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Wednesday, July 6, 2011
A few bottles of Hitachino Nest
Back in the middle of June Charles and I stopped into Devine Wines to pick up our silent auction item from Al Fresco - two tickets to Symphony Under the Sky - and of course I couldn't resist checking out the selections in their beer fridge. We ended up with a few bottles of Hitachino Nest from Japan's Kiuchi Brewery.
Though the brewery started with sake and continues to produce it, their ales are quite lovely. Since these three, we've also tried the Espresso Stout and XH at Sugarbowl. Our favourite by far is the White Ale. It's bubbly, ultra smooth and incredibly refreshing - the perfect patio beer. With some of the selection we tried, particularly the Nipponia (brewed with ancient Japanese barley and hops), we were left wanting a little more crispness, but otherwise the Hitachino Nest brews are truly enjoyable to sit down and sip.
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2 comments:
:-)Darrell here Marianne...the Hitachino Nest beers I've had over the last few months are the Red Rice Ale(great twist on Belgian strong ale), the Espresso Stout & their Japanese Classic Ale-an IPA aged in cedar casks/barrels. But I was Very impressed by a few Norwegian beers I've found(I'll have to watch for other varieties of). I actually receivef a brief e-mail of acknowledgement from Jens at the brewery, after I sent one myself praising their excellent Norwegian Wood. It's a re-creation of a traditional Nordic farmhouse ale, made with smoked malts & spiced with juniper twigs.
The other two I've had are Everything a good stout should be(but most...only lean in that direction, imho). The one I was most curious about is a Wheat Stout - right, a Wheat Stout. Google 'HaandBryggeriet Dark Force'...it is indeed dark, lol! They label the other one as a 'Norse Strong Dark Ale' but BeerAdvocate(RateBeer?)classify it as a Russian Imperial Stout. If only more stouts looked this stoutish, darker than dark & even most likely the darkest head I've seen on a beer(oh & 11%abv)! I found the Norwegian Wood & Dark Force at Sherbrooke but oddly the last one Odin's Tipple & the Dark Force at Keg'n'Cork.
One last thing & I'll stop my beer-babbling. I recently got`The Best Of American Beer: Pairing And Cooking With Craft beer by Lucy Saunders(the e-book for my new Kindle)...over 80 recipes. So I suppose I'll be buying a bit more American beer. I want to try Rogue's Chipotle Ale in a chili, or Brooklyn's Black Chocolate Stout. Or the Black Chocolate in a mole sauce...but now I'm really babbling & making myself hungry too!
Knew I forgot something! I had meant to pass along Lucy's website http://www.beercook.com/ .
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