Nara Golden Harvest is a 6% marzen from Nara Brewing Company, based in Nara, in Nara, Japan. It’s part of their regular draft line up but saw life in cans during the Covid-19 pandemic, so at the time of writing, it’s unknown whether Nara Golden Harvest will see life again in the canned form. Nara Golden Harvest is brewed with Pilsner Malt, Two Row Pale, Munich, Melanoidin, and Caraaroma malts and uses Hallertau Tradition hops.
Nara Golden Harvest Aroma and Taste
First of all, I’m gonna go out and a limb here and say that his is a marzen – mainly because after drinking this beer, and thinking about it deeply, calling this an “Oktoberfest Inspired German Ale” seems a bit weird. Plus it’s flavour profile seemed to fit in nicely with the marzen style of beer. Nara Golden Harvest poured out a deep copper amber color with a tiny amount of white head on top that faded fast. Like the Nara Oatmatism, this could have been down due to the canning process or deliberate. Nara Golden Harvest had a rich malty aroma to it with some light bready notes to it but nothing really to note from the hops. Despite it being 6%, the alcohol remained hidden behind the malts well.
The body was very smooth as well – I was expecting some prickliness from the malts but it was dry with a sweet quality to it that was not overpowering nor cloying. It was a shame that there was a lack of carbonation to it but that’s to be expected when crowlers are used. Those wanting some hoppiness from a beer would be advised to leave Nara Golden Harvest alone – it’s all about the malts in this beer. Once Nara Golden Harvest had warmed up, it did have an ever-so-slight hint of noble hop flavour to it but it really did not come through that much. The malts lingered on into the aftertaste before fading to a dryness.
Nara Golden Harvest The Bottom Line
Though Nara Golden Harvest uses kolsch yeast, it’s a good example of a marzen. Just needs more gas.
Where to Buy Nara Golden Harvest
Nara Golden Harvest can be bought online at the following places:
