As keen craft beer buffs and frequent travelers to Japan, my associates and I are on your side. We would like to see Japan evolve beyond the 'easy drinking' image of throwaway lagers and build a new beer scene above and beyond. But you're losing us, Baird, really you are.
The Kurofune Porter, at 6% in common with the Brown Ale and IPA, and complete with another top label depicting a smirking General MacArthur, put me in mind of a dark beer invasion ready to change the minds of the lager-reliant Japanese populace.
Why then is is so damn fizzy? A porter is typically near flat on pouring, but as we tried this beer through a range of temperatures the key characteristic was the insane amount of aeration. It put me in mind of an even fizzier version of the similarly disappointing Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, almost cola-like in nature. After some time waiting for this to settle Nic had the bright idea of giving it a gentle shake to see if he could eliminate some fizz. One shake later, the room was covered in froth as if a brave meringue soldier had leapt on a live grenade.
And I haven't even got to the pervasive sour smell and initial taste of the beer either. Once you conquer all that, there is a porter in there somewhere. But any desire to drink it was long gone. A disappointing 2.0 / 10 from each taster.
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