Hitachino Nest Red Rice Ale:
Hello one and all and welcome back to another beer review from your world traveling writer…well, world traveler on the beer isle at least.  So today we jump to the island nation of Japan and since there seems to be plenty of beers coming out of the land of the rising sun, I picked the most intriguing to me and decided to go with them as a representative sample. The first beer up is Hitachino Nest Red Rice Beer, a strong Belgian Pale Ale that uses a historic red rice from Japan for a unique taste and a slight red tint to the beer.  The beer produces a decent but thin white head that doesn’t really last on the beer and only leaves subtle lacing with a nose that is very strong on malts with a bit of fruit underneath it all.  The beer’s taste starts off with a hop flavor common with a pale ale but then it develops a semi-sweet flavor that reminds me of steamed rice with a touch of sweetness and this flavor stays for the rest of the sip and a slight over-cooked rice flavor that really isn’t that pleasant on the palate is the after taste.  This is an interesting beer, definitely an acquired taste and may suit some people a lot more than others (and judging by some of the reviews online, this holds true).  Researching this beer has me intrigued, the brewer has a wide line of other styles that seem intriguing, tasty, and I will be on the look out for in the near future but for this beer, I’ll take a pass.