. Favourite Beer of the Week

Kiuchi Brewery is in Ibaraki Prefecture in Japan. Ibaraki is famous for making Natto which consists of sticky fermented soybeans and tastes like old socks. Do not under any circumstances let anyone trick you into eating natto. It is good for your health, and will prevent blood clots and heart attacks, but it bares very little resemblance to food and should be avoided at all cost.

Instead, why not have yourself some Kiuchi Hitachino nest beer? I had a bottle of the special "Commemorative Ale" which contains vanilla beans, coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, cinnamon, and 9% alc/vol to make it (and you) festive. It is strong, full bodied, and probably not the kind of beer you want to be drinking every day, because the spices are pretty up front, plus you have to wait 20 minutes for the froth to go down before you can drink it (even if you pour it super carefully down the side of the glass) and who's got 20 minutes a day to wait for a beer to calm down?

Not me.

Also, it has a cute owl logo.