Drinking less... liking it even less?

Consumption of beer and beer-like beverages in Japan recorded an all-time low in 2010. The Asahi Shimbun (Tuesday, Jan. 18, 2011, p.23) reported that the four major Japanese brewers shipped the fewest cases since statistical record keeping began in 1992. Last year, shipments declined 2.8% from 2009, down for the sixth year in a row.

Regular beer sales dropped to 50.2% of the total market, also a record low, while low-malt "happoshu" sank to 17%. Third-category beer, which contain no malt, rose to 32.8%.

Breweries claim that the declines are due to the rising popularity of cheaper imported third-category beer as well as increased sales of non-alcohol beer and canned cocktails.

Anyone visiting a liquor store in Japan will see case upon case of happoshu and third-category beer being toted out by by price-conscious customers. The price differential between these types and all-malt beer is considerable.

Here is the breakdown of the four majors' market shares for 2010:
37.5%   Asahi Breweries Ltd.
36.7%   Kirin Brewery Co.
12.9%   Suntory Ltd.
12%      Sapporo Breweries Ltd.

These figures add up to 99.1, leading me to wonder whether the total market share for microbrews in Japan is less than one percent. I once talked with Bryan Baird about the wisdom of expanding his business, and he claimed that the market for craft beer is there, ripe for the taking. Yet, if Japanese drinkers are becoming habituated to the raw, rasty taste and the low cost of happoshu, etc,, will they ever feel like spending more on higher-quality, tasty craft beer?

Sampling Session -- January 9, 2011

Went to my friend's house in Kyoto last Sunday for one of our periodic beer samplings. We had gathered several interesting beers and spent several hours imbibing them slowly.

The real treat of the night was a 1987 bottle of Thomas Hardys Ale. This was from the old Eldridge Pope vintages. It was superb. Described as " a waltz on the palate," it still held loads of sweet fruit flavors with creamy butterscotch notes. We compared it to a more recent O'Hanlon 2006 vintage of Thomas Hardys Ale, and it won hands down.

Other standouts were:
Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza: a beautiful, complex Belgian strong ale. Lots of barnyard and Brett yeast notes.
Dogfish Head Sahtea: a rarely made Finnish style, typically weirded up by Calagione, with added Black Chai tea.

Two disappointments were from Mikkeller:
These were both Black Hole (imperial stout), one aged in red wine barrels and one not. The barrel aging didn't seem to add anything to the beer. Both were strong but somehow lacking in character.

We also disagreed on the 2007 Avery Mephistopheles Stout. I gave it one of my highest ratings of the day, but no one else felt it was anything special; one person rated it with a single word, "Burn."

Here's a list of what we had, along with average ratings (50-point scale):

44.25   Eldridge Pope Thomas Hardys Ale 1987 (Barley Wine) 11.7%

41.5     Jolly Pumpkin Oro de Calabaza (Belgian Strong Ale) 8%

39.25   OHanlons Thomas Hardys Ale 2006 (Barley Wine) 11.7%

38        Southern Tier Back Burner 2008 (Barley Wine) 10%

37.5     Dogfish Head Sahtea (Traditional Ale) 9%

37        Avery Mephistopheles Stout 2007 Batch 3(Imperial Stout) 16%

33        Mikkeller Black Hole Barrel Aged (Imperial Stout) 13.1% 

32.75   Speakeasy Double Daddy IPA (Imperial/Double IPA) 9.5%

32.25   Mikkeller Black Hole (Imperial Stout) 13.1%

31        Terrapin Side Project Hopzilla Double IPA 10.8%

29.75   Heather Ales Kelpie (Traditional Ale) 4.4%

28.25   Middle Ages The Duke Of Winship (Porter) 6.5%

26.33   Helios Goya Dry (Spice/Herb/Vegetable) 5%

NR      Youngs Old Nick 20-30 years old (Barley Wine) 7.2%

 

Beer Glasses #3: Weizen (Wheat Beer) Glass

Weizen glasses are taller and thinner than most, and the shape highlights the colors, the banana-like aromas , and yeastiness of unfiltered wheat beers. 

They narrow at the bottom and widen near the top, which produces carbonation that allows for a big, fluffy head of foam. German weizen glasses usually hold half a liter, but those in other countries may be smaller. These glasses can be used with any type of wheat beer, including dunkelweizen, hefeweizen and kristalweizen.

Christmas Beers

Christmas beer has been with us for a long time -- before the Christian era and hence before Christmas was established. Farmers have long celebrated the beginning of the winter season with strong beer. Europeans, especially Belgians and Germans, have a tradition of holiday beers. However, in United States it wasn't until San Francisco's Anchor Beer began producing their annual Our Special Ale (5.5%) in the 1970s that craft brewers there began to create a holiday offering.

Christmas beers almost always come with big flavors and big alcohol, and they are usually spiced with varying combinations of cinnamon, coriander, cloves, ginger, and honey. A few years ago, Minoh Beer in Japan created a wonderful holiday ale by spicing up their strong Imperial Stout with sansho (a peppery spice normally used on grilled eel).

I'm looking forward to a Christmas party at my friend's house, high in the hills above Kyoto. He's collected 15 big bombers of Christmas beers, and I and other friends will bring even more.

Here are a few classic Christmas beers. See if you can find them in time for the holidays.

Europe

St. Bernardus Christmas Ale (10%)                                  

Scaldis Noel (12%)

N'Ice Chouffe (10%)

Delirium Noël (10%)

La Mère Noël (8.4%)

Dupont Avec Les Bon Voeux (9.5%)

De Struise Tsjeeses (10%)

Hurlimann Samichlaus (14%)

USA

Great Divide Hibernation Ale Colorado (8.7%)

Sierra Nevada Celebration Ale (6.8%)

Deschutes Jubelale (6.7%)

Japan

Hitachino Nest New Year Celebration Ale (8%)

 

Beer Glasses #2: The Mug

Mugs are heavy, large glasses with handles that come in many sizes and shapes. The handles make these heavy glasses easy to pick up and set down. In Japanese, they are called jokki ( ジョッキ).

During Oktoberfest in Germany, beer is served in hefty one-liter mugs, called Maßkrug -- in Japanese, dai-jokki (大ジョッキ) --, and people have no fear in clanking them together during toasts.

 

A Stein (or tankard) is a variation on the Mug, made of stone, silver, porcelain, or glass. Steins are often very elaborately decorated. They may be fitted with a lid, supposedly to keep flies out of the beer.

Mugs may be used for any kind of lager beer, as well as doppelbock, porter, or Märzen.

Shiga Kogen House IPA

Went to Liquor Shop Ashiya recently, primarily to pick up some Christmas beers for an upcoming year-end party. But the shop had a good selection of Japanese micros, too. And so I bought several to take home. Last night I settled in early and opened a bottle of Shiga Kogen House IPA, one of the six styles made by Nagano-based Tamamura-Honten brewery.

I've had it before, both on tap and bottled. Some time ago, Lefty and I drank it side by side with Green Flash West Coast IPA, and we both agreed that the Shiga Kogen was a better-balanced and tastier beer. 

What a beauty it is, with a dusky orange/gold color, pleasant carbonation, and some lacing on the glass. The aroma is quite hoppy and citrusy. It is a full-bodied beer, made with 100% Maris Otter malt and what seems to be a blend of hops, though Cascade predominates in the flavor. Strong taste of grapefruit, peaches, and maybe a hint of apricot. Goes down smoothly and has a long bitter finish. It leaves a slight alcohol burn in the throat, and I could feel it inside for some time afterwards. This 8.2% double IPA packs a punch.

You can find a page HERE (in Japanese) about the beers made by Tamamura-Honten Co.

Beer Glasses #1: The Pint

There are many kinds of beer glasses. Most are designed to highlight certain features of beer (for example, clarity, color, aroma, or the head of foam.

Let's look at some, starting with the pint glass, which is the most commonly used glass in American craft beer bars. These are usually thick glass cylinders that widen toward the mouth. 

One type is the 16-ounce (473ml.) American pint. The larger Imperial pint, sometimes called the English pint, contains 20 ounces (568ml.) and features a bump near the top. These glasses often have a line near the top indicating the correct amount of beer.

Pint glasses can be used for almost any kind of beer, but they are most often filled with pale ale, India pale ale, brown ale, porter, and stout. Cheers and kampai !!!