CURRENTLY SERVING:

We’re no experts on Japanese beer, but more and more when we hit The Foodery, we keep opting for the various bottles in Kiuchi Brewery’s family of Hitachino Nest Beer. It’s not just the adorable owl on the label and bottle caps; each beer is very different and very much an experience worth the somewhat steep import price, even if you don’t end up loving a particular one. Our favorite is the White Ale, with its whiffs of coriander, orange peel, and nutmeg. The Weizen’s great too, and the Sweet Stout is just that. The only one we haven’t liked is the Red Rice Ale, a 7% that’s a bit too much like sake for our fragile tastes. But when the success rate is this high and Foodery carries at least eight different Hitachino Nest choices at a time, you’ll soon find your pockets full of caps featuring that innocent-seeming owl. And yes, Virginia, there are T-shirts.