More of the Hitachino Nest beers available imported, I had the white ale a couple days ago. Poured with moderate head that dissapated pretty quickly, but bubbles carry on. A cloudy light yellow. This is a white similar to Hoegarten, has added spices of corriander and orange peel. Pleasant aroma. The spices are subtler than Hoegarten, making for a nice drink. I think I like this one the best so far, 3 out of 4 lightly drunk monkeys (5% alcohol).
Red Rice Ale – specified on the label as brewed using red rice, definitely no German purity law brew here! And as such, it tastes like it. Poured with large head (think I may have pour a bit more aggresively), cloudy medium dark amber/red. Didn’t detect any really distinctive odor. Definite sweet, dangerously close to a malt liquor. Nicely controlled bitter finish, but honestly there was little that appealed to me. Not one of my faves, 2 out 4 rice fume burping monkeys (long after finishing, after taking a shower even, rice aftertaste).
Interesting. The Kiuchi Brewery Hitachino Nest Beer Red Rice Ale has traditional barley malt with some rice as an adjunct. 7.0 ABV! Wow!
Beware the term “malt liquor” – in USDM parlance, it is only a legal definition based on alcohol content, and has absolutely nothing whatsoever with the flavor or style of brew. Generally anything 5% ABV or greater made from a decoction of malted barley, so that includes both “good” beers with a high alcohol content and the cheap, krappy heavily adjuncted “ghetto juice” sold in 40-ounce screw-top bottles. I know what you mean by the sweet taste and its relation to “American malt liquors”, as some of those in addition to cheap corn, often have cheaper sugar or dextrose added as adjuncts, and are generally low in expensive hopping.
Nice hooters.
I’m still drinking my SPEIGHT’S ale.