Beer of the Week: Beer of the Rising Sun

From the Beer Writer: The holidays are upon us, which means brewers are breaking out their recipes for darker, maltier, spiced and higher-alcohol beers. ‘Tis the season after all, and such warming beers are necessary for staving off frigid mid-seventies temps. That was a joke, but an attempt at humor rooted in reality. The fact is, San Diego winters aren’t that different from our spring and fall seasons, making life down at the beach essentially as enviable to the rest of the nation as any other time of the year. Realizing this, rather than lead with a barrel-aged gingerbread stout or peppermint-bark porter, we are keeping it real with this week’s featured brew, Beer of the Rising Sun. As the name implies, this 4.4% alcohol-by-volume lager is of the Japanese variety, meaning it is brewed with a significant amount of rice; in this case brown rice. A product of coastal brewpub, Pacific Beach AleHouse, it’s meant to be sipped in close proximity to sandy shores, and with a crisp, crackery character and effervescent essence, it’s perfectly suited for its mission even if the mercury is (slightly) lower than usual. Shiawasena kyujitsu!

From the Brewer: “Beer of the Rising Sun is a crisp, dry Japanese-style lager. Subtle cracker and white bread flavors come from domestic pilsner malt, while brown rice makes for a dry finish. The bitterness is provided by Centennial hops in the whirlpool. This helps keep the delicate lemony aromas intact. This is the first beer I brewed after joining PB AleHouse. I like it because it has many subtle flavors and aromas that make it very drinkable. The light flavors and moderate bitterness of this beer make it appealing to all sorts of beer drinkers and perfect at the beach.”—Dan Enjem, Head Brewer, Pacific Beach AleHouse