Dru’s Honey Amber Ale (Hitachino Nest U-Brew)

In June, I headed up to Mito to brew some beer at Kiuchi Brewery, aka Hitachino Nest.  I had a great time and had to wait a while to get my beer.  It had been a few weeks since I got my beer before I finally had a chance to really evaluate it.  I have had it a several times already but I wanted to make sure I got the flavour notes the way I wanted to describe it.  Do note that I am generally more critical of my own beer and I am not a professional beer taster.  I just explain things the way I like to explain it.

Hitachino Nest Brew on Premises Kettles

My Honey Amber Ale started off with a basic amber ale base and I tweaked it with honey.  The process was pretty simple and you can read all about it in my past post about it.  When I got the beer, it was a nice colour.  It was not quite the colour I wanted but it was pretty close.  I enjoyed the head on it as well.  It pours very nicely but the carbonation was a little higher than I had expected.  The beer also ended up being 7%, a little higher than I expected.

My Honey Amber Ale from Hitachino Nest (With Sox)

The first sip I took was not what I was expecting.  It was a little tart when I was expecting something smoother.  I’m not very good at tasting the honey but my friend said he could taste the honey.  I found the honey to be very muted, but it was there.  I remember reading that honey is better at binding the flavours of beer rather than enhancing them with added sweetness.  This is due to boiling the honey prior to fermentation, I think.

Dru’s Honey Amber Ale

The beer itself is very refreshing and good in the summer.  It isn’t a perfect summer beer as it was still a little heavy in general.  The carbonation made it a little prickly and the smell wasn’t as pleasing as I had hoped.  It smelt a little skunky, but this may have been from the French hops I used, or even the chinooks.  It is still a good beer overall but not something that I would make again.  I would definitely have to change things a little.

Custom Labels for my Honey Amber Ale

Overall, the beer is very drinkable and still very good.  I like it but the perfectionist in me wants to alter it to be better in different ways.  I hope to get another chance to make it again in the future but we’ll see.  It is expensive to go up there often to brew beer but I hope to set a tour to go up there again in the future.

Information

• Kiuchi Brewery (Official Site)
• Kiuchi Brewery (Official Site – English)
• Hitachino’s Brew on Premises (Past Blog Post)