Nagisa Pale Ale is a 5% American pale ale from Nagisa Beer, based in Wakayama, Japan. It’s part of their all-year round range of craft beers and can be found in both bottles and on draft across Japan. According to the Nagisa Beer online shopping portal, Nagisa Pale Ale is brewed with five different malts and four different hops, but unfortunately they do not list either the malts or hops used – thanks for that helpful information!
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Nagisa Pale Ale Aroma and Taste
American pale ales – something of a go-to-beer for breweries that don’t want to use lots of crystal malts or lots of hops to make something stronger. By now, the APA has been around for yonks – a technical term for meaning a long time – and Nagisa Pale Ale has been around since 1997 supposedly according to the bottle. It’s unknown in that time how many times the recipe has evolved, or if it even has evolved, but I can’t help feeling that the brewers have not listened to anyone or maybe not even tried an American pale ale before.
Nagisa Pale Ale poured out a deep orange copper colour with a light frothy white head on top – something awry right away. I’ve always associated APAs with a light golden colour, perhaps to a light copper colour but this was the first APA I’ve seen that looks almost like a double IPA. It had the aroma of a British pale ale – sickly sweet from all the caramel aromas coming off of it. With so many different kinds of hops going in, there was muddy mess of peach and lemon going on in the nose which was neither enticing or pleasurable. Seriously, go buy a peach and squeeze some lemon on it…it’s a weird aroma.
The body tasted like a British pale ale as well – full of malts and sweetness with a hint of bitterness but nothing close to being an American pale ale at all. If Nagisa Pale Ale had been advertised as a British pale ale, then this review would have taken a completely different tone. There was a faint taste of lemon going on but by that point, I had given up with Nagisa Pale Ale and was looking forward to the next beer.
Nagisa Pale Ale The Bottom Line
Nagisa Pale Ale is a terrible example of an American pale ale – though going in and expecting a British pale ale might save your expectations and delay the disappointment for a little bit longer mine. At least Nagisa Pale Ale has alcohol in it and will get you drunk if you have enough of them.
Where to Buy Nagisa Pale Ale
Nagisa Pale Ale can be bought online at the following places:
