RSSMy wife is half Korean and every once in a while she gets the itch to cook some of her favorite childhood Korean food recipes. This means we get to take a trip to the Korean supermarket, which also means I get to spend about an hour or so checking out all of the crazy Asian beers they have in their beer aisle. Over the years I have found some real gems that I can not find anywhere else, so it is always a treat to pick up a few new beers to try them out each time we go. Most of the beers I find are lagars or Pilsners but every once in a while I come across something different.
Echigo Stout is one of those different beers, and just happens to be one of my favorites. No one else seems to carry Echigo and it is kind of expensive (about 4 bucks a bottle), but it is awesome. It is a complex yet dry stout that is freaking glorious. The only shitty part about it is they only sell these guys in single 11.5oz bottles…that’s right, for some reason a lot of Asian beers come in 11.5oz bottles instead of 12oz or pints…guess it makes sense, because Echigo does come from the land of the tiny cans of soda…
Echigo is super smokey, chocolaty, sweet yet very dry and all awesome. It has a subtle hint of soy sauce and chocolate sauce in the nose and then in the mouth is is rich complex and chocolaty. This is a great great stout and hella out of left field, way deep left field. You would never expect this kind of flavor pouring out of a Japanese beer. If you ever find yourself in a Korean supermarket, keep your eyes open for one of these guys, it is freakin worth it.
Summary:
Company: Echigo Beer / Uehara Shuzou Co. Ltd.
Type: IPA
Taste: Smokey, Chocolaty, Dry, and Glorious
Alcohol Content: 7%
Food Pairing: Pizza, breads, buffalo wings, Nachos, etc.
Rating: 6 out of 6 (awesome.)
Website: N/A
It might be a tiny bottle but the alcohol content is up there with the bad boys.
you know it!