 

Pours a hazy, copper color. 1/4 inch head of an off-white color. Slight retention and slight lacing. Smells of bacterial funk, yeast, sweet malt, hint of hops, alcohol, slight fruit, and wood. Fits the style of an American Wild Ale. Mouth feel is sharp and crisp, with an average carbonation level. Tastes of bacterial funk, yeast, sweet malt, hint of hops, alcohol, slight fruit, strong wine, and wood. Overall, weak appearance, good aroma and blend, body is quite strong, and the complexity is good.

A: Pours a relatively clear reddish copper in color with moderate amounts of active visible carbonation rising from the bottom of the glass and faint red wine purple highlights. The beer has a finger tall sudsy foamy tan head that quickly reduces to a medium to large sized patch of very thin film and a medium thick ring at the edges of the glass. Minimal amounts of lacing are observed.

S: Moderate to strong aromas of dark fruit (cherries and plums), dark malts, and red wine along with a light to moderate amount of tartness/sourness.

T: Upfront there is a moderate flavor of dark malts with a moderate flavor of red wine and a touch of sweetness. That is followed by moderate to strong flavors of dark fruits (cherries and plums) and a moderate amount of tartness/sourness. There is a lingering moderate sourness.

M: Medium bodied with moderate amounts of carbonation. Very light amounts of acidic prickliness

O: Nice amounts of complexity to the flavors and aromas from this beer along with well hidden alcohol. Pretty easy to drink and quite interesting as a hybrid of a BSDA and a Wild Ale. Glad I grabbed one of the these when I saw it.

 

 

 

 

A red/orange color with a tiny light tan head.
Sweet fruit aroma.
Sour taste up front with sweet plum in the aftertaste.
Nicely tart, with a nice balance between tart and sweet.

 

 

Pours a super-effervescent copper with a sliver of pearl colored head. Hazes a bit at the end, minimal lacing & less head retention

S: Sourness, some berries

T: Sourness, maybe a little raspberry, plenty of tartness, a little vanilla & plenty of dryness. Much tartness & berry, some oaky dryness & a little sweetness as this warms, a little leafy hops. Finishes with acidity, a little berry & vanilla sweetness wrapped in a bunch of sour/tart

MF: Light/medium body, fairly assertive carbonation, enamel chewing acidity

Drinks fairly easy for a complex sour, nails the style