Koshihikari Echigo Beer

Like some strange episode of the Twilight Zone I found yet another new friend today, standing proud but chilly at the back of the beer cooler in Uwajimaya. There he was in all his glassy brown glory; a tall-ish bottle of Koshihikari Echigo Beer from the Echigo Beer Co of Japan.

Now, while the cap says it’s made with “selected malt and hops” I’ve got a sneaking suspicion there’s some rice action going on in that brewing process as well. For starters, the label’s got people planting rice on it. For secondses, Koshihikari is some kind of rice, and for Third? Well. For third, you can taste it. Pretty conclusive, I reckon.

Whether that rice thing is true or not, I like this beer - it’s a pale golden pour that comes out of the bottle, with a strong head that quickly fades, (like Dug after a half pint of PBR). There’s a slightly acidic tang to the regular lager flavour, which you probably wouldn’t notice too much if you weren’t on the look-out for it. One stand-out is the carbonation… not much to look at in the glass, but this would definitely be mighty refreshing on a hot day. It doesn’t take long for me to polish it off on a cool northwestern night either, and it leaves me looking - sadly, in vein - for another.

JBB6 Rating: Will Buy Again