The worst Ji-Biru in Japan!

Niigata Beer is horrible. I have been surfin' 'round the net looking at other "BIG TIME" review sites like beeradvocate and ratebeer to see what they had to say. Maybe I missed something. Maybe I drank some old bottles. Maybe. Their reviewers throw around phrases like "lack body", "needs aging", and "not to my tastes". They all fail to mention what Good Beer Country Boys noticed first. This beer tastes like shit. Straight. Simple. Shit.

We'll start with the Edinburgh Ale. DH bought a bottle in the Great Nagoya-Area Street Drankin Store, Spirits. This is susposed to be some kind of English-style ale? A ratebeer reviewer said he tasted "raisins, figs, malt" in this beer. Miyuki, DH, and I all tasted vomit in the back of our throats. The first drink brings a "Oh, that is different" reaction while the second drink invokes the gag reflex. There is something in the aftertaste of the beer that is just not right. The small bush outside Spirits that drank the second half of the beer probably feels the same.

This past weekend, at a GaRiBa's (great liquor store with great bourbon prices) in the outskirts of Toyohashi, DH and I purchased a Niigata Expresso Beer and a Golden Kolsch, respectively. We drank the Expresso Beer outside of an Atsumi Food Oasis later that day. This beer boasted 8% alcohol and expresso. I won't lie, I like dark beers and I was excited. Alas, while the beer was dark (like dirty motor oil), the body wasn't there and that same aftertaste, the gag reflex inducing one, was present. DH, blasphemer that he is, said the beer was reminescent of the Hickey Bros. Kentucky Common, sans the aftertaste. I almost slapped him for comparing our homeland's nectar to this swill. After the passion subsided, I agreed that the taste was somewhat similar in the beginning, but that was it. While the Hickey Bros. Kentucky Common has a smooth slightly sour finish that invites another drink, the Niigata Expresso Beer invites you to puke up your two previous beers.

The last Niigata Beer I will ever drink is their Golden Kolsch. This beer is 7% alcohol and cuts an impressive figure before it is open. In a glass, the head dies immediately and the taste is little better than mediocre homebrew with the same, though less intense, gag reflex flavor. I think it must be the yeast that this company is using that gives all of these beers the same awfulness. I invite you, whoever is reading this, to try these beers. They are terrible. If you don't think so, tell me. We will disagree and I will fight you.