Ibaraki

I've had nothing but good experiences with Hitachino beers so I jumped at the chance to pick up a bottle of their winter seasonal Commemorative Ale. The label isn't terribly informative so I wasn't real sure what to expect from this beer. All I knew at the time of purchase is that this beer is 9% alcohol and was brewed with coriander, orange peel, nutmeg and cinnamon. Sound festive? Yeah, not really... but it still sounds pretty good and considering Hitachino beers have been quite good to me so far, I took the gamble and got a bottle.

This is the second Hitachino Nest beer that I've had this year. My first was the Red Rice Ale which really surprised me. I wasn't expecting a Japanese rice beer to be so flavorful and ...good. So when I saw the Hitachino Nest White Ale at the store a couple weeks ago I just had to get it. Part of me thought that maybe the Red Rice Ale was a fluke and the other beers from Kuichi will be more like what I'd expected. Today I finally decide to open up this White Ale and give it due diligence. I soon noticed that Kiuchi had done it again, first impressions of this beer were pretty surprising. The best way to describe the Hitachino Nest White Ale is to think of a traditional Witbier that has was brewed with a little bit of lemon and orange. The appearance of this beer is what you'd expect from other Wits, though it is a little darker yellow and slightly more opaque. All of the other flavors in the beer are signatures of the Wit style. This beer is sour and a little spicy but everything is balanced nicely by the sweet citrus flavors.