Zakkoku Cereal Box is a 5% hazy pale ale from Zakkoku Kobo Brewery, based in Ogawa, in Saitama, Japan. It’s part of the spring seasonal lineup and can be found in both bottles and on tap at various places. Despite the name, Zakkoku Cereal Box isn’t brewed with your regular box of Lucky Charms or Cornflakes, but in fact refers to organic cereal crops used, which in this case are wheat, rye, and two varieties of millet. Zakkoku Cereal Box is also brewed with Simcoe hops.
Zakkoku Cereal Box Aroma and Taste
Do not adjust your screen – you are seeing things correctly and you’re probably having the same reaction as I had when I poured out Zakkoku Cereal Box into the glass. It was a muddy brown colour – I’ll give Zakkoku Kobo Brewery props on at least getting the hazy part right. There was barely any head on the beer at all, just a few bubbles around the outside of the glass that seemed to fade really quick. Despite my previous thoughts of this being lemony, sweet, or even grainy, it ended up being a buttery, oxidised papery mess of a beer. I was hoping that the Simcoe hops could have saved Zakkoku Cereal Box once it had warmed up but alas it wasn’t meant to be.
If you have seen the Three Beer Thursday for Zakkoku Cereal Box then my thoughts on this beer may not come as a surprise. I really couldn’t stomach this beer. It was well within its drink-by-date, had been stored chilled in my fridge, and the seals were intact on the top of the bottle. However, that couldn’t save Zakkoku Cereal Box from being a muddy brown mess of a beer that ended up going down the drain. A horrific buttery, oxidised mess of a beer that had a peculiar grainy texture to it that was neither pleasant nor nice.
Zakkoku Cereal Box The Bottom Line
Maybe it was the bottling or maybe bad storage from Zakkoku Kobo but this was horrendous.
Where to Buy Zakkoku Cereal Box
Zakkoku Cereal Box can be bought online at the following places:
