the beers of Waikiki: Echigo Red Ale

I've written about Echigo before, so if you want to know about the brewery you can refer to that post. Tonight we have the Echigo Red Ale "Japanese Premium Import", so what's written on the bottle in English won't be nonsense this time.

The bottle has a nice cherry blossom and crane graphic with a little bit of kanji under the RED ALE, clearly playing up the Japaneseness of the beer. Not quite 12 oz. (it's 11.15), 6% alcohol by volume. The presentations fine, nothing particularly striking.

Nose from the bottle is just a straight molasses, maybe some roasted barley. After pouring, the nose is very fruity, it is akin to cherry cough syrup, but not quite that extreme. Color is like a brandy, a plum red with bright hues. There is a sufficient amount of life within the glass to maintain a small head around the rim. I really cannot stress enough how much this beer smells of cherry. On first sip, as best I can describe, it tastes just like a less intense plum wine. It has a light body and a warming, although acidic, mouthfeel. It is slightly bitter, with a noticeable bitter aftertaste. Watered down cough syrup or carbonated plum wine keeps coming to mind. I cannot give you a more accurate description of the taste.

I saw the new Star Trek, it was all right. The cinematography and special effects were beautiful, but the story was chock full of cliche's. I could have told you the whole story as soon as they got to the space station. A much better movie that unfortunately just left theaters is "The Infiltrator" starring Bryan Cranston. I could certainly watch that one again, and probably will.It's adapted from a true story that took place in 1986 about Miami DEA agents trying to take down some of the heavy hitters in Pablo Escobar's cartel. The movie is an absolute thrill so I won't give anything away, although you probably could look up the whole thing on Wikipedia.I also managed to see "The secret life of pets", which if you have a kid go ahead and take them to it, they'll enjoy it and you won't be totally bored. The hotdog scene it actually pretty great.

Final thoughts. Not terrible, but not really good either. I don't know why I expected more from this brewery, their flagship was just serviceable. Is Japan really that strapped for good indigenous craft beer? Are Coedo and Orion the only good small breweries? I refuse to believe that. I have to say, this beers flavor profile came as a shock to me, when I see "Red Ale" I'm expecting an Irish red, what I got is something like a failed attempt to mimic Delirium Red. If you're looking for a beer with this kind of flavor, just spring for the Delirium Red.