Kiuchi Brewery’s  Hitachino Nest

The Kiuchi Brewery was established in 1823 by Kiuchi Gihei, the headman of Kounosu village. His family was collecting rice from farmers as land taxes for the Mito Tokugawa family. He began his brewery with the idea of using the remaining rice stocks in the warehouse.

Mikio Kiuchi inherited the brewery legacy in 1950. At the time, the sake industry flourished amid a rapidly growing, post-war Japanese economy. Although many sake breweries started mass producing low quality sake due to increased demand, Kiuchi Brewery maintained their policy of pursuing the best quality of sake with the optimum ingredients and craftsman-ship.

In autumn 1996, Kiuchi started beer brewing business, named the brand “HITACHINO NEST BEER” with unique owl character logo. Over the years, Kiuchi Brewery has gained worldwide attention by winning awards at numerous world beer competitions.

Red Rice Ale:

The brewing process starts with the polishing, washing, soaking and steaming of rice [25% of total grain bill] to break down complex type b-starch molecules into short type a ones.  Afterwards, pilsner malt is added to the mashing process. Two different yeasts (ale and sake yeast) must be used as regular beer yeast is not able to convert the rice sugars into alcohol.

A fermentation time of two weeks is followed by a maturation period of four weeks. Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale is filtered, but left unpasteurized.

Notes: red orange hue, rich starchy aroma with hints of cinnamon, brown sugar and strawberry, light and refreshing palate with rice, yeast and mellow hops flavors with more cherry and strawberry on the palate, without being sweet.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Japanese Classic Ale:

 Hitachino Japanese Classic Ale is brewed according to this original Japanese brewing process. It is bottle-conditioned with a fine creamy head on top. British traditional hops such as Kent Goldings and Challenger were used in the production.

Notes: a classic and lovely ale, with light spicy hints of clove and cardamom, and slight orange with a nice hoppy undertone.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sweet Lacto Stout

Hitachino Nest Sweet Lacto Stout is one of the last, true examples of this classic beer style, which was first documented in the 1900s in England. The nutritional value of lactose, a by-product of cheese making, is widely credited in the further development of this style throughout the 20th and 21st centuries , in particular during and after both World Wars. As milk sugars are not fermentable by beer yeast, sweet stouts are characterized by their low level of alcohol [around 3.5% alc.vol], rather modest carbonation, and hints of sweetness on the palate and finish. The rise of mass produced beers in the later part of the 21th century, however, caused the demise of this classic style. A fermentation period of about 10 days and a maturation time of three more weeks conclude the brewing of Hitachino Nestbier Sweet Stout.

notes: coffee, coco, hint of sweetness on nose with a slight bing cherry character, mostly dry on palate, reminiscent of espresso