Ryogoku Brewing: Koku Barley Wine (Japan: Barley Wine: 10% ABV)
Visual: Deep black-cherry red with a thin rim of bubbles but no real head. No visible carbonation.
Nose: Pencil shavings. Red cherries. Drying alcohol. Vanilla. Crushed coffee beans. Crushed cocoa. White bread
Body: Red cherries. Smooth but warming. Cognac. Apricot syrup. Melted chocolate. Slightly dry. Dry sherry.
Finish: Melted chocolate. Brandy. Cherries. Peach skin. Drying. Lightly bitter. Bitter red wine. Evident alcohol.
Conclusion: Ohhh, that barley wine, a lovely beer style done here in a way that has such a rich red color that looks almost rose wine hued at the edge when held to the light. I have missed pretty beers like this, ones that reward you before you have even got close. The question is, does it also taste good?
It is quite dry, and well attenuated for such a high abv and thus high malt load barley wine. Even with that dryness the aroma promises cherries in high quantities and hints of wood that call to mind oak aging which I am fairly sure was not used with this beer, along with darker hints of coffee beans and crushed cocoa that are not massive, but simmer along underneath.
The body is smooth at first, but warming in the alcohol. Over time the drier character comes to the fore and with it harsher evidence of the alcohol, but initially it looks very good.
It is very spirity, calling to cognac early on, and to drier sherry over time matching the general drier character, with bitter red wine hints around that. All initially impressive, but over time the low bitterness present becomes more evident and with the drier character and high abv it becomes harsher, even lightly acrid in the finish.
This beer promises a lot with the fruit hints, spirit flavours and full on cherries, which works well for a while, but the not well handled alcohol makes it lose its luster over time. Not bad, just flawed with good elements, there is a lot of room for polish here.
Background: So, while I was in Tokyo I, of course had to return to the amazing Popeye bar and see how it was doing. Ryogoku where it is based seems a lot more built up now, and there is even a Ryogoku Brewing, of which this beer is from. So I of course had to try. Popeye was super busy when I arrived but became a lot quieter quickly. They are now using QR codes for ordering and menus which made me very glad I finally have a smartphone – still annoyed than they are pretty much necessary for everyday life now. Anyway, being back at popeye I decided to go for the big bears, this barley wine and I also had Swan Lakes Imperial Stout which was very impressive indeed.
I couldn’t find anything I could photograph for a decent image for a label to go with the photo of the beer, so just took a photo of another Ryogoku beer on the wall and used the brewery line from that to give some context.