Hitachino Espresso Stout

Back to Hitachino, with a bit more optimism here based on their last performance.

Hmm, big nose here, not bad but intimidating. I had thought this to be, well, not quite a gimmick but a beer very strongly based on the 'stout with coffee in it' trope and little else. Instead it's 7.5%, based on a russian imperial stout by the sounds, and definitely not your typical coffee stout. It's a solid RIS body for a start, pure inky black, with a loitering tan head. The nose settles into a coffee sort of mode with depth and complexity once it's had some time.

Tastewise too this is lovely stuff, a fine performance, and the depth of taste belies the abv in a way in that it could be symptomatic of a beer 1-2% higher. This is full on flavour, mostly coffee but with the notes you'd like from an imperial stout also, a beer that really indicates brewers here who know well what they're doing.

Really impressive stuff again. Maybe slightly sour first up, maybe slightly dry aftertaste as well but gee I'm picking faults in what is a very good beer. Recommended. 8.5

Hitachino XH Extra High

Extra Strong 8% the most prominent thing on the label.. yet it's actually 8.5%.. you wouldn't get away with that in Aus. Even on ratebeer it's at 8.0% but .. haha.. read the Japanese bit. Unless they're measuring alcohol on a non-abv scale, this is more likely to put you over than it initially appears. Whoops.

The label suggests this one is brewed using more malts and hops than usual (yep), and matured for six months - well, this bottle's been there a bit longer so maybe even more so. It's maybe not in its prime this one to be honest and that, plus a mixed sort of experience with beers that market themselves only as high alcohol in the past, makes me a bit apprehensive here. Still, it's a tight fluffy head, and a pleasing strong ale dark colour.

After pouring, there's a bit of sourness here on the nose along with alcohol notes and malt, and the sourness makes me wonder about its age once again until I notice that this one has also been matured in both sake and shochu casks. This really does give it a pronounced funky character that I really dig alongside the nutty strong ale vibes. It's deep and complex and while I don't get a lot of the belgian yeast quality, it's all come across nicely as a package. Spicy caramel finish rounds out what is a complex and compelling beer, quite contrary to expectations.

Very, very interesting stuff.. can't wait to try more, and will visit next time in Japan. 8.0