REVIEW: Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale & The Office

Alright, today's Christmas pairing is admittedly, pretty tenuous but we'll get to that in a minute. First of all we've got Kiuchi Brewery's Hitachino Nest Commemorative Ale. My first beer here on the blog from Asia! In the first week of these Christmas pairing posts not only have i had beers from three different breweries, but from three different continents! Pretty cool. I'm not quite sure what to make of this beer, I know it's 8% ABV, and that it's brewed as a "festive ale" with vanilla beans, coriander, orange peel, nutmeg, and cinnamon. Sounds pretty good, right? And to pair with it, A Benihana Christmas from season three of The Office.

Commemorative ale pours a hazed over, effervescent ruddy amber. It's capped by a finger of off white head that recedes to a thin, persistent rim.

This beer smells more like pumpkin pie than just about any pumpkin beer i've ever had. It's kind of uncanny. Not pumpkin, or pumpkin spice, real, actual pumpkin pie. Robust notes of vanilla and nutmeg are joined by subtler aromas of cinnamon, all spice, and a faint lemony citrus. All of this is laid on top of a hearty, rich, toffee malt backbone. Really really nice.

Commemorative ale is very full bodied, very rich, and very creamy. Malt flavor really dominates here. Big bready, slightly toasted toffee is joined by joust a touch of roasty coffee and notes of sweet candied sugar and vanilla. Subtle complexity is added by spicy hints of nutmeg and cinnamon. Fruity flavors of grape, pear, and raisin come out before a bit of boozy heat on the finish. I enjoyed this one a lot. It's big, hearty, rich, with really nice complexity. I'd be very interested to see what some time in the cellar would do, I think it would hold up very well.

And now for the paring. I'll be honest, the entire premise of the whole thing is built up around a single joke. On the day of the Scranton branch's office Christmas party Michael's girlfriend Carol breaks up with him. Andy decides to try to buoy Michael's spirits by taking him to Benihana's which Michael refers to as "Asian Hooters." I don't know why that joke has stuck with me so much, but it has. Every time I even drive past a hibachi restaurant I can't help but think Asian Hooters. Yes, that is the entirety of the connection here. Benihana Christmas, Japanese restaurant, Japanese beer. Also the Hitachino owl logo has some similarities to the Hooter's logo. I know, it's dumb. But I really like the episode and whatever, pairing beers and movies/ tv shows isn't as easy as it looks!

In revisiting this episode I was reminded of just how good this show really was. The quality of The Office fell off pretty precipitously after Steve Carrel left the show, but man, when this show was good, it was really damn good.

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