The Echigo Stout has one of those odd very long neck bottles, crimpcap, and gold on black label art featuring a taico drummer. The label claims it is a "Premium Import", Japanese brewers must love the word "Premium", they put it on everything. In the upper left hand corner there is the brewery seal sporting the words "Land Brauerei Echigo-Brau" or "Country Brewery Echigo Beer". It is 11.15 fluid ounces and 7% ABV. I'll be using one of six Delirium Tremens tulip glasses I got at the base thrift shop for something like $3. I don't know who had six of these glasses to donate or why they would, but I have them now. Finally, after all this time, let's pop this sucker open and see that head.
There isn't any
Nose from the bottle is like molasses with some caramel, maybe with a slight fruitiness. This beer basically has no head, what few bubbles are coming up are from the agitator in the bottom of the glass. Nose from the glass is just like soy sauce (or maybe Worcestershire sauce), a savory saltiness with some fruity character. On first sip, it is a little malty, definitely roasted, salty and otherwise tastes like Worcestershire sauce with alcohol. As far as mouthfeel goes, it is lower medium body with low acidity but a warming sensation akin to much stronger and higher gravity stouts. I would actually call this the much more conservative brother of the Holy City Bowen's Island Oyster Stout.
Given the season, I'm listening to Christmas music, however the only Christmas LP's I have are "Christmas with Chet Atkins" (which I got in a lot box) and "Happy Skalidays" by the Reel Big Fish.
So I've had this lifelong obsession with making things. I guess it started with building things with Lego's as a kid and continued in different constantly evolving ways. Eternally suppressed and constantly thwarted by my fathers crazed obsession with people "not making a mess in his (insert place name here)" at the threat of him having a near aneurysm and later by the Marine Corps by just the nature of living in a barracks. I find that I have much more interest in building something than I have in actually using it. I built a 3d printer, did a test print, troubleshot it a little bit, and then never touched it again. I honestly don't have any use for a 3d printer here in Japan and deep down I think I really just wanted to build it, and now that I have it's usefulness has expired. I think I want to build a couple of guitar pedals next, start out with a kit and then kick off the training wheels from there, presuming it holds my interest. When I get back to America I'm almost certainly going to get back into building guns and ammunition. I actually want to get into 3 gun when I get back. Not really for the sake of shooting 3 gun, but just because the Idea of building task specific devices from the ground up really gets my blood going. I bought a desktop CNC mill specifically to make receivers and other small aluminum parts just for the sake that I can build a receiver in whatever specific way I want and if it doesn't work out like I thought, I can just destroy it and build another one. Sure I can't sell the receivers I make (they constitute a firearm made for personal use and their ownership cannot be transferred), but money was never the point.
Final thoughts. It's ok. If you see it for a good price go ahead and pick it up, but it's nothing spectacular. If you want something with a similar profile, get the Holy City Oyster Stout, it's all this beer is and more.
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