Name: Yo-Ho Tokyo Black

Style: Porter

Country: Japan

ABV: 5%

Beer description: The beer is served in a can which is quite surprising and unique since it’s a porter!  Most craft beers don’t come in a can but it’s becoming more common here and there, mostly as something novel.  The beer also had a fair amount of head, which is pretty standard for the style, but it was more of a stout-like head in my opinion.

The beer smelled great with lots of spicy and malty smells and a hint of chocolate.  Adding to this, there was a slight metallic smell, even when drinking out of a glass, which was probably left over from the can.  The spice really cut through the nostrils at times; it wasn’t an overly spicy beer though.

On the body side, it was relatively heavy and smooth with lots and lots of chocolate as the dominant flavour.  Interacting with the chocolate is a bit of spice that goes really well with the  chocolate.  Behind all this is a bit of bitterness at the back that just sits there and feels nice and earthy.  There was also a bit of a light, crisp bitterness throughout that was similar to a lager.

Check out all porter reviews.

Check out other Yo-Ho beer reviews.

Editor’s note – the style name porter is an interesting one, and there’s quite a bit of history to it. We did the research to learn all about the history of the name porter.