We're here with a couple of special Isekado brews that we're really excited to get into. 

To convey that excitement, we should really get down to recapping who Isekado is - making sure everyone's acquainted. Isekado is a reference point for the Japanese craft beer scene - if you want to get a good grasp of Japan's incredibly vibrant craft beer scene, you have to know Isekado. The brewery comes from a 450 year old mochi-maker that has been passed down 21 generations, situated very fortuitously at the cusp of the incredibly historic site of the Grand Shrines of Ise. The shrines are one of the most important Shinto monuments that have been paid respect to by folks worldwide for over 2,000 years, with numerous pilgrims making their way to the site from faraway lands. And it was thus the Nikenjayamochi Kadoya Honten store, established in 1575 (!!), that has made sure these pilgrims are well fed with some lovely mochi.

Narihiro Suzuki on the right most, along with the brewing team, led by Zenichi Deguchi (in green).

It wasn't until the 21st helm of the Suzuki family, Narihiro Suzuki, who had grown up in love with the craft beer scene and had brought the family into it in the late 1990's. And if you thought for one second that it was easy - well, the man's got a whole story for you. One of determination, great fortune and amazing companionship, that has seen the brewery go from almost bust to now being a pioneer in the Japanese craft beer scene - a title the brewery has probably never expected to ever be recognised for.

The 450 year old Suzuki family mochi store in Ise.

Today, Isekado (sometimes Ise Kadoya) has become incredibly well-established, and has contributed much to the Japanese craft brewing scene (and worldwide really), and has done very well for itself, with an especially keen focus on brewing with wild yeasts - as Suzuki himself was a microbiology major and continues till this day to forage for wild yeasts that he shares with other breweries.

We're going to try four very special Isekado brews - these are all limited edition releases beyond their core range. We've got the New England IPA Neko Nihiki (伊勢角屋 ねこにひき); Junbaku Ginjo IPA (純麦吟醸IPA); Black Tide Brewing Rias Coast Hazy IPA (リアスコーストヘイジーIPA) & Namachan Smoke Oyster Stout (NAMA角スモークオイスタースタウト).

Let's get to it!

Beer Review: Isekado New England IPA Neko Nihiki, 8% ABV | 伊勢角屋 ねこにひき

This brew was first brewed as a collab with Portland, Oregon's Culmination Brewery, but was so popular that Isekado has done numerous batches since. It is made from a secret blend of four hop varieties, and brewed using Isekado's wild yeast. It's named Neko Nihiki which pays homage to the practice of breweries keeping a brewery cat to help catch mice from eating the brewery's ingredients.

Tasting Notes  

Colour: Dark Orange

Aroma: Intense yet dark notes of orange, tangerine peels, even alittle bit of overripened citrus, with a more umami backbone with a touch of soy sauce.

Taste: More mellow here, yet still very rich. Plush and bold, with forward notes of oranges and grapefruit. It's got a velvety and creamy texture on what feels like a fuller body that's very much saturated and filled in and bolstered up with all that richness. It's got a very lovely depth to it as well, with a slight bitterness.

Finish: A light citrus pith bitterness here, with somemore of those deeper and darker overripe citrus notes.

My Thoughts

A very big and bountiful NEIPA here - it's got a fuller body, very plush and creamy, with bold notes of citruses that's backed up by that great richness. The body feels very well filled in with those soft velvety creamy orange flavours. Interestingly the citrus here seems to lean darker, like a late harvest batch of tangerines, instead of the more typical bright citrus notes, in that sense it's even alittle bit savoury and umami. Very interesting take on a NEIPA here, almost feels more oriental.

Beer Review: Isekado Junbaku Ginjo IPA, 6% ABV | 伊勢角屋 純麦吟醸IPA

As you might've guessed, this one's inspired by the Japanese Sake, and was therefore brewed using Sake yeast! This beer was brewed as part of a collaborative research project with the local Mie Prefecture Industrial Research Institute. As one of Isekado's brewers, Takuma Yamamiya, was incredibly excited to test out new yeast strains, he had worked on using the MK3 yeast to give the beer a distinctive Ginjo Sake aroma, in particular one that is fresh and fruity. This beer is 3 years in the making!   

Tasting Notes

Colour: Gold

Aroma: Opens up with a fragrant yeastiness of fresh namazake (unpasteurised Sake), backed by a more mellow base of tropical fruits of grapefruit and apricots. There's some pith in there as well, almost calling out to a classic IPA flavour profile, although here it's noticeably softer, more crystalline, cleaner, and more elegant, instead of that big and bold heap of fruits.

Taste: Sweeter and more malty here, there's a base of honey that's layered with citruses of grapefruits and tangerines, pineapples too. It's really creamy with a good richness, still very much mellow, soft and rich, and incredibly fragrant with heaps on heaps of tangerine.

Finish: More of the citrus pith emerging here, bringing with it a slight bitterness. Still very much soft, plush and very creamy and velvety into the finish.

My Thoughts

This was incredibly plush - the texture here is really something else altogether! What the Sake yeast seems to have done here is taken the IPA playbook, brightened it, made it more elegant, and also lighten it, whilst keeping that very soft, velvety texture. It still echoes of an IPA, with the fruitiness, although here it's alot brighter and more crystalline, trading off that bulky body. The body here is softened a whole lot without taking away from the fruity flavours, where the fruity flavours are much more rounded and softer, and therefore much more approachable. This one was superb!

Beer Review: Isekado Rias Coast Hazy IPA (collab with Black Tide Brewing), 7% ABV | 伊勢角屋麦酒 Rias Coast Hazy IPA

This Hazy is a collab with Black Tide Brewing from the Miyagi Prefecture of Japan. The goal here was to blur the lines between East Coast and West Coast IPA styles, and thus Isekado utilised mash hopping, and then applying Citra Incognito and Chardonnay grape skins.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Freshly Squeezed Orange Juice

Aroma: More citrus forward, with lots of grapefruit, pomelo, even freshly squeezed orange juice. And with all that citrus comes a whole lot of citrus pith too. It’s big, vibrant and juicy with no sweetness.

Taste: Mellow and rich, not nearly as bitter as it might have seemed on the nose. Sure, there’s still a whole lot of that pith, especially in its texture, yet here it’s without the bitterness. It’s giving freshly squeezed orange juice but just a few tones darker.

Finish: More of that persistent orange juice, pith included of course, but again, not all that bitter.

My Thoughts

I have to admit that this went down very well with me as someone who doesn’t enjoy too much the bitterness of most IPAs. This retained all of that big citrus fruitiness but there’s very little bitterness to be had despite the persistent pithy quality. It’s really rich and very mellow, with very little bitterness, so it’s just pure fresh and juicy goodness!

Beer Review: Isekado Smoke Oyster Stout (collab with Namachan Brewing), 6% ABV | 伊勢角屋 なま角スモークオイスタースタウト

Finally we come to the stout! This is the fourth collab between Isekado and Namacha (Namachan) Brewing, and this time they've combined smoked flavours with a seasonal Isekado brew, the Oyster Stout. Here aged hops and roasted malts have been used, along with a whole lot of oats, as well as the use of an English ale yeast.

Tasting Notes

Colour: Espresso

Aroma: Really malty here, with lots of butter cookies, it’s very rich and creamy, with a light umaminess here of charred burnt ends. Alittle bit of that non-stick spray, but really it’s more malty above all else.

Taste: The maltiness presses on! It’s really buttery on the palate, with a good amount of coffee cream, some salinity and chalky minerality even, with just a soft bitterness. It’s medium-bodied, really smooth, with a backbone of gentle yet rich umaminess of sweet miso.

Finish: More creaminess here of light espresso and coffee cream. Some lingering chalky minerality into the finish.

My Thoughts

This was a very well rounded stout that was above all really approachable, very enjoyable, and not overly dominated by any one particular flavour. I like the balance to be had here, with it not being too heavy or bitter (it’s not even particularly bitter!), and even the umaminess is rich but not overwhelming. It’s incredibly friendly and an easy drinker that comes with a more prominent umaminess at the back that is rich and well-integrated, coming off as something of a sweet miso.