Kakegawa Houjicha Ale is a 6.5% spiced beer from Kakegawa Farm Brewing, based in Kakegawa, in Shizuoka, Japan. It’s part of their all-year round lineup and can be found in both bottles and on tap. Kakegawa Houjicha Ale uses locally sourced green tea from Shizuoka, the tea area of Japan, which is then roasted and added to the beer during the boil.
Kakegawa Houjicha Ale Aroma and Taste
I drank Kakegawa Houjicha Ale before I had the Kakegawa Fukamushicha Ale as I wanted to contrast the flavours and aromas ASAP. Kakegawa Houjicha Ale poured out a dark amber orange colour with a small amount of frothy white head on top that faded to a few bubbles around the side of the glass. While Kakegawa Houjicha Ale had a predominantly caramel malty aroma, there was some nutty tea-like aromas coming off the beer. Perhaps the caramel aroma was accentuated by the tea though it’s hard to really discern between the two.
The body to Kakegawa Houjicha Ale wasn’t too thin either, though it was a bit more robust than I expected it to be. The roasted nutty tea flavour came through the rich caramel flavour, and once the beer had warmed up somewhat, there was just a smidgen of alcohol heat too. The caramel flavour, while sweet, where not overpowering nor cloying but did make Kakegawa Houjicha Ale a little on the one-dimensional side of things. I would have liked to have tasted something different after a while but those lingering caramel flavours stuck throughout, right into the aftertaste.
Kakegawa Houjicha Ale The Bottom Line
Kakegawa Houjicha Ale was drinkable enough but a tad on the boring side after a while.
Where to Buy Kakegawa Houjicha Ale
Kakegawa Houjicha Ale can be bought online at the following places:
