Ise Kadoya Griotte
Thanks to Chris and Kyoko for bringing this one back from Japan a while ago. Reviewed from notes, took me a while to track down where to review this. Pours a cloudy reddish brown, almost a light purple, thick off white head forms, drops quickly leaving some lace spots on the glass, nice ring is retained. Smell is neat, lots of cherries, brown sugar, oak, very fruity, strawberries and melons, very tart cherry aroma, light sourness, nice. Taste is similar, sweet and sugary at first, with a big cherries and funk middle, lots of oak, slightly astringent, very tart cherry in the finish. Mouthfeel is light to medium bodied with medium carbonation. A pretty simple beer but quite nice, Japan is turning out some real nice brews. Thanks Chris and Kyoko!