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What does Hanamachi mean? I'm not going to look it up. I am guessing it means Rice. Maybe it means Californian sunshine. Maybe it means logic that comes form a bottle. The possibilities are endless. For now, I will assume it means, "BFBCPing, we have a great beer for you, and you will go nuts over this thing. You're welcome."
The golden-yellow beer has a bit of a haze to it. Are rice beers supposed to have a haze? No idea. So, let's assume they should. This doesn't produce much head, and I guess we can assume that is also indicative of the style. Despite the lack of head, I might still get a little lacing, and that makes me a little unjustifiably happy. The aroma is pretty unique, as it has an odd yeast, white rice, honey, lemons, and maybe a spice or two.
First sip strikes me as impressively drinkable. The can calls this beer "super-dry" and I agree that it has a dry finish, but I don't know about "super." It seems a bit excessive to call a beer that is this crushable "dry." The spices are definitely there, and the rice gives this a very different taste from regular beers. I've had a few with rice in them, but I don't think they were as rice-forward. The result is a much more drinkable flavor that is not too dissimilar to sake.
Tip-in is lemon and honey right in the nose before the drink even hits the lips. From there, wheat, white rice, and lemons are all nestled together sweetly. The middle rolls in with not a whole lot of anything. This is mostly crushable because it has very little going on in the middle at all - not even much carbonation. The finish seems like it's where all the flavor has been hiding. It jumps out as a bit dry, sweet, rice, honey, and some indeterminate spices.
Bottom Line: Kind of surprised how much I enjoy this.
3.75/5
