3. Oze No Yukidoke IPA
Style: American IPA
ABV: 5.5%
IBU: none provided
Buy: Umami Mart
One sip of Oze No Yukidoke and you’ll get what hopheads mean by “session IPA.” Session IPAs have all the ingredients for a lengthy beer-drinking session: low alcohol, smooth drinkability and a moderate IBU.
Oze No Yukidoke gently caresses the nose and palate with floridity – hop flowers, pineapple and light citrus fill the olfactory while a malty effervescence blooms in the middle. Oze No finishes with a crisp, quick finish, enticing you to have another sip, open another bottle or keep the session going until after the sun goes down.
4. Shiga Kogen House IPA
Style: IPA
ABV: 8%
IBU: 95
Shiga Kogen House IPA strikes a surprising balance of sweet and bitter throughout the drink. A clear golden body and a half-finger head greet you on the pour along with a bouquet of orange candy, lemon zest and caramel. In the front you get a punch of bitterness that lingers and notes of toasted wheat, honeyed graham crackers, weak pineapple and citrus. Finally, Kogen House IPA finishes strong with a trailing bitterness intermingled with citrus.
5. Minoh Beer W-IPA
Style: Double IPA
ABV: 9%
IBU: 75
Minoh Beer produces the only W-IPA, which is simply a unique nomenclature; the Japanese word for double is daburu, which sounds like “W” in the Latin alphabet, hence the name. Now for the important stuff.
Minoh’s W-IPA has a lot of pleasant bitterness and a high, yet vaguely noticeable, alcohol content. The flavor of the alcohol in the W-IPA melds into the malty notes to create a toasty sensation that lasts for a few seconds after the swallow. Minoh W-IPA sports a hazy brown head, medium body and dark amber color.
