Harvestmoon Smoke Ale is a 5.5% rauchbier from Harvestmoon Brewery, based in Urayasu, Chiba. It’s part of their summer line up of craft beers and can be found in both bottles and on tap. Harvestmoon Smoke Ale uses smoked cherry chips imported from Germany and is brewed to a traditional Bamberg recipe.
Smokey and rich.
Harvestmoon Smoke Ale Aroma and Taste
On my second trip to Roti’s House ever – the first time was pre-BeerTengoku after a crappy day out at Disneyland – and Harvestmoon Smoke Ale was on the menu. I do like a good rauchbier, with Fujizakura Rauch being a particular favourite of mine, though they are hard to come across in Japan – I guess the rich smokey flavours are a tad strong for most palettes.
And that’s where Harvestmoon Smoke Ale comes in I guess. It was served up a dark brown colour with a slightly off-white tan head on top that was frothy rather than light, and quickly collapsed on itself. The aroma of smoky bacon was there but not as smooth now as strong as the Fujizakura Rauch. There were some hints of caramel in there as well.
The first flavour you notice in the body is the smoke. It’s a tad abrasive on the tastebuds though soft – if that makes any sense? I guess once you have gotten used to the abrasiveness then it becomes smooth. Then the ham and bacon flavours kick in. The body was too thin to really support this level of flavour and it ended up being something like ham soup with chemical smoke in the aftertaste.
Harvestmoon Smoke Ale The Bottom Line
Harvestmoon Smoke Ale is decent attempt at a rauchbier but it could do with some taming in of the abrasiveness.
Where to Buy Harvestmoon Smoke Ale
Harvestmoon Smoke Ale can be bought online at the following places:
