Hitachino Nest Amber Ale
Kiuchi Brewery

Hitachino Nest Amber AleHitachino Nest Amber Ale
Beer Geek Stats | Print Shelf Talker
From:
Kiuchi Brewery
 
Japan
Style:
American Amber / Red Ale
Ranked #72
ABV:
6%
Score:
86
Ranked #18,309
Avg:
3.83 | pDev: 14.88%
Reviews:
20
Ratings:
50
Status:
Active
Rated:
Aug 12, 2022
Added:
Dec 29, 2002
Wants:
  4
Gots:
  11
A red brown ale brewed with high-kilned malts. The toasty malt sweetness and fragrant aroma hops make this beer a deeper and pleasant brew.
View: More Beers
Recent ratings and reviews. | Log in to view more ratings + sorting options.
Ratings by JMikeWBuckley:
Photo of JMikeWBuckley
Rated by JMikeWBuckley from Japan

2.74/5  rDev -28.5%
look: 3 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 2.75 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.75

Nov 06, 2017
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 3.94 by benjaminsa from Vermont

Aug 12, 2022
Photo of JonnoWillsteed
Reviewed by JonnoWillsteed from England

3.82/5  rDev -0.3%
look: 4 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 4
L- Deep chestnut brown (versus 'Amber'!), clear, pours with 3mm mid-tan head. Holding well 15mins later.
S- Some bready toasty malts but also a fruity facet which seems closest to apple for me.
T- It reminds me of an English Bitter, quite toasty, prominent roasty malt notes, and a minor hoppy-dry flourish into the finish.
F- Nice, refreshing for a beer as dark as this. The fact it's a not insubstantial 6%ABV it quite well obscured by it's quite punchy Taste. As often with Japanese beer the carbonation both in the glass and mouth is notably high.
O- It's very drinkable, well as is typical of the 'Owl's Nest' beers. For the Japanese I think the aim in social culture, the beauty of producing something, is in balance and understated yet high quality. That's what I'm drinking here, beautifully balanced, no facets are shouty loud, and it all comes together into a lovely harmony, one that I would have zero problem enjoying again and again. A lovely beer.
330ml bottle BB: 04/21. I believe I bought this from BeersOfEurope/UK for home delivery.
Jul 31, 2020
Photo of Arjen
Reviewed by Arjen from Netherlands

3.67/5  rDev -4.2%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
33 cl bottle from Toko Dun Yong, A'dam - 95 cents only, due to it being a little past the BB date. Pours a deep red colour - darker than amber I would say. Firm rocky beige head with good retention. Aroma's of caramel malt, some hops and a bit of red fruit. Retronasal follows this, perhaps some bitterness as well. Flavour is light moderate bitter with light caramel malty sweetness. Normal body, not too thin. Finishes with moderate bitterness. Still very pleasant and well drinkable despite its age.
Jun 19, 2019
 
Rated: 4.21 by Kennyismyname from Philippines

Apr 18, 2019
 
Rated: 3.75 by jroof1 from Massachusetts

Nov 13, 2018
Photo of chinchill
Reviewed by chinchill from South Carolina

4.29/5  rDev +12%
look: 5 | smell: 4 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.75 | overall: 4.25
350 ml bottle with a bottling date of April 2018 in Fukuoka, Japan.
Dark reddish brown body with an excellent, durable beige head.
Nice, mild bready and lightly spicy aroma
Smooth full body with soft, medium carbonation.
Mildly bitter with a clear, spicy hop presence. Nonetheless, this has a generous, complex and rich malt load. Superb balance between the two.
Overall: highly recommended.
May 10, 2018
Photo of monkist
Reviewed by monkist from Hungary

4.7/5  rDev +22.7%
look: 4.5 | smell: 4.5 | taste: 4.75 | feel: 5 | overall: 4.75
Kiuchi brewery is just amazing, it is good to know that they will never let you down with whatever they brew! At least I am utterly satisfied with their beers.
This amber ale I also found almost as good as its American counterpart: looks, smells and tastes great with hints of roasted barley and high alpha acid hops. Round, semi-full body with zest and bitterness in the end, along with great fruity aromas in the nose. Feels absolutely great!
Hats off to Kiuchi again: not only do they make better beers than anyone else in Japan, they also come up with the best (classic) styles and make them perfect. Recommended to anyone!
Jan 05, 2018
 
Rated: 3.66 by Momon from Philippines

Dec 20, 2017
Photo of biboergosum
Reviewed by biboergosum from Canada (AB)

3.75/5  rDev -2.1%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.75 | overall: 3.75
330ml bottle - it's been a long while since I've stared into the equally staring eyes of the Nest Beer Owl.

This beer pours a clear, dark orange-brick brown colour, with two flabby fingers of puffy, loosely foamy, and bubbly pale tan head, which leaves some dissolving ice floe lace around the glass as it genially subsides.

It smells of semi-sweet, bready and doughy caramel malt, a tinge of biscuity toffee, muddled dark orchard fruity notes, an ethereal lost in translation yeastiness, and some musty, herbal, and floral green hop bitters. The taste is gritty and grainy caramel malt, warm toffee pudding, a still hard to parse black stone fruitiness, and more testy leafy, weedy, and grassy verdant hoppiness.

The carbonation is fairly forward in its somewhat aggressive frothiness, the body a decent medium weight, and sort of smooth, as the hops seem to have more sway here than I might have imagined. It finishes off-dry, the malt not really letting up, as the hop kiddies flail and fret about.

Overall, this is certainly the most American-style version of, well, anything that I have ever had from this brewery. I'm hardly getting any of that foreign yeasty character that I associate with Japanese offerings, which, for this camper, is typically a turn-off. So, um, good, I guess.
Apr 17, 2017
 
Rated: 4.02 by TGS from California

Mar 21, 2017
Photo of EmperorBevis
Reviewed by EmperorBevis from England

4.05/5  rDev +5.7%
look: 3.75 | smell: 3.75 | taste: 4.25 | feel: 4.25 | overall: 4
Bottled
Pours a cherry stain dark red body
with big foaming off white head
Aroma is part red liquorice and part mixed veg juice
Treacle flavour with red lace notes
Nice carb
Good red ale actually
Nov 04, 2016
 
Rated: 3 by ThisSeasonsWaifu from Sweden

Aug 05, 2016
 
Rated: 4 by mpenske from California

Jun 27, 2016
Photo of kitschiguy
Reviewed by kitschiguy from Hong Kong

3.5/5  rDev -8.6%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.25 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.25 | overall: 3.5
Pours a dark brown with not much of a head. What head does form disappears very quickly. (Not amber at all)

Nose is hoppy with some caramel and dark fruit.

Palate is interesting - quite fruity and malty with a distinct bitterness at the end. A little bit of coffee as well. Quite well balanced.

Mouth is ok if a little watery.

Overall a pretty enjoyable beer. Something a little bit different. I'm really confused by a lot of Japanese beer branding and marketing though. It feels like they try to be too clever when they should be keeping it simple, focussing less on marketing and hype and more on the product.

Recommended for fans of the style.
Mar 30, 2016
Photo of kofukasho
Rated by kofukasho from Japan

3.29/5  rDev -14.1%
look: 3.25 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.25 | feel: 3 | overall: 3.25
As far as Japanese amber ales go it's not quite up there with Minami Shinshu, but it's a satisfying, fragrant ale nonetheless.
Jun 24, 2015
Photo of interzen
Reviewed by interzen from England

3.49/5  rDev -8.9%
look: 3.75 | smell: 2.75 | taste: 3.75 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.75
330ml bottle poured into a chalice glass

Look: Definitely more coppery than amber - quite dark with no haze or sediment to speak of. Thin white head which disappears pretty quickly to a (very) thin layer of foam and not a lot else.

Smell: Not a lot going on, even after standing for a while - very faint hint of hops and a hint of malt and dark fruit. Hard to pick out anything significant though.

Taste: Interesting transition from hops to malt and fruit to hops again - the taste is, thankfully, more prominent and varied than the smell. There's a fairly hoppy start after which the dark fruits and malt/yeast flavours kick in before giving way to a dry, hoppy finish. All in all a fairly complex flavour profile.

Feel: Hoppy to begin with, smoothing out fairly quickly. Lack of carbonation means that it feels a bit flat.

Overall: Interesting, definitely interesting. Not quite as hoppy as I've grown to like but not bad as amber ales go, although it could do with a bit more carbonation to give it a bit of punch. Unfortunately, it's just one amber in a field of many and being from Japan isn't enough to make it stand out from the crowd - worth trying if you come across it but not really worth a special effort to hunt down.
May 02, 2015
 
Rated: 3.25 by mscudder from Georgia

Oct 30, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by torriman from Spain

Oct 28, 2014
Photo of The_Mad_Capper
Reviewed by The_Mad_Capper from Japan

4.2/5  rDev +9.7%
look: 4.75 | smell: 4 | taste: 4 | feel: 4.5 | overall: 4.5
There's plenty of fresh, spicy pine in the aroma along with some grapefruit; a bit of toffee and bread crust appear after a minute or so. Pours a light tan head with fair retention; the body is reddish brown. The flavor is dominated by resiny bitterness, pinewood, and grapefruit with a touch of orange rind. The malt is definitely secondary but does appear predominantly in the finish with a nutty and bread-like character. In the mouthfeel is some alcohol warming and a medium-light body with crisp, spritzy carbonation.

Very delicious and satisfying. The malt is clearly overpowered by the hops, putting this one in a gray area between American amber and IPA. The malt appears almost as an afterthought but perhaps rounds off the intensity of the hop bittering to produce a potent but drinkable brew. The hop bitterness is neither excessive nor harsh; and the malt, while subtle, adds a little depth and smoothness to the flavor.
Oct 08, 2014
Hitachino Nest Amber Ale from Kiuchi Brewery
Beer rating: 86 out of 100 with 50 ratings