Imagine that this post is written in ojou-sama Japanese. I’m adding “desu wa” to the end of every sentence in my head anyway. If you don’t get it why, the previous sentences were not meant for you.

The 古道 (kodou) stands for “old style”, which made me cautious after my not so pleasant experiences with the Beer Hearn “old-style IPA”, but unlike that, Kumano Kodo is a brown ale, and I guess that made all the difference.

It’s clear amber, with a dynamic bubbly head that then gets reduced quickly to a thick bubbly film. There is some lacing, but it’s not significant at all.

The first impression to the nose is that it’s grainy, somewhat sweet, and definitely malt-centered. Then that last part gets revised when a hoppy fruitiness (albeit light) says hi.

Its body is thin medium with a soft carbonation that only makes it feel smooth. It has a complex taste (which means describing it properly is way above my head, but I’ll still try nonetheless). At first the grains and the smokiness was the most apparent, but then the hops’ presence came in the foreground with an interesting apple fruitiness. The bitterness is just as light as the sweet, but the overall impression is quite dry.

That dry impression lingers after finishing the beer too, making the otherwise smooth aftertaste gain another dimension. I noticed a weird, milk-like note too, but I don’t know where that came from. (Definitely not from my non-existent dinner, since I’ve not drunk any milk in months.)

I’d have another can of this beer anytime, but I get the feeling that I didn’t manage to grasp all its properties just yet.