A Taste of Japan at Fourth Ave Pub 11/5/2009

Eitan: I had only one drink last night at Fourth ave Pub, and it was a real good choice. I was very excited to try it when I saw it on beermenues.com, it was the Hitachno Nest Espresso Stout. I've had other Hitachino beers, all very good, and non on draft. So I was definitely going to get the stout. It was a 12 oz pour, it was nice and dark with about an inch of grayish/tan head. A nice strong espresso and chocolate smell with a little bit of raisin. I was worried that it would taste too much like coffee because of the smell, but it was just right. It was a very good mixture of coffee/chocolate/raisin taste, and a little bit of a vanilla after taste, the kind of vanilla after taste that you get from fresh whipped cream with no sugar in it. And then there was the nice bitter finish, not nearly as bitter as the Obovoid Empirical Stout from Wednesday night. The Hitachino was not heavy, it was on the light-medium body side and creamy. I really took my time to finish this beer and let it open up, it got better with every sip. I hope they have this beer for a while, definitely worth a try for any one who likes imperial stouts.