Hakusekikan Part 2: The Strange Brew

For those of you just tuning in, you will find Hakusekikan Part 1: Ooh, That Smell! by scrolling down the page a bit. It lays down the basis for Part 2. This blog deals with the four beer that Miyuki and I took back to Toyohashi with us and drank in her house. If you read Part 1: Ooh, That Smell!, good new! None of these beers smell like body odor. Now, onto the beer!

Organic Shizen Ale (Green Label) - Shizen means 'natural' and that is what Hakusekikan is going for with their natural line of beers. At 498 yen, this beer was a little more expensive than the four previously mentioned beers. This probably has something to do with organic ingredients being more expensive because they are 'organic'. I'm trying to be a bit sarcastic about that because the term 'organic' is thrown around so much. If you put 'organic' on the label you can market your product to 'special' health food stores and double the price. Anyway, back to the beer. The Green Label is made with wild yeast that has been derived from honey. If this is really true, more companies should be digging around in honey looking for yeast. This beer is delicious! It is a golden ale but the yeast gives it a slight coriander overtone. Think the smell of light unpasteurized honey, but as a taste. Each drink led me to take another drink until there was no more. Great beer!

Organic Shizen Ale (not Green label) - This is packaged exactly like the Green Label except the trees have autumn leaves on them. The beer is made and priced the same as the Green Label but it uses a different wild yeast. The back of the bottle translates to "Yeast from nature" and then there is something about trees. Let me tell you, concerning these two beers, yeast makes all the difference. Every time I took a drink I got this strange sensation. Imagine a soft fist that is made of half cooked bread dough. Now, imagine getting a light punch in the back of your throat with that fist followed by a strange nutty flavor that you know you have tasted before but can't put your finger on. This is what happened every time I took a drink. Hakusekikan should ditch this beer and put their efforts into better marketing the Green Label.

Scottish Smoked Ale - This is exactly what it says it is. A scottish smoked ale. It costs 498 yen and you get exactly what you pay for, a scottish smoked ale. I am not going to describe this beer because I think all smoked ales taste basically the same. Like smoke. Miyuki says it tastes like smoked salmon. That is also the only smoked food that she eats. If you have never had a smoked ale, drink one. It will either be the last one you drink or it will be the first of many. It really comes down to the question, "Do you like your beer to taste like meat or do you like your beer to taste like beer?"

Crystal Ale - This beer has a Belgian strong taste. The bottle says that add 'secret sugar' to the beer to get the alcohol to 12%. I am not usually one to ruin secrets but they are probably using Belgian Candi Sugar. Candi sugar is not much of a secret. DH and I made some the other day for our christmas ale. All you have to do is heat up sugar and water until it starts to get thick and brownish and then dump it onto tin foil and put it in the freezer until it gets hard. So much for secrets. This beer cost 840 yen and is not worth that. You are much better off buying an imported Chimay for 400 -450 yen. Those crazy monks at Chimay have been doing it right since the 15th century. This is what Good Beer Country Boys are here for. Drinking the beer so you don't have to. Look at those beautiful bottles all in a row...

Nagoya Asahi Brewery Tour!!!

If you live near the Nagoya area, there is no reason why you shouldn't take this tour at least once or twice a year. If I lived within a reasonable distance, I think I would start every Saturday morning off with a tour of the Nagoya Asahi Brewery!!!
Japan may not do everything well, but they usually have tours down pat. Tours are informative, entertaining, and usually end with you getting something for free. The same is true at the Asahi Brewery... Even though the Asahi Brewery isn't a micro brew, and they do turn out some really crappy beer, it is still good to go and have a peek at how they do things. Hey, you could call it research in how NOT to make beer...or you could call it an excuse to drink free beer, which is always welcome in my world.
The Asahi Brewery is open from 9:30am to 3:00pm for FREE tours most days, although you for sure need to call ahead to make sure that they are open on the day you plan on visiting, and that they have room on a tour for your happy self. As with most things in Japan, it is best to have a reservation and if you or a friend can call and make a reservation in Japanese, your life will be easier. The Nagoya brewery does have a website, but again, it is all in Japanese. Nevertheless, check it out here for updates and news from the brewery.
The easiest way to get to the Brewery is to take the JR Chuo line from Kanayama station to Shinmoriyama Station. The ticket will cost you about 200 yen and it is only three or four stops away. From Shinmoriyama station, the brewery is an easy 10-15 minute walk, and there are signs along the way to guide you easily to the factory. (The signs are in Japanese, but they have a map that is easy to read, fear not!) If you get lost and don't speak any Japanese, just walk up to the nearest person that you see and say, "A-SA-HE BEE-ROO???" and look stupid. They will point you in the right direction. A bus does come to Shinmoriyama Station and run back and forth to the factory, but you will need to call and make reservations and check the schedule. If you want to call up the factory and chat a while, the number is 052 792 8966, but remember--Japanese only!
The tour has varied each time I have taken it. If you have a large English speaking group, you can arrange an English tour, but you have to take a tour at the time they tell you. Since I went with Michi in the morning, we opted for the Japanese tour. It helps if you have a basic knowledge of the brewing process, and makes it much easier to follow along. The tour guides are nice Japanese girls that kindly tell you fun facts about Asahi and the factory and teach the basics of brewing. Along the way there are many boards and posters that illustrate the brewing process, and they usually have a short English explanation as well. At the front desk you can ask for an English brochure, which also is a big help.
The highlight of the tour is the end!! After the tour, which takes about 45-50 minutes, you will be escorted into a large hall where your free beer drinking will commence. You are seated, given a short speech on how to taste beer and what kind they offer, and then you have about 15-20 minutes to drink free beer.
Usually, they say you can have three beers, but this limit is not enforced. If you are sly enough, you can keep getting refills, but remember, you only have about 20 minutes. I can hear all of you college boys out there now talking about how many beers you can drink in 20 minutes...but you will be hard pressed to put down more than five and not make a scene.
At the end of the last tour we took, I was amazed to find that not only could you drink the freshest SuperDry in the world (and it DOES taste fresh and better!), but we could also drink Asahi Black and Bass!!! Bass??!! Black? Free???
Bass was available because Asahi is the importer of the English Pale Ale, and it was delicious! A black and tan made with the Bass and the Asahi was also mighty tasty, even if they didn't have the spoon available to make the proper pour...
We enjoyed a few FREE beers and were on our way. It was a great start to a Saturday morning, and the best part is that it is FREE! If you consider that between Michi and Myself we drank seven beers, half of them premiums, we were in the green about 30$ already on the day, minus our train fares...Not a bad start!
In conclusion, get your rear end to the Asahi Brewery in Nagoya. There is no excuse anymore. You can take a morning tour and be done by noon with a belly full of fresh, free, cold beer. And that, my friends, is what I call a lovely start to the day.

A little taste of home...

Sometimes you just need a little taste of home. You just need a little reminder of what home really tastes like. I would kill for some of my mom's homemade chocolate chip cookies, her homemade pizza, or some of her potato salad and coleslaw. These tastes of home remind me of sunny summer days on the porch and of good friends and the easy life. Sometimes I also get the urge for a drink from home as well. Yes, even this Good Beer Country Boy gets the urge for some Bud heavy or a Miller Lite from time to time. Yes, these beers taste weak. Yes, they are cheap. Yes, they are rednecky. But they remind me of home, and if I want to drink one from time to time I will!!!! I do what I want!
Ok, I feel better.
I remember being at the US embassy commissary in Tokyo with Nate when we spotted some Bud Light. Now, regular "Bud" is available here in Japan, but be warned. It is not the Bud from home. Bud in Japan is brewed "under the supervision" of Budweiser (InBev) just like Asahi back home is brewed with Japanese supervision in Canada. Both Asahi back home and Bud here taste nothing like their namesakes in their native countries.
But, Bud Light is not available here in Japan, and what we saw at the embassy was the real deal shipped from America watered-down goodness. So, we bought a few and drank them. They were good.
Nate and I recently came across some more American brews in a little international store in Toyohashi. The international store in The Hash is about the only place to buy import beer there, and it has a nice stock of Belgian and Asian brews. To this collection, they recently added Sam Adams and Miller Lite and Coor's Original.
To all of my friends at home who love the Miller Lite...I didn't buy any. It is $4 a bottle, and taste of home or not, it is an outright sin to pay $4 for one bottle of Miller Lite...however, if they start stocking the High Life...

Hida Korikori no Kuni Beer!

This weekend again saw the split of the Good Beer Country Boys as Nate went to drink beer and look at rocks and I went on a weekend get-a-way with the ole' lady. (I have been told that 'ole lady is not an appropriate term to call her by, but since I don't think she is reading this, I will continue to use it.)
We decided on the spur of the moment that we would try to spend the night at a nice Japanese style hotel somewhere up in the mountains. Since the day before we did what I wanted to do (toured the Asahi factory and chilled in Nagoya...more to come on that later!) I decided to give her the reigns and let her decide to take us wherever she wanted. She landed on Takayama in Gifu-ken, and luckily we scored a room at Sosuke, an awesome minshuku (mini Japanese hotel) within walking distance of the old city. Before we left out from Toyohashi, I did some quick Internet investigating to find out as much as I could about craft beer in that area. As luck would have it, Nate and I had scored a Takayama brewed pale-ale the day before at a shop in Nagoya, and it was pretty tasty. I found that there were two different beer breweries in Hida-Takayama, but not too much beyond that. Hopefully others following in my path will be able to be more informed than I was. That is our goal people!! We are doing the hard work--finding the good beer for you, and telling you how to find it quickly!!
Hida-Takayama is a beautiful old town in the mountains that has a old section of town that really reminds me of Kyoto. I won't write about the history of the town, since you can read all you want about it here. Mixed in with the old shops and restaurants (great Hida-beef sushi can be bought on the streets for $5 for two pieces...expensive but good!!) are many liquor shops and sake breweries that sell the local sake and beer made right there in Takayama! Most of these offer free sake and shochu tastings, some with about eight different varieties available to taste for free!
Michi and I decided to duck in one of the local shops and bought some Hida beef on a stick and two Kolsch style Korikori Beers.
The beer had a light body and tasted just like some of the Kolsch style beers I had tasted in Germany. Kolsch styles aren't my favorite, especially in winter. That being said, this beer was very good... After that we drank some of the other micro-brew, Hida Takayama Brewing Agricultural Company (HTBAC), which I will write about later. HTBAC is now my favorite Ji-Biru company in Japan, which is saying a heck of a lot. Look forward to reading more about it.
Later that night we decided to check out the KoriKori Beer's brewpub which was in walking distance of our hotel. Upon arriving, we found that it was closed! Blast! No worries however, as it was a good night and the brisk walk was very enjoyable.
The next day for lunch we made our way back to the brewpub to find it open for business! We entered in and immediately were in love! This place has a nice fireplace, great atmosphere, and the largest collection of Japanese Ji-Biru bottles I have ever seen. There are large glass windows that look down on the fermenting tanks and tables set up near the window offer great views. There is also outdoor seating available when the weather permits! This place looks like something that belongs at the bottom of a ski-slope and the room and the staff are very inviting. We sat down and ordered a taster set for 700 yen--not too bad for three 200mL samples! The Kolsch on draft was even better than from the bottle, and we also sampled an Alt style beer and their winter seasonal, which was called "Harmony." All three were good beers, but the Alt was definitely the best. Lovely caramel flavor, nice body and a smooth finish. The Harmony was darker and had a hint of chocolate malt and some nice hoppy flavor...but was outdone by the Alt by far. The Kolsch was great as well for a lighter style beer, and I am sure that those that are not fans of fuller bodied beer will love it for sure. The beer here was also available at a great price, for 1000yen for a liter. To those of you at home, that's about $10 a beer...but for micro brewed beer in a touristy mountain town in Japan...that's a heck of a deal.
The only downside to the Brewpub is that it is only open from 8am until 4pm...which means you have to start early! The place is available for dinner parties however, and after asking the staff they seemed very welcome to the idea of accommodating large after hours groups. Just call ahead!
Korikori beers are defiantly worth checking out. Plan on taking a weekend trip to Takayama, seeing the sights, eating some good food, and drinking some great mountain Ji-Biru.... If you plan on driving...be warned...when you are up in the mountains...you may find yourself caught in a snowstorm just like we did!!!

Spirits and the mean streets of Nagoya....

Saturday night in Nagoya. It's not all karaoke and sushi people. This is a big city. It's rough out here. You never know what you might run into when chillin' on the mean streets of Nagoya. Killers, drug dealers...girls dressed like French maids... Saturday night we were keepin' an eye on the streets and grabbin' a few beers outside of Spirits in Sakae...
Ok I am full of it. Actually, I was waiting on my girlfriend who was shopping for some expensive clothes in Sakae, when we decided that it would be easier to wait outside of Spirits with a few good brews. Spirits is just like Nick described it in the article he wrote about his favorite places to "street drink" in Nagoya.
"Street Drinking" is the thing. Why pay a cover charge and more for mediocre beer, when you can drink good beer on the streets with some friends? Sometimes you get the urge to go to a nice bar and have a good bar experience...but on the everyday...street drinking is in. Of course this all is thanks to the fact that in Japan you can have a open container on the streets. If we tried street drinking in Kentucky, the cops would be on us like flies on cow patties. In Kentucky we modify "street drinking" just a little bit and change the location...and ta-da!: "Field party!"
Spirits has a great selection of (not just a clever name) spirits, and good brews. I started off with a new Japanese micro brew from Nigata-ken, Edinburgh Ale. Sounds good enough right?? Wrong. Tasted like flat sassafras tea gone bad. I know it's a sin to waste beer, so I gave it to Nate and went and bought another one. The second time around...I bought a Sam Adams Boston Lager. I know it, I know it...It's not that exotic, but I was feeling a bit nervous due to the bad experience I had just had. It was good, but not as good as it is when it comes off tap at your local pub. My hometown local pub is of course Galvin's, which I will write more about at a later date.
Sam Adams does have a new glass that they designed, which is supposed to enhance the drinking experience of their brews. Nate (and Colt) will tell you that all Sam Adam's taste the same...and I will admit that all of the brews do have a similar quality. But they are usually pretty good. And I like them. I don't know if this glass makes them taste better...but hey, at least it looks trendy...
When in Sakae, swing by Spirits. It's just up the street from the Gucci shop and a clothing shop named Zara that my girlfriend likes. If you can't find it, just stop in Zara and ask for direction from the girl buying everything. She will know.

Hakusekikan Beer: Ooh, That Smell!

I still don't understand all that happened this past Sunday. Miyuki and I decided to visit Hakusekikan Beer in Gifu prefecture on the reccomentdation of our friend Tomoko. She took us to her favorite beer bar in Tokyo a few weeks ago, and we had Hakusekikan's Super Vintage on tap. This stuff is a 14% strong ale that uses wine yeast for secondary fermentation. It's not for light weights or thin wallets; this beer/wine cost 1890 yen for a 330 ml bottle. That's right, almost 20 bucks a bottle. Anyway, between the Super Vintage and the Tomoko telling us that some of their beers use natural yeast from the air, ala a Japanese Lambic, Miyuki and I decided that we had to see this place for ourselves.

Hakusekikan is off of the Ena stop in Gifu on some train line that comes from Nagoya. To get their we had an hour train to Nagoya, another hour train to Ena, then the station master gypped us out of 500 yen each because we didn't get rid of our special weekend THC-Nags tickets in Nagoya. Bastard. We had to wait around Ena station for 40 minutes until the next bus came, then it was a 30 minute ride up and down mountains to Hakusekikan.

Now it gets weird. Hakusekikan is a stone museum. You pay about 800 yen to go inside and walk around and look at stones. They have constructed a pyramid, stonehenge, and some other famous things with stones from a nearby quarry. Outside of this are two gift shops selling stones and food, respectively, and a cafe that is made out of stones. We asked where the beer was. They told us we can drink it in the cafe. Miyuki and I go in the cafe. The cafe only sells the beer in bottles. So we go back to the information desk and ask if the restaurant inside the stone museum has the beer on draft. The answer is, Yes, they do," but the restaurant is only a wedding hall and we can't eat there. Do they sell the beer outside so we can drink it and look at stones? No, they don't. WTF? Normally, when we spend 4000 yen each to travel to a brewery we expect tot drink draft beer. I never thought I would have to get married in order to drink draft beer.

Beaten down but not broken, we start buying the beer out of the gift shop in twos. There is a large rice field behind the cafe and every two beers lasted us a turn around the paddie. The first two beers we tried were the Lager and the White Ale. The lager was your run-of-the-mill lager, not bad, not great. Miyuki said it had a little stout soy sauce flavor, but I didn't pick up on it. The white ale tasted good. I would have been proud to have made it except for one thing. It smelled like body odor. Miyuki said, "This beer smells like under a man's arm," and that is a pretty close description. The BO didn't come through the taste, thank God, it was just in the smell.

Unsure of what just happened, we bought the Pale Ale and the Golden Ale and started our next turn. Both of these beers smelled like body odor too! I think that it must be one of the yeast strains that Hakusekihan uses. That is the only answer I can think of. It is so strange to take a drink of decently delicious beer and get a whiff under arm goodness up your nostrils. I can honestly say that it was a first for me.

Beside the BO smell, the Pale Ale caught me off guard for another reason. I had made this beer before except I called it Shiroi Usagi #13. It tasted exactly like a batch of homebrew I made this past spring! It is odd that a homebrew using summer Mikan peel and coriander tastes exactly like a Microbreweries Pale Ale...

Before leaving, we bought Hakusekikan's Shizen (Natural) Beer, Shizen Green Label, Scottish Smoked Porter, and Crystal Ale (12% alcohol!) to drink later on. These beers were all interesting in their own right and will be discussed in Hakusekikan: Part 2.

An open letter to Hakusekikan Beer:

Dear Hakusekikan,
Why? Why is it so difficult to drink your beer on tap? I am a simple man. I don't require many things. Food, shelter, Blanton's Single Barrel bourbon, and beer on draft when I visit a factory. I mean, Yes! I love spending 50 bucks and traveling 100 km to buy bottled beer! I would never spend 10 bucks in shipping to order it off the internet instead! What a stupid idea, the internet. *pause* ...I'm sorry Hakusekikan. I am being sarcastic. I know that sarcasm doesn't translate well through typed text and language barriers. What I really want to say is this. I won't go back to your factory. Please make draft beer available to future beer adventurers like myself. Thank you.

SinBEERly yours,

Nate

Kirin's Muroka Beers...drink them.

Good Beer Country Boys pledge allegiance to Suntory Malts and Black Malts. This is a fact. However, Suntory is not the only macro that makes a product that can compete with the micros. Enter Kirin's The Premium Muroka. The label reads "Deep and rich taste from non-filtered process" and it is not lying. If you hold the brown bottle up and peer through it, you will see honest-to-God sediment floating around the bottom. This is a non-filtered lager by a major Japanese brewer. I'm drinking it as I write this. This beer just tastes good and has a very pleasing light-amber color.

You can find this in most kambini's and beer selling places for 200 to 250 yen. Luckily, I buy it for 205. At that price, it is a steal. This is a much better that Asahi Super Dry or Sapporo anything. The bottle says it is 5.5% alcohol, so it's got a half percent up on most of your other lagers. Yes, the sediment in the bottle does resemble fish shit that you might see floating in an aquarium, but I can assure you that it tastes much better. Actually, I am almost finished with the Muroka I am drinking now and, with an inch left in the bottom of the glass, it has a raw premium malts taste. Both this and the malts are all-malt beers, so it must be a sign of damn good all malt beer. This is something that Yebisu has never figured out.

I mean, Yebisu is expensive, so it should use the best ingredients. I don't know who their brewmaster is, but I picture their making Yebisu like using the bathroom in the middle of the night. You know you have to pee, you know where the bathroom is, but you can't see so you hit every piece of furniture on the way. Kirin are definitely working with the lights on when they make the Muroka.

Recently, a new Muroka has been hanging around with the tried and true Muroka in my local super market. It is Kirin's Season's Premium and has a similar label but with a green fade background and some hops hanging around to tempt a hop-minded drinker like myself. We'll start with the obvious. Yes, this beer has a little more hop taste than the regular Muroka. Is it enough to illicit pictures of hops on the label? No. In fact, I will call this beer Play-Action-Hop-Fake, PAFH for short. PAFH is a lighter beer than the Muroka, it is pours a golden honey color with much less sediment. If Muroka's sediment level is 10, this beer is coming in around 3. The fish-shit-lookin stuff is there, but not much of it. The initial taste is sweet and small-hoppy but the beer flavor pulls away fast leaving a honey feeling in your mouth. It's pretty enjoyable. This is not the same beer as the Muroka; it says the alcohol is 5.5, the same, but the body is lacking. Let me take another drink.

OK, so upon drinking more, I have decided that this beer would go great with heavier holiday food. I could drink this with turkey or a baked ham if I could find either of those in Japan, of course. It is light enough to not fill you up, but it is also sweet to compliment heavier, richer foods. I like this beer. And to tell you the truth, I was planning on slamming it in comparison to the Muroka. Drinking the beer while you type the reviews is most honest way of doing it. Hmmm, I think this beer cost me 250 yen. If it came down to a street drankin choice, I would go with the Muroka.

And before I forget, Kirin's Muroka series does have one more beer, though I haven't seen it in stores for a while. Two or three months ago I bought a Muroka White Beer that was susposed to be a Belgian style white. Don't buy this beer. Chances are if you can find it, you can also find Ginga Kogen. Buy Ginga Kogen instead. Concerning White Ale, Ginga Kogen makes Kirin their bitch.

A Requiem

Why? Why do things like this happen? Was it the driver's fault? No, probably not. In the driver we find a man or woman that followed a loftier calling to transport beer for the people. Was it weather conditions? Maybe, but I see no snow or ice in the picture. Was it possibly another driver? For his sake, I hope not. The vital fluid of all these dead soldiers would stain his hands from here to judgement day and back again.

In the face of a picture like this, I try to look on the positive side. These are Grolsch bottles. At least they weren't swing-tops. Hard as I try, the harsh truth still remains. Had they been swing-tops, the inside would be the same. Grolsch beer. More importantly, BEER. wasted beer and for what? For the sun to come out and evaporate the alcohol? I can only hope that trucks driver, the officials, a passerby...anybody! That they came and salvaged what they could. They picked up an empty case and, with a tear in the eye and heart weighted down, filled it with survivors. And after the excessive carbonation from the crash had subsided they, with friends or loved ones or both, drank to the bottles broken, empty, and left behind.

In memory of this photo, taken in Somewhere, Europe on an unknown date, let's give our lost barley boys the salute they deserve! Open a bottle, a can, whatever you have! Drink to family, friends, life, and to Beer's past, present, and future!

Kinshachi Blue Label

Kinshachi Blue Label beer. When I first heard the name I could only think of one thing, PBR. To those of you not fortunate enough to know what that is, let me enlighten you. Past Blue Ribbon is perhaps the finest cheap beer around. It is steeped in tradition and has won many awards, and even got a great review from Charlie Papazian himself. While drinking large quantities of it will give you the worst abdominal pain ever, it’s always near the top of beer lovers’ lists of favorite cheap beers.
The Kinshachi Blue Label tastes nothing like PBR. But it is pretty good. Made by the same folks that brought us the Green tea Beer (yuck) and the Red Miso beer (surprisingly tasty!) the Blue Label hits the mark. I didn’t know exactly what to expect since my first two beers from this brewery were on opposite ends of the spectrum. But, since they are made in Nagoya (Landbeer Brewery) we felt we better try out all that they have to offer.
If you love a good pilsner, you will love this beer. In fact, if I had been blindfolded, I would have sworn that I was drinking a Pilsner Urquell; the taste was that similar. Of course when trying to make a good pilsner, trying to imitate the beer that is most commonly associated with said type isn’t a bad idea. This beer had that distinct Czech pilsner bite and bitterness that makes it so great. The beer was light and refreshing. I would love to find this beer on draft somewhere, and rumor has it that it can be found in Nagoya! Sounds like a trip in the making!
Again, the major downside to this beer is the price. At nearly $5 a bottle, it isn’t something that you just pick up a six-pack of every day. The beer is good, but is it $5 worth good? Back home $5 from the store for a single beer can get a double deuce of something really good, like the Boss Cox Double Dark IPA or some Ruination IPA! I’ve said it before and I am sure I will say it again, you can buy a Yona Yona Ale or some Black Malts for about half the price, and honestly, you would be getting a better beer.
If your weekend takes you to a place that sells the Kinshachi Blue Label and you find a little coin in the bottom of your pocket, pick one up! And never mind that Nate looks like the Grinch stealing your beer in that picture...

Beer Festival Meeting and Drinking

Miyuki and I went to La Cachette Beer Bar where the Rhapongi "high class" beer festival meeting was going on. This meeting was for female volunteers that had worked with the Japan Beer Association before and were interested in planning a fourth festival. The organizers were looking for a fresh feminine point of view. Miyuki got me ok’ed to go because I am a gaijin and represented a masculine, but foreign view.

We ordered beer and the meeting started. This bar had about 6 Japanese microbrews on tap and any number of bottled beers from around the world. Beer number 1, 2, 4, and 5 for me were Shiga Kogen’s Miyama Blonde Pale Ale. This was the first time I had drank anything from Shiga Kogen and it did not disappoint. Shiga Kogen grows their own hops. And they make some damn fine beer. I also had a wheat beer of some sort, a Rauch (smoke) beer that was interesting, and an Anchor Liberty Ale out of the bottle that was delicious but was missing the freshness of the Japanese Microbrews. Truthfully, the Shiga Kogen was the only beer that mattered at the time. I didn’t pay much attention to the other brews. In fact, the Anchor Liberty would not have happened at all had the Shiga Kogen tap not run out.

Back to the meeting. Five minutes in a Japanese lady comes in late, sits next to me, and says, “as long as I’m here…” then starts translating everything that is being said in real time. She was amazing. I asked her later where she learned English. She said, “I’m a professional translator, it’s kind of my job.” The meeting went on for about an hour and 45 and was basically a brain storm session. The gist of it that they want to add a 4th Beer Festival in Rhapongi in Tokyo but make it high class and attract a different clientele. After the meeting, the drinking of good beer went on until almost midnight.

It was during the drinking that I got the chance to meet the two men responsible for pushing the microbrew into the Japanese spotlight. First was Ryoji Oda. I had met him twice before when I worked the Osaka and Yokohama Beer Festivals, respectively. The picture to the left is from Yokohama. This was the first time I had a real conversation with himand he speaks pretty good English. He told me that before he started promoting Japanese craft beer and organizing festivals, he had been a wine collector. But the Hanshin Earthquake had destroyed his wine cellar. Good beer drinkers of Japan should appreciate what the Hanshin Earthquake did for Mr. Oda, and what Mr. Oda now does for their palettes. I commented that he was the Charlie Papazian of Japan and he said, “Oh yeah, Charlie, we are good friends. I see him when I judge the International Beer Cup.” Mr. Oda is friends with the Master, enough said.

The other important Beer Festival man was Isao Tamura, a Brewing Consultant and Beer Designer, according to his business card. Before he got into beer, he worked in advertising for 30 years. He was responsible for Blanton’s Bourbon ads in the 80’s when the brand was first in Japan (I heart Blanton’s!), a Shochu jingle that Miyuki says is extremely famous, and…wait for it…the Japan Rail JR logo itself! We’re talking the major leagues here. This guy was straight up cool. He had to leave about 11 so I did him the honor of finishing off the half of Weizen he had left on the table.

This past weekend, DH, Miyuki and I brewed up some Christmas Ale and we were feeling the holiday spirit. The apartment smelled delicious and we all have our fingers crossed that beer will taste delicious when it is ready to be drank. Ho! Ho! Ho!

XH!!!

XH isn't the first beer that has an "X" in its name, and I'm sure it won't be the last. However, it is excellent. Hitachino beers are on the whole pretty good, and from what I have tasted, this is the tops. Hitachino beers are made by the Kiuchi Brewery, who use a little cute owl as their mascot. These beers are not as easy to find in Japan as one might think, and they are available in America at certain places. The only place near KY that has these brews is Jungle Jim's in Fairfield, OH--and that should come as no surprise because it is a known fact that Jungle Jim's sells everything. I'm serious. There is not an item available for sale anywhere in the world that Jungle Jim's does not carry. This week kitchen sinks are buy one get one free. If you don't believe me, check this out. Here they poliely tell you about the over 800 different types of beer that they carry, 400 of which are microbrews from the US. Jealous?
Anyway, XH is good. It is a Belgian style/ Strong American Ale Style dark brew that is somewhere around 8% ABV. Of course, this grabbed our attention from the start.
The thing about this brew that makes it unique is the fact that it is matured in shochu casks for three months. Here it gets stronger and gets its good flavor. Shochu is a vile liquid that is distilled from many sources like sweet potatoes, rice, and elephant dung. I don't recommend drinking it unless you are in a real pinch. Never minding the nasty taste, it does something good to this beer.
XH has just made the jump to America, as many bars in the New York area are reported to have very limited quantities on hand. However, the Kiuchi Brewery website still states that XH isn't available in the US... Conspiracy?
If you have a chance to crack open an XH, don't hesitate to do so. You will love the taste, but not the hefty price tag. Drink one and then hit some Black Malts. You didn't think we had forgotten about them yet did you???

After drinking the XH that I bought the weekend before, I was in desperate need of another. But alas, no more beer was to be found. So, I improvised and drank a white russian instead. Ain't she a beaut?

Case of the Mondays...

It was a decent weekend. I ate some good food, drank some good beer, made some (hopefully) good beer, and my niece was born. Normally that would make for a stellar weekend, however The University of Kentucky lost in both football and the opening game of the basketball season. I know this may seem trivial to many of you out there from a place that doesn't take its sports as serious as KY, but trust me, it's a heart breaker. Nothing can ruin a day more than getting up at 2am (time change!!) to listen to the cats play football only to have them lose it on the last drive roughly four hours later. That doesn't let me start the day with a smile....
Anyways! As I was saying we did make some good beer and drink a few good ones in the process. Since Christmas time is just 'round the bend, we decided to brew up a little Christmas ale. We used some good ole chocolate malt, some bitter orange peels (Nate's homemade!), fresh ginger, candy sugar (my homemade!), and the eye of a newt.
Making candy sugar for the first time was a little scary... We got the idea from the internet and decided that it can't be THAT hard. Of course, we took to making candy sugar like a duck does to water, and like lickety split--the candy sugar was made. As I have learned from Nate, more often than not, with a little can-do attitude and some brains, you can make just about anything that you really need.
While making the Christmas Ale, we drank some new beers that we found in Tahara! Two of them were brand new to me, and this weekend was their debut at the Centfare in Tahara. Since the unwritten (but should be written) rule of making beer is that you must be drinking one when you are making some, we cracked open one of the new ones to give it a shot.
The bottle looked inviting and it was a Pale Ale, so needless to say I was more than excited. And, just like so many times in Japan, I was dissappointed. No taste, no hops. If you had blindfolded me, I would have sworn that this was a High Life and I was back with the boys in the apartment in Georgetown. Now, I don't want you to think that I don't enjoy the High Life. The boys at the apartment have been known to buy it by the 30 pack on many occasions, and I will drink it over Bud Light or Miller Lite any day of the week. When the "huntin' cans" came out we bought every 30 pack in stock. But, when paying $4 for a bottle of Pale Ale, I expect to get something better than what we can get for $2 a forty.
Anyway, the Cats play the Tarheels on Tuesday and I am hoping for a W. I'm also hoping the Christmas beer turns out better than expected.... We will keep you posted...

Well crap. I found Bobbitt's picture of one of our tailgating coolers waiting on the ice that was full of the huntin' cans. Now, I'm not gonna sit here and tell you that the High Life is a premium beer, but I sure am gonna tell you that I could sit here and drink one right as this very moment.

The Great Golden Turd in the Sky

The Asahi headquarters is in Tokyo. Next to it is a very distinct building. A large black Dali-esque cube with a giant golden turd floating on top of it. Ok, so it is supposed represent foam coming off the top of a beer (a Super Dry I would think) but it really looks like a golden turd. On the first floor of this pinnacle of modern art is the La’ Flamme d’ Or, an Asahi owned restaurant that serves the microbrews of the Asahi owned Sumidagawa Brewing. From now on we will refer to both of these places by the name that Miyuki gave them –The Golden Shit Restaurant and Brewery.

The Golden Shit Restaurant has a great lunch deal. For roughly 900 yen you can get an entre and the salad and soup bar. Considering Tokyo, this is a great deal. The Golden Shit Restaurant features three Golden Shit beers, a Weizen, an Alt, and a Chocolate Porter (goes with the fecal theme). Of the three, the Alt is sub-par, the Weizen is decent and goes great with a meal, and the Chocolate Porter is a refreshing break from the normal restaurant/brewery that turns out the German-style beer.

First off all, I am partial to Chocolate Porters. Rogue Mocha Porter? Can you say breakfast in a bottle? Now, I don’t want to get your hopes up; Golden Shit’s Chocolate Porter is no Rogue Mocha Porter but, no chocolate porter is. I almost feel it is biased of me to review this chocolate porter, liking them as much as I do. When I go back to Tokyo, which I will in February and March 09, I will drink this beer again. Maybe more than one.

Even if you don’t care about chocolate porters or cheap lunch buffets, The Golden Shit Restaurant is worth visiting for the visuals alone. First is the giant golden turd on top. Second is the modern art exhibit that is the inside of the Golden Shit Restaurant. If you really want to be blown away, go into the bathroom. In there is real…golden shit! Well, not really, but the bathrooms are futuristically cool. I was afraid to go inside the stalls for fear I would be beamed to the mothership. And the men’s urinals are out of this world.

This building/restaurant/brewery definitely has an ‘unko’ theme going on, but is a must see if you visit Tokyo. Make it your number two destination. Get it? Number two? Oh, man…

Tokyo Beer Drinkin': An Introduction

The Good Beer Country Boys split up this past weekend. Miyuki and I headed to Tokyo for beer drinkin' and meetin' and DH and Michi went to Nagoya for window shoppin’ and street drankin’.

Miyuki and I took the Moonlight Nagara Express to Tokyo. To be honest, I didn't see much moonlight because the inside lights were on the whole time. Mainly I saw the inside of my jacket hood while I was trying to sleep. The Moonlight is cheaper than the Shinkansen but much slower and it runs at night. The train left at 12:47 pm and arrived in Tokyo at 5 am. Finding ourselves in Tokyo at 5am on a Saturday morning, Miyuki and I did what any beer lovin' person would do and went to the Ginga! (open from 5pm to 9am!) in Raponghi (sp?) Hills and had a Weizen and a Stout off tap. This beer was very good in the early morning hours but the Tokyo prices gave us a bit of a shock. It was almost 1700 yen for our beer and after hours fee (load of horseshit). After this, we found a Manga Café and slept for 3 hours.

We made our way to another part of Tokyo (not really sure where) to the Delirium Café Reserve. We had some Kwak beer, which is served in a very interesting glass with a wooden contraption for holding it upright. I will admit that I know very little about Belgian beer and why certain beers can only be drank out of the matching glasses. During lunch at the Café you can get an entre (I had the pork, Miyuki the fish) and a decent salad bar for around 1200 yen.

After this we visited Baird Beer’s Nakamegura Taproom. I love Baird Beer but I will probably never go to this place again because it made me love Baird Beer less. Baird Beer’s brewery and original Fishmarket Taproom is in Numazu, Japan, one train stop below where Miyuki's cousin Akira goes to school. I have been there 3 or 4 times and it only gets better. In Tokyo, the price of everything is raised 200 yen and has that impersonal feeling (maybe that is most things in Tokyo). In Numazu, you feel at home, the beer is made across the street, the prices are better, and you are sad when it is closing time. In the next month or so, the Good Beer Country Boys will be taking a trip to the Mishima area and a better review will follow.

Later that night we went to the Beerfest meeting, the reason for our trip to Tokyo in the first place. This experience was so amazing that it will get its own post. This is only the beginning…

This is how I live.....

I made it to work today and just don't feel like working. As usual, the teacher next to me gave me tons to do as soon as I walked in the door, but I did what all great great people do--pushed the work aside and started surfing the net. I mentioned before that I am going to KY in slightly over a month. I know that it doesn't have much to do with beer in Japan, but I thought I would give you all an insight into how a Good Beer Country Boy lives at home.
The first thing that you must know is that beer must be on (in) hand at all times. This is a must for country folk. To make sure we abide by this unspoken law, of course we have a keg-erator in our apartment, and at the time of this pic it was stocked with Kentucky Ale. I highly recommend any serious beer connoisseur have beer on tap at home. I think it is one way that we show our freedom. Many people don't know that Thomas Jefferson wanted to add the tag, "and have draught beer at home" at the end of the second amendment. However, he was voted down because the other fore-fathers thought that it would create confusion and was not written clearly enough to be interpreted by all people. What a shame!
The next thing you must know is that any lover of beer should be able to make the stuff his/her self. It really doesn't matter if your beer tastes like crap, it's the effort that counts. I will add that the Belgian style beer being racked into the secondary fermentor shown in the pic was not crappy, but was quite tasty. We have brought our love for making fine brew to Japan, and this weekend plan on brewing up a few batches of Christmasie goodness!
The last thing that we do is just enjoy life. No one knows how to appreciate life like people in Kentucky. We work hard, and relax even harder. This is a pic of my good buddy Ryan and I doing a little Bluegrass pickin' on Christmas morning at Pratt's house. Anytime you can start the day pickin' the strings with good friends, you know you are in for a good one...
I'm missing home so I'm going to quit. Be sure to check back in soon as I will be posting an in depth review of XH beer, and introducing you to Charlie Mops--probably the greatest person to have ever lived in the history of the world.

Yee Haw!

Last night I dreamed I was at home drinking Kentucky Ale. As you can imagine, I woke up in a good mood--even if I was running late!
Speaking of good news, I will be returning home to the motherland...KY...in December. I'm going to go home to visit friends and family and meet my new niece. While there I will be doing my fair share of good beer drinking while spreading as much Holiday cheer as one man can do. All is well!

Nagoya Street Drankin'!

You may be wondering what we have been doing since we haven’t posted anything the last three days. As much as I hate to say it, I have been hard at work. I know, I know, I try to stay away from work as much as possible, but every now and again there comes a time when it is just unavoidable. I will say that at least some of my hard work paid off. My student in the speech contest whipped Nate’s student like it was going out of style. A good old fashioned English speech beat down. He may have spent the week in Tokyo drinking good beer, but he still can't teach his students to speak English worth a damn. Let it be known.
While Nate was away, I didn’t sit around and just mope all weekend. No, I headed to Nagoya with the Old Lady for some beer factory touring and hanging with some good friends. At night me and Nick took part in some street drinking, which was enjoyed thoroughly by us both.
We made our way to Nagoya station where we found the aforementioned international store and all of its wonderful types of beer. We procured a few and then accompanied the ladies since they wanted to do a little window shopping. Of course, this was my motive in inviting Nick and Michelle, I knew that Nick and I could enjoy each other’s company and a few brews, and at the same time appease the ladies by “going shopping.” We are so smart, I know.
We walked around with the ladies and our brews for a bit, then decided that it was time for a refill. At first we drank some of Yo-ho Brewings Aooni, and what a great choice it was. A nice IPA for a nice evening. We followed up the Aooni’s with a Gen-Mai and my first miso beer. I have to admit, that the miso beer was pretty tasty, even if their green tea beer tasted horrible. The Gen-Mai was ok, but most defiantly needed some work.
After those brews we drank some Coronas, Belgian whites, Kirins, and I’m not sure what else. No doubt the making of good time. The main lesson here: if your woman is going shopping, make sure she does it some place near good beer.