Brew Review-Hitachino Red Rice Ale

Looking for something a little different, I grabbed the Hitachino during dinner at Scion the other week.  There were a number of great other interesting choices to go with, but I decided to go with something really different.  It was a mistake.

The beer pours a dark, deep red colour, and is quite cloudy, but without much head.  In fact, you can see specks of rice floating around in the beer.  I should have gotten the hint.  It has a very musty nose (Belgian Hops?) that wasn’t particularly pleasant.

It tastes fruity up font – mainly berries but with hints of citrus – and then the malts really come through with a rich, creamy biscuit/caramel taste.  The alcohol is pretty evident throughout, and not in a pleasant way.  The finish ends up really bitter and lingers seemingly forever on the tongue.  I ended up having to drink water throughout the beer just to wash it away.

Overall, not great.  Get something else.

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