Fish Tale Brewing

Fish Tale is a brewery from Olympia, Washington that has recently begun distribution in Japan via Ezo Beer. There seem to be three main series: a Hobbit/Lord of the Rings series, an Organic Series and the regular series. I got a few to try from the regular and Organic series and was lucky enough to have a friend share one of the Hobbit beers as well.

I started off with the Regular series which have cool cartoon like labels and are priced right around 500 yen which is quite reasonable.

Beyond The Pale - Pale Ale 5% 

Less than 500 yen on Rakuten. It pours a cloudy orange-gold with a light beige head. The aroma is classic West Coast hops - pine & fruit - with a good sweet malty base. Medium bodied with a raspy carbonation. The taste is bitter pine, spicy and fruity. A solid pale ale and I loved the label which just screams summer to me.

I then had the Smaug Stout shared by my buddy. The bombers in this series ran closer to the 1500-1800 yen range due to premium for the movie tie-in I guess. This meant I was very happy to get to try it due to a generous soul!

Hobbit: Smaug Stout 8%

A roasty, unami & dark fruits (raisin+plums) plus chocolate syrup. Medium bodied with a soft mouthfeel. The taste is coffee, roasty, earthy with some chili pepper burn. Really nice. As it warmed up it definitely improved by coming together and melding into a more balanced whole.

Finally, I decided to try their two IPAs side-by-side as I honestly wondered if there was a difference between with the Organic IPA and the Hodgson’s Bitter End IPA.

First up, Organic India Pale Ale 6.5%

The psychedelic hippy label on this doesn't really do it for me but it is a classic IPA copper gold with a solid light beige head of dense foam. The hop bouquet is citrus (lemon, candied grapefruit) & prickly pine that has a very robust malt sweetness supporting it. 

Similar mouthfeel in both beers with a soft round carbonation though the body is medium to light as opposed to the fuller Hodgson's body.

It's got a more balanced flavor profile that features more fruitiness and malt than the Hodgson's and that is a definite plus for me. The finish is a nice little bitter hop kick with a pine & mint bite. I enjoyed this one.

Hodgson's Bitter End IPA 6.5%

The label makes this more attractive right off the bat which is why I've seen the regular series in more shops I believe. I would say it pours a slightly deeper copper gold than the Organic IPA and is a bit more opaque.

The aroma is maltier, fruitier with less of a bitting hop bitterness to it - definitely less pine notes. Medium to full bodied with a soft round carbonation makes for a pleasant mouthfeel.

Wow, this is bitter. The malts provide sweetness but I don't get any fruity hop character, it's like licking a pine cone or what I imagine drinking pine sap tea would be like. Decent malt kick in the finish. I get more of a pale ale than IPA feel from it but it's an old school pine bomb - if you enjoy that kind of thing you'll like this.

I'd say that these are definitely different beers but subtly so and overall I prefer the Organic IPA which is more my cup of tea. 

Final thoughts on Fish Tale in Japan:

A decent brewery at the right price.