Home Beer Review Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat by Yatsugatake Brewery

Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat by Yatsugatake Brewery

by Rob
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Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat is a 5% lager from Yatsugatake Brewery, based in Kiyasato, in Yamanashi, Japan. It’s part of Yatsugatake Beer’s all-year round lineup and can be found in both bottles and on tap. Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat uses precious sap water that can only be collected during the melting snowmelt when the white oaks also known as birch saps, in Kiyosato Kogen begin to sprout in spring.

Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat・八ヶ岳 白樺ビート

Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat Aroma and Taste

We’ve seen some beers made with different ingredients on BeerTengoku – mushrooms, salmon flakes, bonito flakes, garlic – but the melting groundwater with sap from trees does sound a bit hipsterish – almost jumping the shark-like. Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat poured out like a lager – a slightly hazy golden straw colour with a plump white head on top, and smelt kind of like one too – a lingering noble hop aroma with some hints of pilsner sweetness. Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat also had a tad of diacetyl going on – enough to notice, but not enough to be off putting. However, not knowing what birch sap was supposed to smell like, it was hard to know whether it was actually in there or not.

The lack of discernible tree flavours felt like Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat was more of a gimmick than an actual determined effort to utilise the adjuncts. The noble hop bite was of your typical German pilsner, while the sweetness from the malts meant it was just a middle of the road pilsner – something that the macro breweries in Japan do so much better. The only saving grace for Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat was of a soft vanilla-like quality to it but then, is that from the hops or from the actual sap?

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Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat The Bottom Line

Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat felt like a missed chance to use a unique adjunct.

Where to Buy Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat

Yatsugatake Shirakaba Beat can be bought online at the following places:

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