Name: Barrel-Aged Yama-Bushi Cedar Kogen
Brewers: Tamamura Honten Co./ Shiga Kogen (Japan), Jester King Brewery, Oxbow Brewing Company (United States)
Style: Wild Specialty Beer (Base Style: Saison)
ABV: 7.5%
Review Year: 2020
The Barrel-Aged Yama-Bushi Cedar Kogen is a special three-way collaboration among Tamamura Honten (Nagano), Jester King (Texas), and Oxbow Brewing Company (Maine). This “farmhouse ale” was conditioned initially in sake barrels and then aged further in wine barrels for 19 months. Cedar Kogen went through a secondary fermentation phase in the bottles for another nine months.
STYLE GUIDELINES
This beer is being evaluated as a Wild Specialty Beer (28C) with the Saison (25B) as the base style in the context of the 2015 Beer Style Guidelines of the Beer Judge Certification Program (BJCP). The most current version of the guidelines can be found on the BJCP website.
TASTING NOTES
Deep gold with a well-retained head. Cedar Kogen unveiled an aroma bouquet of soft plum, santol, apricot, Sauvingon Blanc, and some floral notes. Light-medium bodied; effervescent. Approachable sourness akin to santol and Sauvignon Blanc were noted against a subtle oak-like backdrop. Dry; aftertaste of lanzones, plum, rice wine, and subtle bitterness.
THE VERDICT
It is East meets West with Cedar Kogen— a delicate “farmhouse ale” that brought together harmoniously the nuances associated with the wine and sake barrels used. The santol and Sauvignon Blanc qualities stood out and were delivered in a dry, effervescent, and refreshing fashion. It is one of those “farmhouse ales” you would want to nurse in your glass and enjoy sip by sip. After all, Cedar Kogen went through at least 28 months of various conditioning phases to reach its current state. Excellent.
Recommended Readings:
The Difference Between Saison and Farmhouse Ale (The Beer Connoisseur, 2019)
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