Yokohama Pale Ale is 5% American pale ale from Yokohama Beer that is advertised as having the aroma of hops and citrus. Part of Yokohama Beer’s main lineup, this can be readily found on tap in Yokohama, and some Tokyo bars, such as Craft Beer Market. Like the other Yokohama beers, Yokohama Pale Ale is charged at a premium price of around ¥500 per bottle.
Yokohama Pale Ale Aroma and Taste
The beer pours well with a decent sized creamy white head and the body is a cloudy golden-yellow colour with a mild carbonation. Not too gassy, but not as flat as expected. You don’t need to get to close to smell the hops in this beer, with the aforementioned citrus smell coming through this craft beer. It certainly is an American pale ale with these smells coming through.
It tastes like an India pale ale though the boundaries between an American pale ale and an IPA are very blurry at the best of times. The initial taste is hoppy and bitter, that is followed up by the citrus flavours as expected from this American pale ale style. The hop and citrus taste doesn’t really stay around long enough for you to appreciate the balance between them; however, the light body does make it easy drinking.
Yokohama Pale Ale One-line review
More India pale ale than pale ale, Yokohama Pale Ale is a good session ale by Yokohama Beer.
Yokohama Pale Ale Where to buy?
Yokohama Pale Ale can be bought at major department stores across Kanto, Craft Beer market in Tokyo, Queen’s Isetan, and online.
1 comment
Hey, I might of had this !! My Japanese is terrible, like totemo warui desu. But I remember being in Tokyo at a food festival and being very pleased with this beer. I even did a write up of the experience: http://rhizomecomic.blogspot.jp/2015/04/drinking-in-japan.html . I do recall seeing in Romanji the words Yokohama Bomber XPA. And it was on the fruity side, and being served from tap quite creamy and amazing, with the fruit notes being a bit melony too. Aside from the Okinawa Brewery stuff I have access to for now as I’m in Okinawa for two months, I do believe that this pale ale by Yokohama is the closest I’ve had so far to what I’m used to in California. Although of course the fun of traveling is exploring new tastes too.