[BW] Beer Blog

Brewery: Kuichi Brewery
Style: Winter Warmer
BeerAdvocate.com Rating: B+ (Community)
RateBeer.com Rating: 3.65 (92nd percentile)
Serving: 12oz bottle

My experience with Asian beer has been disappointing thus far. I’ve lived in South Korea and have had ample access to Asian beers, yet so far not one of them has been an enjoyable experience. This isn’t to say that there isn’t good craft beer being brewed in the far east, it’s just that none of it has reached my palate.

This is where Kuichi comes into play. I’ve seen their beers at Asian markets such as Uwajimaya, but out of ignorance wrote them off as expensive lagers. This, however, isn’t the case as Kuichi’s line of Hitachino Nest brews are a whole array of different styles of ale. After hearing great things from a couple friends of mine, I had to give one a shot. Of the three I had access to, I chose their seasonal Celabration Ale.

Full bodied beer with sweet wheat flavor and beautiful dense foam. Pleasant bitterness and unique spicy aroma with Orange Peel, Coriander, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, and Vanilla Beans.

Appearance - Big, couple fingers worth of off-white head. The beer itself is a dark golden color that is obviously very much wheat-based due to how hazy it looks. There’s also quite a bit of sediment from the bottom of the bottle.

Smell - Smells very yeasty with strong hues of orange peel. Virtually no hop or malt presence.

Taste - Sweet, tart, and not a whole lot else. Maybe I just got a bad bottle or perhaps I’m missing something, but I’m not picking up what other reviewers seem to have found. All I’m finding is a fairly uninspired wheat beer with a lot of carbonation and a higher alcohol content.

I really don’t know what else to say other than I’m obviously disappointed. Don’t get me wrong, it’s great that Asian breweries are finally deviating from brewing crappy lagers, but crappy ales won’t get you much further. I’m definitely going to try another one of Kuichi’s ales before I write them off, but I’m not a fan of this one. This beer seems to have a lot of fans though, so read over some other reviews before you take my word for it.

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