Craft Beer Live 2017

I somehow managed to miss Craft Beer Live last year. This is really one of the less-exciting annual beer events on the calendar. I generally go to it with rather low expectations, and they are usually met. This year's was held on May 27-28 in the spacious Minatomachi River Place behind Namba Hatch.

It is limited to Kansai-area breweries, some of which are rather small and not terribly proficient. A number of them, such as Sakai Harvest Hill are attached to farm-resort parks, while others (e,g,, Izushi Shiroyama Garden) are connect to hotels.

This festival is, however, a chance to catch up on newer breweries and also to check out the latest beers from these smaller ones, which rarely, if ever, appear on tap lists in local craft beer bars.

This year's event featured the following 27 breweries who supplied 130+ different beers:

Osaka Prefecture
Dotonbori Beer   (4 beers)
Kuninocho Beer   (6)
MARCA   (6)
Minoh Beer   (9)
Sakai Harvest Beer (Harvest Hill)  (4)

Kyoto Prefecture
Ichijouji Brewery   (5)
Kizakura Beer   (5)
Kyoto Brewing Company   (12)
Machiya Beer   (5)
Tango Oukoku Craft Beer    (7)

Hyogo Prefecture
Izushi Shiroyama Garden   (3)
Awaji Beer   (3)
Akashi Beer   (7)
Kinosaki Beer   (4)
Konishi Beer   (5)
Rokko Beer   (4)
BrewPub Starboard   (2)
Harbor Beer Kobe   (3)
Zigzag Brewery   (8)

Nara Prefecture
Soni Kougen Beer   (4)
Golden Rabbit   (3)

Wakayama Prefecture
Heiwa Craft   (4)
Nagisa Beer   (6)
Sandaime   (3)
Voyager Brewing   (2)

Shiga Prefecture
Biwako Iimichi Beer   (4)
Nagahama Roman Beer   (5)


Of course, the quality of beers presented varied considerably. A few breweries (Sandaime, Biwako Iimichi, and Zigzag) really need to work on their brewing techniques (or perhaps sanitation? or maybe get better ingredients?). I'm hoping that they shock me next year with some worthy beers.

One pleasant surprise was a collaboration beer, Hidamari Saison, made by Dotonbori and Akashi. Both are long-established, yet Dotonbori has never really impressed me much. Akashi, on the other hand, makes great pilseners and weizens. This new saison was clearly a step in a new direction for both of them.

Kyoto Brewing Co, was serving their relatively new Mirage of Darkness, which I enjoyed tremendously -- until a small cicada splashed right into my glass. I feel it is the best Black IPA (sans cidaca) currently made in Japan.

BrewPub Starboard has hired a new brewer, and he produced an excellent IPA.

Overall, the event was well-organized, fun, and filled with beer (from the ghastly to the very good, the execrable to the excellent), and I'm looking forward to going again next year.

クラフトビアライブ2015 / Craft Beer Live 2015

Some annual beer festivals get bigger and better year by year, others just get bigger, and a few get too big (looking at you, Craft Beer Festa Kyoto). This year’s Craft Beer Live fest, held in the Minatomachi River Place area behind Namba Hatch in Osaka, was the biggest – and the best – they’ve ever produced.

Craft Beer Live, a two-day annual event, is limited to breweries operating in the six prefectures of the Kansai region of western Japan. Many of these are small operations located in remote areas, such as Kinosaki (Hyogo) and Soni Kougen Beer (Nara); others are attached to farm theme parks, such as Harvest no Oka (Osaka). These are breweries that rarely appear on bar menus, and thus this festival is a rare chance to sample their latest beers. This year, 21 breweries (an estimated 90% of all breweries in the region) brought around 100 different beers.

Newcomers to the festival included Marca Beer Factory (Osaka), Heiwa Craft (Wakayama), and Kyoto Brewing Company.

It was a bright day, but many large coverings were set to keep visitors out of the hot sun. In years past, we had been left to our own devices to escape the heat. One group of fellow craft beer enthusiasts (and home brewers) had staked out a cool shady picnic spot for friends and family under a nearby ivy-covered bridge, with cooler air wafting in from the river.

Live music and other entertainment acts performed on the wide stage at one end of the fest area. I saw at least two different hula dance troupes.  Thirteen bars and restaurants set up food stalls.

Beer tickets were available, either singly or in sheets of seven for ¥2,800. Specially designed event glasses were available in two sizes: 420ml-size for two beer tickets, and 210ml-size for one ticket. Plastic cups could be bought for ¥50.

 My two top brews of the festival were both from Kyoto Brewing Company, one of the newest outfits in Japan (full disclosure: I know the head brewer and have sampled many of his home brews over the years):

Kyoto Brewing Himitsu

A gose made in collaboration with Luc Bim LaFontaine. Nice wheaty nose, with some citrus tart aromas. Pale cloudy light apple juice color. Rounded fruity initial, wheat, slight sourness and saltiness in mid palate, and it levels out and blends in late mid and finish. Light body, with a very nice carbonation jumps in mid palate. A style that is rarely made in Japan, this "Secret" beer is very refreshing stuff.

Kyoto Brewing Tribute to Snow Monkey

Fresh, spicy, and (with the power of suggestion) minty nose. Cloudy medium straw color. Great initial burst of citrusy flavors. Good bittering emerges in mid palate. Light fruity peachy and citrus again in mid and final. Great stuff, with true saison character. These guys are making wonderful brews.

You can see many more photos at the Craft Beer Live Facebook page, HERE.