Tainai Kogen Alt is an alt style beer not from Niigata Brewery, the parent company, but rather Tainai Kogen Beer- even though the former is emblazoned across the bottle while the latter is hidden away. Tainai Kogen Alt is brewed using dark, roasted malt in the mix to produce a 5.5% beer.
Why not make the actual producer’s name larger?
Tainai Kogen Alt Aroma and Taste
I first heard of Tainai Kogen Alt at the Keyaki Spring Hiroba Festival in 2015 but only got around to buying the beer recently as it’s not been easy to find. I searched high and low for it and found a special source (well, not that special) who managed to get a couple of bottles from the brewery. Besides having Niigata Brewery emblazoned across the front, nothing came up on their website and was only due to a lucky find that the Tainai Kogen Beer site came up.
Tainai Kogen Alt poured out a dark amber colour with little head to it – there was so little froth that nothing was left on the inside of the bottle. Bonus, no washing out the bottle needed! It had a sweet, caramel malty nose to it with the merest of hops that floated across from the beer. There wasn’t much life in the glass either with a couple of bubbles produced here and there.
It was much bolder in the body though as Tainai Kogen Alt had a rich malt flavour, but it was a tad cloying and sweet for my preferences of an alt beer. It almost had a syrupy texture to it that could be misconstrued as some kind of flat cola- like drink. Tainai Kogen Alt finished off a little bit dry but not as dry as I hoped it would.
Tainai Kogen Alt One Line Review
Tainai Kogen Alt is more of a cross between a brown ale and an amber ale than an alt. It’s not bad but then it’s not a good example of an alt beer.
Where to Buy Tainai Kogen Alt
Tainai Kogen Alt can be bought online from the following places:
