Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden is a 4.5% session hazy IPA from Nomcraft Brewing, based in Aridagawa, in Wakayama, in Japan. It’s part of their regular lineup and can be found in both bottles and on tap. As the name suggests, Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden is brewed with Ebbegarden, a strain of Kveik yeast, which is famous for being able to ferment beers at higher than regular temperatures. Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden is brewed with Cascade, Citra, El Dorado, and Idaho 7 hops and unsurprisingly also uses sansho, otherwise known as Japanese pepper.
Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden Aroma and Taste
Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden poured out a hazy dull orange colour with a plump, sticky white head on top that collapsed in on itself, but not before leaving some sticky residue along the side of the glass. The aroma was mostly of tropical fruits, with mango and pineapple coming through when chilled, with some light citrus dusting also coming along once it had warmed up. Unsurprisingly, there was no yeast aroma coming off of Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden, and what sweetness there was, was fleeting and faded fast to leave just the tropical fruits behind for the aroma. But we’re here for the sansho and it pops through – bringing some spiciness piquentness to the tropical flavours on show – almost as if someone had made a fruit salad and doused it with some freshly ground green pepper.
The body started off sticky, with the same mango and pineapple flavours coming through that were present in the nose, but they lingered for much longer on the palate, especially once Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden had been given the change to warm up somewhat. At 4.5%, there was no alcohol flavour at all to the beer. But the sansho did something weird – it made my lips go tingly and number – something that is known to happen if you consume a bit too much sansho pepper. A weird feeling indeed as this has never happened to me before. It tasted though as if someone had ground some green pepper on top of a fruit salad, and the pineapple juice was eating away at my lips and tongue. A weird sensation with some spiciness too.
Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden The Bottom Line
Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden is straight up weird – tropical pepper juice anyone?
Where to Buy Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden
Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden can be bought online at the following places:
