Boku Beer Kimi Beer Yorimichi by Yo-Ho Brewing

Hey. I’ve recently started working at a new job where I finish work while the sun is still up. I know this might be an unfamiliar concept to those of us who are working at conversation schools, which start mid-afternoon and end sometime in the dead of night. But it exists, guys.

My new job is in my own town, so there’s the added bonus of being able to walk home as well. It’s a bit of a hike, but it does pass by a few convenience stores (not Goldn Bub though, not any more. Woe). What most workers do in my situation, then, is stop in at a place or two on the way home, to wind down after a hectic day or drown their sorrows. This has a word in Japanese. It’s called Yorimichi, and has inspired this brand new offering from Yo-Ho Brewing.

Yorimichi is the second in the Boku-Kimi series, which started with the eponymous Saison-style. It’s a 4.5% dry-hopped American wheat ale made with the cryptically-titled HBC431 aroma hops, as well as a metric fuckton of Cascade hops because why not? It was released on the 26th April 2016 and, unlike Yo-Ho’s other beer series “Sorry Konomi Nante Kiitenaize“, the newer beer has not replaced the older one. So how is it?

Stop off for a quick drink.

Boku Beer Kimi Beer Yorimichi Aroma and Taste

Yorimichi has a fruity, hoppy nose- dry hopped, folks- and a frothy white head. It reminded me of its Saison predecessor. It pours out clear and light. Tasting it, there’s definitely a lot of hops going on, under, around and in this beer. It’s very light though, with barely any malt flavour. I think the other flavours are enough to hold it up and stop it from tasting too thin, though.

Now, something a little odd happened to this beer as it started to warm up and the head dissipated. The fruity, hoppy nose was replaced by a sour-ish, farmhouse-y, straw-like, musty… (Get on with it!)

It started to smell like old smelly socks.

Seriously. Maybe it’s the combination of wheat and dry-hopping that does it. But it was unmistakeable. Yo-Ho Brewing is kind of the darling of the Japanese craft beer scene, but I’m having a hard time forgiving them for this pongy beer. Maybe… AHA! I know what’s wrong! Just a sec.

OK, I’ve just gone to buy another can and I’m standing outside Lawson drinking it. And you know what? The outdoor air is blowing the smelly socks smell away. My god. They’ve done it, the magnificent bastards. It’s a beer that lives up to its name. It absolutely has to be drunk outside and not at home. Let’s look at the facts:

• It’s a Lawson exclusive. No bars. No place to drink this indoors.
• It’s a sessionable 4.5%.
• It smells like a high school classroom if you drink it somewhere without adequate ventilation.
• It’s been released just on the cusp of summer.

This is a beer that bends the beer drinker to its will. It’s either monstrous or amazing. You decide which one. On the way home.

Boku Beer Kimi Beer Yorimichi – The Bottom Line

Yorimichi is a refreshingly hopped, nicely sessionable fruity wheat ale that you can pick up at your local Lawson. Just remember to drink it outside, and preferably not with the wind in your face.

Boku Beer Kimi Beer Yorimichi Second Opinion

Boku Beer Kimi Beer Yorimichi is an interesting take on an American wheat – it definitely had some weird funk going on. I doubt I would drink it again as it felt something like a wheat ale that had a truck load of hops dumped in it.