St. Bernardus Tokyo Belgian Wit Ale

Review Date 10/30/2021 By John Staradumsky

  Style: Witbier   Brewery: St. Bernardus   Country: Belgium   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.22 (B)   ABV: 6%

Well how about that! I got a bargain. I got a four-pack of St. Bernardus Tokyo Belgian Wit at Total Wine for $3.29. I don’t think that price was correct mind you, and to be honest I didn’t even look at the price on the shelf when I saw the beer. I had been trying to find it for a while, and when I finally did, it went straight into my cart.

When I got home, though, I looked at my receipt and saw the surprisingly low price. My theory is that they charged me the single price, since on their website they advertise the stuff at $9.99 a 4-pack. Had I noticed this in the parking lot, I would have gone back in and asked to pay the full price, but I wasn’t driving all the way back to Kennesaw over their mistake, and to be quite honest, they have burned me before charging me six-pack price for a single. Perhaps this was just the universe striving for balance.

Anyway, about the beer. St. Bernardus says:

St.Bernardus Tokyo Sounds familiar? You are quite right, because in 2012 we launched a one-off brew on the occasion of the opening of the first St.Bernardus-themed café in the Japanese capital. Eight years later, you can sample our St.Bernardus Tokyo again, albeit with a new recipe!

I don’t recall seeing the beer way back in 2012 (weren’t we all worried about the world ending that year?). This time, though, through the magic of social media, I had plenty of reports of people enjoying it.

St. Bernardus says more:

St.Bernardus Tokyo is an unfiltered ale, which has been brewed with a large amount of wheat, holding the middle between a white beer and a saison.

I didn’t really get the saison theme, but I will say I read their description after drinking my first can. I was in a Witbier frame of mind, but will keep a tastebud out for saison next time I imbibe. St. Bernardus already has a witbier, and I found the Tokyo Wit to be a bolder, spicier version of that classic.

St. Bernardus Tokyo Belgian Wit has an alcohol content of 6% by volume, a bit higher than your average witbier. It has 15 IBUs and no discernible date coding on my cans, though with the spicing I would bet this one would age nicely for a year or two.

St. Bernardus Tokyo Belgian Wit pours to a hazy yellow-white color with a soft, short lived spritzy head and a nose of banana, vanilla, cloves, and fresh cut flowers. Taking a sip, the beer is very crisp and crackery with wheat, with bold notes of spicy clove, banana, and vanilla. It is crisp and tart wheaty in the finish and dry with spicy clove notes. Phenols are present, and the brewery suggests notes of Chamomile, and I think the flower and vanilla notes do impart that.

What a simply wonderful beer, spicy, yeasty, and dry in the finish. I suspect it would pair wonderfully with sushi, perhaps Maki, Uramaki, and California Roll. I will save a can and try that one of these days.

Glad I tried it?  T

Would I rebuy it??