Recommended craft beers with buying info and tasting notes!
What Kind of Craft Beer Is This?
クラフトビールの特徴
Faction’s most popular flagship IPA. A core product brewed with slight recipe tweaks each season – Spring, Summer, Fall, and Winter – with label design and name changing accordingly. Uses whole-cone Citra hops, with Simcoe chosen for dry hopping. Rich hop aroma and solid flavor yet highly drinkable and balanced.
When Did I Buy It?
March 2023
Where Did I Buy It?
Bought at Hiraguchi Toyojiro Shoten. Near The Slop Shop. Since The Slop Shop doesn’t carry Nagano Trading beers, I often use this shop instead.
Strong tart apple-like aroma. On deeper sniffing, ripe Citra melon emerges. Also, a distinctive vanilla-reminiscent sweet aroma. Likely malt-derived. Comforting.
Retronasal Flavor
Tea leaf-like alcohol notes. Berry aromas with slight peach sweetness. An acidity like pineapple and kiwi mixed. Delicious.
Taste
Mouthfeel
Natural beer-like mouthfeel. Slightly subdued carbonation? Just right. A fleeting crispy umeboshi (dried plum) acidity that feels pleasant.
Body and Texture
Strong bitterness and acidity. Marmalade-like bitterness. Not the type that builds gradually – it’s solidly bitter from the start. A weighty bitterness. I love the momentum of the bitterness. A power type. The intense bitterness carrying marmalade and kiwi-like acidity feels like being hit with pure muscle. Hops aren’t overwhelming; the malt foundation is incredibly solid. Spreading the liquid flat on the tongue reveals a clear vanilla-like malt sweetness. Holding it longer reveals slight astringency, but nothing bothersome.
The Swallow
Acidity and astringency are slightly prominent, but pair beautifully with a touch of dankness. Pepper-like spice runs through the back of the nose. Fermentation-derived?
Aftertaste
What I thought was astringency beautifully transforms into orange peel. Surprising and very pleasant. Incredibly delicious. Not dry – lingers mellow in the mouth with malt sweetness and citrus. Comforting.
Overall Impression
Feels like a modern old-school IPA with an old-school sweet-malt-forward base loaded with hops. One to sip and savor. Better enjoyed on its own rather than with food. Though fried food and cheese work, and surprisingly, oysters might pair well too.
Dregs
Concentrated acidity and malt sweetness. Strong yeast ester character, giving a diet zero-calorie soda impression. Different from the main body. Best kept separate.
Check out my craft beer Furusato Nozei roundup from 2022!
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