Sorry Sakura Mochi Stout

Review Date 5/10/2025  By John Staradumsky

  Style: Stout   Brewery: Yoho Country: Japan   State: N/A   $ Per OZ: $.11 (B)   ABV: 6%

“I’m sorry I took the money! I’M SORRY! I’m not sorry I took the money!!!” OK, lets be clear, I didn’t take any money, and I’m not sorry. But Peewee Herman’s character Howie was in the movie Nice Dreams with Cheech and Chong. I thought about Howie when I saw singles of Sorry Sakura Mochi Stout from Japan’s Yoho brewery at Everest Spirits in Kennesaw. I’m sorry.

Yoho describes this beer as stout brewed with mochi and natural flavors. Mochi, of course, is a beloved dessert in Japan, a dessert rice cake made with sugar and often other ingredients (such as Sakura, aka cherry blossoms). Michi is smooth and creamy and well suited to brew into a beer.

Yoho says on the can:

“I‘m Sorry! I Didn’t Ask You What You Like.” “Sakura Mochi” is a 300 year old traditional Japanese dessert. With the soft mouthfeel of mochi and spices hinting the Sakura leaf, this Japanese pastry stout pays homage to the delicate dessert we all love.

They also say:

We brewed a truly “Japanese beer” that we wanted to drink, without being bound to the conventional beer styles and standard recipes.  

I definitely respect that. Bert Grant, a pioneer of the craft beer revolution, was a big proponent of brewer’s having the freedom to brew what they wanted, outside the bounds of style. To be sure, Bert respected the importance of style, he just thought it was OK to color outside the lines now and then. And he was right.

Sorry Sakura Mochi Stout has an alcohol content of 6% alcohol by volume and I paid a ridiculously low $1.29 for a single at Everest. I only saw it in singles. Had I known the price, I would have bought more, and I may yet go back for more. My can is stamped 24.09.10 on the bottom, which is either September 10^th or October 9^th of last year, and I am assuming this is the canning date.

Sorry Sakura Mochi Stout pours to a jet-black color with a thick creamy tan head and a nose of light chocolate and a hint of leafy cherry blossom. Taking a sip, the beer is light to medium in body, and although I might like more of that this is a mochi beer, and mochi is made from pounded rice. Which will lighten the beer. It’s subtly milk chocolaty, and flowery with fruity cherry blossom aroma and flavor. Everything about the beer is subtle, but that lets all the flavors work together so nicely.

The beer finishes slightly sweet and gently roasty. A bargain at the price, it’s worth far more. If you see it, buy it.