Lately you may have noticed the craft brew renaissance has started to sweep into your local pub, restaurants and supermarkets. More and more people are embracing these unique styles of brews that the normal Macro beers can’t hold a candle to. More recently older craft brands that have been around since the late 80’s and early 90’s have started to regain popularity and the notoriety they deserve. One company from Japan has been brewing beer since 1996 and only since the past few years has been slowly making its way into the mainstream craft market. This company known as Hitachino Nest Beer brewed by Kiuchi Brewing has started to raise some eyebrows and tantalize people’s palates. 

Kiuchi Brewing Company, who is manly known for making world-class sakes, founded Hitachino Nest Beer in early 1996. They started incorporating different styles of beers with there own unique cultural heritage. Because of the lack of locally grown ingredients that one would normally use for brewing (malts, hops etc.) most are imported. They also use red rice; native spices and of course sake in some of there brews. A few of there styles are there Red Rice Ale and Japanese Classic Cedar Cask Ale.

Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale (Belgian Strong Ale) -ABV 7.0%

This brew, for the style, is very unique. It pours a nice reddish hue almost berry like with aromas of fruity sweetness and sake. The tasting notes on this beer are very different then expected. It looked like it would be super sweet and very tart, which was not the case. It was very light with hints of sweetness from the malt, a fruity wine like quality followed by milky sake taste which left this beer being slightly sweet, smooth and refreshing. The sake notes that come from the rice are very unusual but show how playing with different ingredients in traditional styles pays off big. I personally could only drink a few, but I can see how this is a very popular beer among the craft drinkers. This brew would pair well with a light arugula salad, a creamy cheese with some fruit and also a nice grilled salmon.

Hitachino Nest Japanese Classic Ale (English style IPA) -ABV 7.0%

This twist on the classic English IPA results in a remarkably complex, yet sessionable brew. Japanese Classic Ale has aromas of herbs, spices and some citrus. The color of this brew is a nice golden hue with great head retention.

One of the better characteristics of this brew is how light it looks and drinks. The use of cedar casks, that are traditionally used for aging sake help give a rounded fullness and creates a nice mild hoppy brew, that is smooth and crisp. The cedar notes are very apparent, but still not to overwhelming for the palate, in fact it leaves one to be able to drink a few of these great brews. Being that this beer has big flavor yet is mild it would pair well with a number of spicy foods, sushi and would go great with some steamed clams. One could even use this brew for cooking up some delicious seafood dishes.

Hitachino is certainly one of my favorite breweries that I will certainly enjoy for some time to come. Not only are they increasingly pushing the boundaries with there brews but have such an array of different styles with a unique spin on them that will certainly keep pleasing ones palate and asking for more. I hope to see more of this brewery in our local pubs, restaurants and stores.

Cheers,

Thomas Barris

The Wild Cicerone