As is our custom, drinkingjapan.org was at JFEX 2025, which was held at Tokyo Big Sight from July 9-July 11. We encountered a number of noteworthy beverages and will report on some of them from time to time. The following is our evaluation of two brews from an Aichi-based brewery.
Last week we reviewed a matcha beer produced by Kizakura. There seems to be growing interest in this type of green tea both here in Japan and abroad. Frankly, we love it and have been drinking it for years. So, it did not surprise us when we came across another matcha brew in so short a period of time. But unlike the previous manifestation, which bore a passing resemblance to a paint-by-number kit, this brew is natural, through and through. Check out the back label. Malt, sugars, hops, and matcha, that’s all folks.
Sensory Evaluation of the Matcha Beer: There is a hint of green tea on the nose and clear indications of its presence on the palate. In addition, there is significant hoppiness, which in conjunction with the carbonation makes this a pleasant experience. Quite refreshing, with a medium + finish! The ABV is 6%.
Sensory Evaluation of the Miso Beer: As enjoyable as the abovementioned brew is, the far more interesting offering from this brewery is their Miso Beer. Don’t snicker. Miso is loaded with umami, so one can expect more than a smidgen of savoriness.
We did not detect any miso on the nose, which was largely neutral. However, the palate had the unmistakable flavor of miso and was accordingly rich. The ABV is 6%. There are some vaguely stout-like qualities to this. One of us here at drinkingjapan.org commented that it would be interesting if this brewery were to conduct a blind tasting to see if beer drinkers can identify the source of the savoriness.
Link: https://www.kinshachi.jp
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