Of course first and foremost we must give you the dates of the Great Japan Beer Festival being held:
6th & 7th Jun. 2009 "Great Japan Beer Festival 2009 in Tokyo" held in Ebisu Garden Hall, Tokyo
18th to 20th Jul. 2009 "Great Japan Beer Festival 2009 in Osaka" held in Kyosera Dome Sky Hall, Osaka
19th to 21th Sep. 2009 "Great Japan Beer Festival 2009 in Yokohama" held in Osanbashi Hall, Yokohama
Of course, you can try and make it to all three, but most likely the GBCB won't be hitting them all up. Tokyo is sure to be crowded and beer experts like TimE and Chuwy will tell you that the lines are long and the beers run out. Plan accordingly. More info available here, or just google The Great Japan Beer Festival for a ton of blogs and sites about it.
If you are reading on the West Coast, more importantly San Diego, hit this one up. "The Japan Society of San Diego and Tijuana (JSSDT) will host its 7th Annual Beer & Sake Festival on Thursday, June 25, 2009 at the San Diego Marriott Del Mar." There will also be a sushi competition, so it will be like Japan is coming to you! Also, I don't know about you, but drinking a ton of sake and beer near Tijuana sounds like asking for trouble. Don't know which microbrews will be there--hope they are good ones!
If you are in the Fuji area, hit up Gotemba Kogen ASAP. Brewer Scott Brimmer wants you to come and take part in the Pop Circus and while you are there you can get a Beer Passport for 4000 yen that lets you drink as much as you want every time that you visit two of the restaurants until May 31st. Suffice it to say that if Nate and I lived near Gotemba Kogen, they would be losing some serious cash on that deal. Between now and May 31st I could put down some Weizenbock---some serious quantities of Weizenbock---I'm just saying.
The 23rd and 24th of May will be the 12th Year Anniversary Celebration for Minoh Beer in Osaka. It looks like it costs 2,800 yen per person and it seems to include BBQ as well. I make no bones about it, I can read kanji about as well as I river-dance. And you know this boy don't river-dance. Minoh Beer is good and their Double IPA is AMAZING. I will be there for this one. Any of you scallywags plan on attending?
For those of you in Aichi, on June 7th, 2009 there is the Craft Beer Party in Inuyama hosted at Loreley Beer. While Loreley doesn't make too much good stuff, the big boys in the area will be coming. On the list is Ise Kadoya Beer, Hakusekikan Beer,Minoh Beer, Moku-Moku Beer, Kinshachi Beer, and Loreley Beer. (伊勢角屋麦酒、博石館ビール、箕面ビール、モクモク地ビール、盛田金しゃちビール、ローレライビール) Friends, there's some good brewers on that list! Each brewery will bring two brews and it looks like 5000yen gets you beer and food. If you are in Osaka you can pay 10,000 yen and get bus service as well! It's only open to 100 folks, so get your reservations early.
Anyone with any more info about any upcoming beer events let me know in the comments below, and I'd be happy to post them. Start marking your calendars!!!
12 comments:
What we really need in Japan is a great fantastic outdoor beer festival, with food tents and open spaces to sit down, etc.
What we generally get in Japan is a nazi-run overly controlled "you can't sit here, you can't put your bag down there, you can't do anything up give us money and stand there awkwardly drinking your beer" event. I'm getting more and more jaded, as a beer drinker. But now that I'm in the biz, I'll be going to events as a brewery rep. And that means it'll be free and they'll have a room for me to at least hang my jacket and leave my backpack -- and that makes things tolerable!
Chris, you make some great points. In Lousiville, KY--they have "Brew in the Zoo". (Whoever came up with this idea needs a statue in his/her honor by the way) For about $30 you get entrance into the zoo, and to the area where regional microbreweries, wineries and local restaurants bring their best. They have three huge tents set up in the field in front of an amphitheater inside the zoo. You can roam from tent to tent, eating and drinking, and can even roam into the park where you and your drunk buddies can hop the Giraffe fence and feed them leaves that you tore off some tree. (true story) (Don't get near the polar bears though--crazy Germans!!!)
That kind of relaxed atmosphere would be awesome in Japan--but where is the space to pull it off?
I've heard the Minoh Festival is next to a park--but don't know for sure.
What about in your all's stompin' ground? Any chance we can set up some taps on the piers and drink our fill there???
I've always heard bad things about the Great Japan Beer Fests. Too crowded and, well, random. The polar opposite of the picture of you sitting on the porch drinking a cold one. Is there a strategy for enjoyment here?
Brian, they are a good way to try a lot of Japanese craft beers---since some of them are hard to find and expensive! I've heard that Osaka is much less crowded than Tokyo.
That pic of me was taken on the BACK porch. What you can't see is the beautiful sunset, and the grill next to me slow cooking some ribs and chicken. AW SON!
Just got word that Minoh is bringing the Double IPA to the Inuyama Beer Fest!
I too have heard it is pandamonium at the GJBF but as DH said it is a great way to sample many ji beers you wouldn't otherwise get to try.
Don't forget the San Diego Beer Party next weekend. Its the ballast point intro party with stone and green flash availble. A mini festival I guess...!
I'm on the train down to Gotenba right now. Gonna get me sum booze, right? Wrong! I'm too late! The time I arrive is the EXACT TIME THEY CLOSE. couldn't have planned it any more cruel. Will cycle round fuji San tmrw and hit 5 breweries in 2 days. I'll come back for ginga Kogen! P.s. Fujiskura is having a ¥500 90min nomihodai until 23rd.
As my crazy luck would have it I found a shop bear the station that sells Gotenba Kogen beer. The oils and weissen aren't bad. Chillin with my brews, waitin for some friends to arrive. Then it's gorilla camping. I think the tohoku beer fest is kinda outdoors/ in tents? The Oktoberfest in Yokohama and hibiya would be a nice beer festival venue. Somewhere to sit down. Perhaps a ticket system rather than refills of a tiny glass would be better, as you would ant to be able to spend sometimerelaxing with your beverage of choice. It's cold here, up in the mountains. I only have shorts...
Tohoku. You mentioned it Chewy. I am thinking of doing it this year. Take Friday off work and head up for Friday-Sunday. Maybe staying in a hostel or gorilla camping. Outdoor festivals are definitely needed more. Hibiya is great as long as the weather holds up. Two years ago, I had one of the best drinking sessions of my life. I know BEERS does a hanami event, but don't you think an all day beer festival event surrounded by cherry blossoms would be so cool?
Tim
My word is "jamit" Very cool
Tohoku beer fest looks like its gonna be the 'sh*t', before everyone goes up there and turns it inot 'sh*t'.
May try and pop up there myself. Could even cycle up there...
Tim, you & Tim M up for some serious boozing? How about you GB&C boyeeeez? I've yet to meet DH.
My word verification is lintion. Some kind of linament lotion that I need to apply liberally, to 'certain areas', after riding to Tokohoku, perhaps?
When and where Chuwy? I'm down!
From the one I was at back in September 2007, the GJBF in Yokohama was quite good.
Of course, without the translated list of beers I grommed from TimE on Saturday, the Monday session would have been mystifying (because I didn't recognize anyone else there on Monday).
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