Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi is a 4% fruit beer from Hakodate Beer that is part of their spring seasonal line up. It contains locally sourced strawberries from the Hakodate area, which are known as Koiichigo and is usually on sale from the beginning of March onwards. At the time of writing, Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi can be found in bottles outside of Hakodate, but on tap at the beer hall and the brewery.
Strawberries on the label, but is there any in the beer?
Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi Aroma and Taste
Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi was a new one and only popped up on the radar once a Japanese friend had brought me back a bottle from Hakodate. It poured out a deep amber colour with a large amount of frothy white head that collapsed on itself fairly quickly. It had a slightly fruity aroma to it but to say it was strawberries would have been generous. It had a slightly caramel aroma to it as well though even that was faint – how could so much aroma be missing from a beer?
The body wasn’t much better than the aroma but at least it was. It had been heavily carbonated for a beer, thus giving it some champagne-esque quality to the body: light and crisp. This brought out the fruity flavour more than expected though not by much. It was definitely sweeter than your average beer but again, it was hard to definitively pin it down to a strawberry flavour. Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi finished off quite dry, almost like a dry crisp cider, though there wasn’t much semblance of an aftertaste.
Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi One Line Review
Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi is a pretty bland beer that isn’t really worth the time or effort trying to find.
Where to Buy Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi
Hakodate Ichigo no Hatsu Koi can be bought at the following places:
