hitachino nest beers

I've been seeing posts on Hitachino Nest beers for some time now.

And found out from Rowena that it was International Stout Day on the 3rd (woo!).

Hitachino Nest beers are a craft beer made in Ibaraki prefecture by Kiuchi Brewery.

While we have a lot of International beers, I don't see many Japan craft beers in Osaka.

Craft beers are called "ji-biru" (gee-bee-roo), literally meaning local brews, so most only circulate in their areas.

I had hoped to find some of these nest beers in Osaka (because I didn't want to pay the postage), but came up empty, so I finally ordered four different beers from them.

Espresso Stout, 7.5% alcohol, very smoky and had a punch to it, my favorite.

White Ale, 5.5% alcohol, we had this with pupu-style (appetizer style) leftovers. This beer was citrusy.

Sweet Stout, 4.5% alcohol, not as much punch as the espresso stout, but smoky, a little chocolatey...delicious.

Japanese classic ale, this one is made like they made beer in the Edo Period and is aged in cedar barrels. 7.5% alcohol, fruity with a slight bitter aftertaste.

We had this one with our mille feuille...yum!

Actually, when the delivery dude brought them he had his truck temperature a little too low and they were pretty much "slushy". He was afraid that the temperature change would affect the taste.

The bottles didn't crack, so I didn't feel there would be any problem with them and didn't file a claim or return them.

A little tidbit...Did you know that in Japan the owl is usually a symbol meaning "no stress"? A play on words "fukuro" (foo-coo-row) in Japanese means no-stress and also owl. So you often see owls, as amulets/good luck charms, to ward off "stress", "hard times".

Overall, these beers were delicious, I'd definitely buy from them again.

The summery weather continues here, though they are forecasting the temps to FINALLY be going down next week...we'll see.