The beers of Iwakuni: Nanto Brewery's Black Ale

I bought this at the world liquor in Iwakuni. It is Nanto Brewery's Black ale. It's a little hard to find information on this brewery as they don't seem to have an official web site. I have had to construct a profile using peoples reviews. I know the water used in the beer is filtered with coral (although I knew that from the bottle) and it is made on Miyakojima (an island off of Okinawa)

The water may be filtered by coral, but the beer wasn't filtered by anything. Not complaining, this is how I prefer it. Filtering reduces the flavor.

It came to me in a short, broad shouldered longneck bottle with pulltab cap (which seems to be popular in craft beer in the Pacific) and is 330 ml. The black and white label features a coral and the symbol of the brewery. It says on the bottle " Okinawa Sango Beer, Nanto brewery" "country pride" "Black Ale coral water 100%. The bottle describes the beer as such "This aroma-rich beer is brewed by the natural coral water. The underground water was created by a coral-formed limestone cave called 'Gyokusendo' in Okinawa" "Black Ale, The superb balance of the roasted malt fragrance and hops". 5% abv. I will be using the "tasty beer" glass from my Japanese set. Lets pull the tab, take a whiff, and see that head.

Nose from the bottle is bready with caramel malt. Makes an nice fluffy beige head and deep black color, some sediment is at the bottom of my glass now. Nose from the glass is the same as the bottle. On first sip, It is malty and bready with a dry barley finish and raw wine grape aftertaste. This wine taste comes to the forefront as you drink it, the dark malt taking a backseat. Body is actually pretty light, no acidity to speak of. You can taste the alcohol just a little at the end, but it's not pronounced.

Listening to Tokyo paradise Ska orchestra's 2014 album "Ska me forever". In personal news, I'm buying a 1992 Nissan 180SX with the sought after SR20DET engine and it's BONE STOCK WITH LESS 70k MILES ON IT. This one is coming back to America with me, slightly modified. As amazing as it is to find one of these as stock as it is (the plastic parts don't even have cracks on them, I can't even find 10 year old cars like that), this thing was built for the aftermarket. First things first, I'm moving the inter cooler to the front where it should be. After that I'm getting adjustable coil-overs and putting strut bars on it. Finally, I'm putting a larger oil sump on it because every one on the internet says that's their biggest problem, the stock oil sump isn't big enough to supply the engine. It's an automatic (part of why It's in its present condition), but I'm eventually going to change that.

Final thoughts, it's a pretty decent beer. I wouldn't pay the ¥550 I paid for it again, but it was OK. Supposedly their IPA is better. I have that one as well, so expect a review soon. It was certainly flavorful, but it does not command the price they charge for it.