I was on a guided tour through Kagoshima Japan and we went to a garden where silk was made, and in the gift shop among so many bottles of Sake I found Satusuma Black. This is a stout made from sweet potatoes and comes in at 4.5% ABV, which is low for a stout. This beer is produced by a local company that makes sake from sweet potatoes as well as two other low ABV sweet potato beer. This beer poured thin deep black with a one finger tan head. The aroma is sweet and light and somehow strong at the same time. The flavor is in the lighter side for a stout. It has a bit of sweetness intertwined with some bitterness. This stout has a medium feel in the mouth. The finish is semisweet with a little heat. Then is has an aftertaste of sweet potato for a second then fades into a bittersweet cocoa. This is more of an interesting beer than a good beer. I this Satusuma Black is a C. The fact that this beer is interesting helps but the flavor is average but I was able to finish this, because the flavor grew on me as I drank more. I don’t know if I could recommend this, not because it’s terrible, but because it might be real difficult to obtain. But if you do come across this Satusuma Black try it! Cheers!
