Craft Beer Holiday 2018

Each year, as the Japanese beer festival season draws to a close, one of the best events in the Kansai region pops up on the radar. Craft Beer Holiday, which is held over four days in the spacious Osaka Jo Koen, provides a good selection of beers from well-established breweries -- unlike, say, the Craft Beer Live event, which focuses entirely on Kansai-area beer makers, including very new or small outfits, many of which are simply side projects of hotels or rural resorts.

The venue is wide enough for the crowds. two long lines of beer/food stalls, with a 15-meter space in between, and plenty of park space for those wanting to spread out a ground cover and enjoy their beers in the shade.

This year's event was on from October 5 to 9, and featured 21 breweries, including some of the most highly regarded ones (Shiga Kogen, Fujizakura, Kyoto Brewing) and 15 food booths. We strolled around, taking our samples here and there. Here are some of the high(and)lowlights.

Fujizakura 20th Anniversary Autumn Ale
Spritzy, fruity, nose with citrus, wheat, light banana, and gentle spice. Hazy medium straw, good lacing. Delicate fruit, peach, loquat, and gets richer in mid palate, with overripe pears and apple. Rich and balanced. Works out nicely at all palate stages.
Note: Fujizakura produces some of the best wheat beers in Japan.

Kyoto Brewing Kirisute Gomen (License to Kill) Imperial Stout
Nice chocolate, roast malt nose, fresh and sweet. Pitch black, with a tan head. Deep semi-sweet chocolate, some berries, dark bitterness. Medium body (just a touch light for the style), somewhat warming, and back-end thickness on the tongue. Rich and tasty, this one should only get better with age.

Outsider Pit Bull Barley Wine
Big fruity nose, with toffee, chocolate, prunes, dark fruit, sugar, and lots of alcohol fumes. It is listed at a whopping 15%. Medium dark reddish-brown color, small tan head. Very sweet, ripe dark fruit, a mixture of thick stone fruits, cherries, berries, and baked apple. Smooth, heavy, and slick on the tongue. Nice aroma, indeed. Though it's been aged for two years, this one certainly need more time to develop the flavors.
Note: The brewer at Outsider formerly worked at the now-defunct Hakusekikan, where some 20 years ago he produced two legendary beers, Hurricane and Super Vintage. The long-aged versions of these two are remarkable, if you can ever find them. When I asked the stall staff if Pit Bull was an attempt to recreate Super Vintage, he said, "No, we're trying to surpass it."

Y Market Funky Monkey Haze
 Sweet weird tropical fruit and stone fruit nose. Very pale and hazy (murky) pear juice color Tropical fruit, thick sweet candy slop, peaches pears, mango, with almost no bitterness. Thins out after mid palate. Typical for the style, or maybe a touch light on the flavor profile. Okay, sort of.
Note: I'm hoping that we have run the course with this "hazy" and "juicy" NEIPA style of kiddy beers (one person calls them "teen pop" drinks).
Note 2: The brewery staff had the effrontery to ask for four tickets, double the regular price, for a full glass of this mess; I gave them one and got a quarter glass -- and I didn't finish even that amount).

                         Two Japanese master brewers: 
                            Sato-san, of Shiga Kogen, (center) and Fujizakura's Miyashita-san (right).

So, though the festival season is now pretty much over for the year, there are many bar anniversary, tap takeover, and meet-the-brewer events. Get out and enjoy what you can.

Craft Beer Live 2018, Part Two

Here, in Part Two, is a look at the west side of Craft Beer Live 2018, which was held on May 26 & 27 at the Osaka Minatomachi River Place plaza. For Part One, see HERE.

一乗寺ブリュワリー / Ichijyouji Brewery

明石ビール / Akashi Beer

This is one of the better Japanese makers of German styles (pils, weizen) in Japan.

堺収穫麦酒 (ハーベストの丘) / Sakai Harvest Beer (Harvest Hill)

A farm resort in southern Osaka prefecture. One rarely sees their beers outside of this annual festival.

Harvest no Oka Munchner (Honma mon ya sakai)

(Dunkel/Tmavý)

Malty nose, with some caramel and some grain. Dark copper color, thin creamy tan head. Moderately malty initial flavor, some light roast malt, bit of caramel. Very thin body, and quite foamy in the mouth. A little too sweet, really.

Harvest no Oka Harvest no Kaori White Ale

(Witbier)

Wheaty nose, with some zestiness, and small bit of spice. Hazy medium straw color, foamy white head. Thin wheat, some mildly tangy fruitiness in mid palate. Quite sweet. Very thin final bitterness. Thin body. Not bad, but doesn't really do much for me.

なら麦酒ならまち醸造所 / Nara Beer Naramachi Brewery

A new brewery in Nara.

丹波篠山 ジグザグブルワリー / Zigzag Brewery, Tanbasasayama

長浜浪漫ビール / Nagahama Roman Beer

Nagahama Roman Spring Breeze White IPA

(India Pale Ale)

Spritzy citrus nose. Hazy pale brownish yellow color. Fruity initial, and the bitterness enters fast and hard. Thin-medium body. Very nice nose; flavors nothing special.

Nagahama Nachtmusik #3

(Dortmunder/Helles)

Malty nose, light fruitiness, caramel, and earthy hops. Flavors similar, with moderate maltiness, light bitterness, and some tangy fruit from mid palate onward. Thin body, and it gets even thinner from mid palate. Nice enough, but it kind of falls apart after a few sips. Anyway, it's great that Nagahama has finally solved its main problem, which was an overabundance of yeastiness in aroma and flavor.

ウッドミルブルワリー・京都 / Woodmill Brewery・Kyoto

Another new one in Kyoto

ディレイラブリューワークス / Derailleur Brew Works

Never heard of this brewery before the festival. Located in the Nishinari section of Osaka city.

Derailleur In the Woods (Kemono Michi)

(American Strong Ale)

Fat caramel nose, with dark sugar, and hints of dark fruit. Very dark amber color and a creamy tan head. Flavors of caramel and rather harsh bitterness. Not much else. Rough, overall, with somewhat rasty mouthfeel.

Derailleur Nishinari Riot Ale

(American Pale Ale)

Nose is mostly caramel. Thick hazy copper color, fluffy tan head. Caramel flavor, with a mild but persistent bitterness, and thin bitter tracks. Kind of fades after mid palate. Not so good, overall. Love the name and the spirit behind it.

Golden Rabbit

A brewery from Nara, with an intriguing name.

 

ブリューパブ テタールヴァレ&センターポイント

Brewpub Têtard Vallée & Center Point

Osaka-based brewpub

京都町家麦酒 / Kyoto Machiya Beer

國乃長ビール / Kuninocho Beer

One of the oldest craft breweries, along with Minoh, in Osaka.

ボイジャーブルーイング / Voyager Brewing

Newish (two years?) brewery in Wakayama

箕面ビール / Minoh Beer

The only Minoh beer I wanted to try (Blooming IPA) was not being served the day I went.

Finally, near the end of the day, we heard an unusual sound coming from the entertainment stage at one end of the venue. Country music! We went to check it out, and saw a young woman singing to recorded background music (something like professional karaoke). She had a twang in her voice and all the right moves, too. Chatting with her after her show, we found that she has already put out 10 CDs, most of which she recorded in Branson, Missouri. 

Uchida Aya is a very talented singer and devoted to the hybrid genre which she calls J-Country. She performs occasionally throughout Japan. Here is her Official Website, which has a few YouTube clips.

Overall, it was a satisfying day. I was able to sample new beers by some of the better Kansai-area breweries and also check out the new kids on the block. I wish I had been able to get to more of them, but one day was enough.

Craft Beer Live 2018, Part One

Craft Beer Live is an annual festival that brings together breweries from the six prefectures of the Kansai region (Osaka, Kyoto, Hyogo, Nara, Wakayama, and Shiga).

This year's event was held on May 26 & 27 at the regular venue, the Osaka Minatomachi River Place Plaza located just behind the large Namba Hatch building. Saturday, the 26th, was a warm sunny day, and quite crowded when I arrived, just a few minutes after the opening time. The advance purchase ticket line was actually longer the the on-site purchase line.

Near the ticket both, there were large blue maps of the venue and the brewery stand locations. Also, a cute chart of (most of) the beers at the festival plotted according ranges of light to dark and from fruity to bitter. Useful for some people, I suppose. I used to know a guy who would drink only dark beers....

Thirty-five breweries were in attendance, including several that were established in the past year.

In this post, I'll look at the breweries set on the east side (in Part Two, west side). And here they are, in the order of position at the event (along with comments on the beers I sampled from them).

京都醸造株式会社 / Kyoto Brewing Co.

Kyoto Brewing Hakuhatsu no Futako (Platinum Twins)

(Saison) Nice spritzy, zesty nose, with light yeasty farmhouse notes. Hazy light straw color. Mild fruity initial flavor, gentle bitterness right away, and maybe a touch of pepper. Thin-medium body, very smooth on the tongue. Mild-mannered and balanced from start to finish. A great beer with which to begin the festival.

Kyoto Brewing Suppin

(Golden Ale/Blond Ale)

Very mild nose, a little malty sweetness, with some clear yeasty notes. Very hazy light brown color. Peach, other indeterminate fruit, yeast. Thin body. Hmmm... not bad, but not much going on. A pleasant version of what is usually a boring style of beer.

Kyoto Brewing Urara

(Wheat Ale)

Spritzy and zesty fruit nose. Mosaic. Hazy blond color. Deep overripe fruity initial flavor, citrusy, and then moves a bit darker with the mid palate bitterness. Medium body. Initially a bit rough, but then becomes smoother after a few sips. Very refreshing stuff.

Kyoto Brewing Mariko

(India Pale Ale)

Wonderful nose, Citrusy and zesty: really hits the sinuses. Hazy blond color. Sweet light fruitiness, with an infusion of grapefruit, and bitterness kicks in. Great flavor changes throughout the palate with each new sip. Twists and turns between malt sweetness and hop bitterness. Medium body. Outstanding. This was my last beer of the festival day, when normally my nose and taste buds would be dulled and overtaxed by all the other beers consumed -- yet this one really stood out.

黄桜京都麦酒 / Kizakura Beer

Did not sample any from them.....

丹波路ブルワリー / Tambaji Brewery
Nor anything from them.... 

曽爾高原ビール / Soni Kohgen Beer
Nor them..... though I suppose I should have. A friend in Portland told me that someone he knew would be working as a brewer there. 

城崎ビール / Kinosaki Beer
Nothing from Kinosaki, either. 

Kyoto Beer Lab
This is a very new brewery. They are gaining notice for their tea-infused brews. Hence, their alternative moniker is "Chabeer."

Kyoto Beer Lab / Chabeer Wasabi Gose

(Gose)

Aroma of light crisp celery, citrus, and light stone fruit. Very hazy pale apple juice color. Tangy sourness, cabbage, salt, citrus, gentle wheat, and lacto in mid and final. No wasabi notes at all. Mild, thin stuff. Refreshing.

Kyoto Beer Lab / Chabeer KBL Pale

(American Pale Ale)

Aroma of light roast malt. Slightly hazy copper color. Mild malty initial, with a sort of burnt malt character in mid palate, and gentle bitterness. The roast character starts out fine, but quickly turns too harsh. Too burnt and rough for a pale.

あわぢびーる / Awaji Beer
Nothing sampled from Awaji Beer.... 

道頓堀地ビール / Dotonbori Beer
Nor from Dotonbori.... though their Think Tank collaborations with Akashi Brewery have been quite well made.

BrewPub スターボード / Brew Pub Starboard
I really should have tried out the latest beers from Starboard. The brewer they brought on last year made one of the best beers at Craft Beer Live in 2017.

スプリングバレーブルワリー京都 / Spring Valley Brewery Kyoto
On principle, I avoided Spring Valley. It is not truly a craft brewery, but rather a subsidiary of Kirin Brewery Company -- not that you will see that association stated anywhere.

Heiwa Craft
Didn't get to any of Heiwa's beers....

六甲ビール / Rokko Beer
Nor Rokko's....

Agara Craft
Agara Craft seems to be a rebranding of Sandaime. I tried few of those last year and was not overly impressed. So, I thought I'd see if they have improved.

Agara Craft Weizen
(German Hefeweizen)
Mild fruity, weedy, moldy nose, with a small bit of spice. Dull hazy peach color, and very little head (for a weizen, certainly). Light tangy fruitiness, some modicum of wheat, and slight touch of coriander. Thin body, near watery. Very mild-mannered and rather dull.

Agara Craft Pale Ale
(American Pale Ale)

Nose of small caramel, touch of stone fruit. Cloudy brown color. Flavors of stone fruit, light tangy hopping. Tart sort of fruitiness from mid palate onward. Thin-medium body. Not very well made.

Agara Craft Sansho Ale

Spice/Herb/Vegetable)

Big sansho (Chinese peppercorns) aroma, quite fruity and very spicy. Flavors of sansho, some caramel, and mild bittering hops. Thin body. Mostly sansho, indeed, and somewhat refreshing, overall.

西陣麦酒 / Nishijin Bakushu

Didn't try anything from them. Actually, they brought only one beer to the festival.

ナギサビール / Nagisa Beer

Nothing sampled from Nagisa.... or is it that my memory (in addition to the photo) was foggy?

マルカ / Marca
Did not try anything from Marca, either. Although this brewery is a minor favorite among Kansai-area beer geeks, I've rarely had anything from them that was more than glorified homebrew .

丹後王国クラフトビール / Tango Kingdom Craft Beer
Not even one beer sampled from Tango.... 

Konishi ビール / Konishi Beer

Konishi Yosano Hop Field
(Golden Ale/Blond Ale)
Punchy stone fruity nose (from Yosano hops?) Mild stoner fruit flavor, gentle bitterness. The fruitiness really jumps up in mid palate. Medium body. Balanced pretty well. Rich and fruity. Was not expecting to like this (given the relatively unimpressive beers made with Yosano hops that I’ve had in the past), but this was pretty good.

Konishi Spring Plum Ale
(Fruit Beer)
Tart ume (pickled plum)nose. Reddish/pink color, white head. Flavors of ume, tart red fruit, red grapes. Something a bit like tar (but not phenolic) in mid palate. No real bitterness. Thin body, and a bit foamy in the mouth. Interesting. 

Konishi Yosano Blanche
(Witbier)
Smooth, sweet wheaty nose. Hazy medium straw color. Sweet and wheaty right off. Touch of coriander. Thin-medium body. Okay.... but this is like a watered down version of the regular Snow Blanche. The Yosano hops did not help this one at all.

Next post: Beers from breweries on the west side of the venue. Cheers!