Year-End Pub Crawl

Went out for a year-end tour of the town on December 29th with Lefty. We got to three places, including two new ones for me.

Lezzet Craft Beer & Food Experience Bar
This is a nicely designed new place in Tennoji. It's clean, well-lighted, and fairly quiet, with 80s music low on the sound system. The staff were pleasant and seemed to know their beer well. They had 14 taps, all Japanese micros. Very interesting and tastefully created tsumami dishes. The menu includes items that are more upscale than at many pubs: pumpkin terrine, fish carpaccio, and spicy beer curry. Drink prices were a bit higher than normal. And there we had...

Fujizakura Heights Fest Weizen
Big fruity nose: banana and some spice. Very pretty hazy copper color, with a thick creamy head. Heavy banana initial with some tart pruney notes; in mid the sweetness rises and takes over; very smooth finish. Medium-thick body. Very good. But served too cold -- had to let it warm up a bit to get the aromas.

Sankt Gallen Un Angel Wheat Wine
Unusual fresh ume (plum) juice aroma, tsukemono (pickles), and a persistent heavy phenolic aroma. Nice copper color, no head. Rotten oranges, some zest in initial; bittering kicks in; final has a long bitter trail. Thin-medium body. Maybe too fresh. Would like to try this one in a year or so; the pub manager has another keg which she said she’ll hold for aging. The phenolic character is a bit distracting; can’t detect the wheat at all. Interesting stuff, but it needs to age a bit. More of a young, dirty devil at this point than an angel. 

Then we headed off to meet up with Jack at

World Beer & Cafe Qbrick
Seven or eight years in business, and this is still the best craft beer place in Osaka. The tap list isn’t overwhelming, but generally has many of the best that Japan offers. They also have Guinness, Sapporo Edelpils, and Hoegaarden on tap for those who want something regular. Very large (200+) and varied bottle selection, too. Prices are normal; most brews are offered in three glass sizes. Friendly crowds and good service. A 10-minute walk from Yodoyabashi Station, this is the place to visit when you are in Osaka. Here we imbibed...

Ise Kadoya Citra Ale
Minimal hop and metallic aroma. Hazy light honey color. Mild hop initial; more metallic notes in mid, along with some good balance of sweet and bitter; final is smooth, with a tiny increase in hopping. Thin body. Wish they’d used a bit more Citra in this. It's okay.

 Ise Kadoya Urumura Kaki (Oyster) Stout
Light coffee aroma. Pitch black with creamy tan head. Coffee initial; some metallic notes in mid palate; chocolate and coffee blend smoothly in the final. Medium body. Very mild stuff with some good chocolate character. But, overall, not much.

Finally, we moved on to

Yellow Ape Craft
A fairly small bar. 30 taps, all Japanese micros, and 16 we open on the night we went. Good menu of solid pub grub: salads, pizza, fritters, etc. Friendly atmosphere, good pours, and very fast service, too.  Unfortunately, the bar is right over the cooking area, so it can get quite warm and the cooking smells tend to interfere with the beer experience. I wanted to ask why they choose that name, but forgot after we got into...  

Minoh Yuzu White Ale
Great estery apple and banana aroma. Cloudy pear juice color. Light fruity initial (pears and peaches); mid gains some tang and sweetness, along with mild wheat notes; goes out very smoothly. Thin-medium body. Yuzu is present but not very strong. Very gentle, lovely stuff. They’ve gotten better at making this one.

Sankt Gallen Sweet Vanilla Stout
Pitch black, thin solid tan head. Boiled coffee in initial (but not boiled to the point of unpleasant harshness); mid palate sweetens nicely; smooth chocolate and coffee finish. Medium body. Labelled as a "fruit" beer on the pub menu. Vanilla is pleasant and minimal.

Shonan Biscuit Weizen
Good clean banana aroma with some frutier yeast. Dirty, hazy dark yellow. Deep banana and spice flavors in iniital; a bit muddy and dirty in mid; final has strong fruit and then settles out smoothly. Medium body. Good frutiness and solid mouthfeel. 

New Brews from the Japanese Majors / 日本の大手企業からの新しいビール

Over the years, all of the Japanese majors brewing companies (Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory) have occasionally created very limited-edition beers, but these always seemed to disappear within weeks. Late last year, they began marketing new brews which, although not really of the same quality as those of the nation's craft brewers, are more-or-less tasty.

Asahi put out a very decent Asahi The Extra (6.5%, strong pale lager/imperial pils), which has a heavy fruity malty nose with some apparent alcohol. Very malty for the style, with a sweet and caramelly mid palate and a mild tongue-coating hop alongside some alcohol warmth in the finish.

Suntory followed with their similar Fukami no Zeitaku (6.5%, strong pale lager/imperial pils. This one has a gentle but distinctive Hallertauer hop aroma. The initial flavor is grassy, but quite sweet, with a soft and mildly hoppy mid palate, and a slightly sour/bitter finish. It quite smooth and balanced, and the elevated alcohol level is not really noticeable.

The best of the bunch was Kirin's Grand Kirin (6%, premium lager), with its pronounced hop aroma (perhaps dry hopping?) backed by big grassy malt. The beer has very good bittering with a considerable malt base. It's well balanced, with a bit of a sweet finish. At first it seemed as if this beer would disappear within a few weeks, however word is that it will remain on the shelves.

These beers are found most often (or only, in the case of Gran Kirin) at Japanese 7-11 convenience stores.

7-11, which is Japan's largest retailer, is also getting into the act, two efforts in which the company's name and logo appears on the label along with those of the brewing companies.  

Sapporo 100% Malt  has a grassy aroma with a bit of cardboard. Hay and sweetness malt in initial, with a mildly-hopped mid and a tinge of sourness, and a fairly sweet finish. Thin-medium body. Not really dry, as the labelling claims. Crisp. Sweet notes are dominant. A pretty regular all-malt.

 On the other hand, Suntory the Brew (5%, pale lager) is a pretty regular daisan (low-malt beer), with a mild aroma of rancid butter and wet cardboard. It has a very innocuous and light malty initial flavor, while the mid palate gains in harshness (from the fortifying spirits and maybe the hopping), and the finish disappears quickly. Pretty bad.

So far, the major Japanese beer companies don't seem to be interested in acquiring any of the rising craft beer breweries in Japan. I wonder how long it will be before these behemoths notice what their big cousins are doing around the world. Last year, Lion Nathan, the Kirin-owned beverage & food company, bought out Little World Beverages in Australia and Emerson's in New Zealand. In the U.S., MillerCoors bought part of Terrapin Beer Company and Anheuser-Busch acquired Goose Island Brewing. It certainly wouldn't be hard to understand if small, struggling craft brewing companies accepted offers that might allow them to stay in business. As long as the bean counters stay out of the brew room....

Japanese Craft Beer Breweries on Twitter / ツイッターで日本のクラフトビール醸造所

In early November the 生ビールブログ (Draft Beer Blog) took a look how many people were Facebook fans of (or "Like") various Japanese breweries. Have a look HERE:

So, I decided to see how Twitter is being used by the craft beer industry in Japan. Or more specifically, I wanted to see how many “Followers” craft beer breweries currently have.

Although Facebook by far the larger of the two social networks, Twitter is growing faster. Twitter is also the quickest way to find out what’s happening, in politics, business, and probably in beer as well. It’s for real-time conversations, not what happened yesterday, last week, or when you were in high school.

Some breweries have Facebook pages as promotional tools but do not yet have Twitter accounts. Below are the ones I could find.

Japanese Craft Beer Breweries -- Twitter “Follower” numbers on 11/22/2012:

Yona Yona Ale 6,445

Sankt Gallen 5,060

Minoh 3,457

Aqula 3,194

Kiuchi 2,543

Baeren 2,115

Fujizakura Heights Beer 2,023

Swan Lake 1,879

Kamakura Beer 1,878

Gargery 1,726

Gotemba Kogen Beer 1,686

COED0 1,419

Bay Brewing Yokohama 1,384

Yokohama Brewery 1,378

Otaru Beer 1,170

Taisetsu Ji Beer 1,094

Tazawako Beer 1,094

Banya Beer 1,066

Ise Kadoya 1,061

Nagisa 984

Baird Brewing 814

Kisoji Beer 710

Zakkoku Beer 592

Echigo 420

Kagua 410

Nippon Beer 406

Brimmer 257

Ichioji Brewery 301

North Island Beer 216

Rokko Beer 200

Matsue / Beer Hearun 196

Ginga Kogen 44

Hakusekikan Beer 10

Nagahama Roman Beer 4

Notice that the top spot is occupied by Yona Yona, the beer -- not Yo-Ho, the company which makes it. It is one of the most widely available of craft beers in Japan, certainly much more so than the other brews they produce. Near the bottom is Hakusekikan, a very interesting and experimental brewer, but one which went out of business at the end of August this year.

Also, several popular craft beer makers are not listed. Perhaps they are busier brewing beer than promoting it. But I imagine it won't be long before they too are tweeting and gaining followers.

Sampling Session -- November 3, 2012

Last weekend, we had a beer sampling session and then attended Tadg’s Bar & AQ Bevolution Epic Brewing Co. & Gyoza Party in Kyoto. AQ Bevolution is one of the newer beer distributors bringing great U.S. craft beer to Japan.

First, some of the sampling highlights:

Weyerbacher Insanity  --  4 (out of 5)

This one was a 2010 vintage bottle. Big sweet oak nose. Clear dark brown with a thin touch of foam. Very smooth sweet initial flavors, with a lot of heavy oak in mid palate. Some bourbon emerged near the end. Great mouth feel. Lovely stuff.

Mikkeller/To Øl Walk On Water  --  3.8

Big sweetness and grapefruit in the nose. At first, the alcohol is like a hard slap. Golden blond color. Slightly sour, and then it becomes very sweet. Strong fruit notes: peaches, oranges, prunes. A heavy-hitting beer, full of flavors.

St. Bernardus Prior 8  --  3.7

2005 vintage. Smooth, rich fruit aroma -- prunes, raisins, dates -- and dark sugar. Watery brown color. Very mild fruity initial; the alcohol becomes noticeable in mid palate; flavors smoothly slip away in final. Perhaps it has lost a bit of its flavor over the seven years, but it has also mellowed very nicely.

Deschutes Conflux No. 1 – Collage  --  3.5

The is a collaboration beer, which is a blend of Deschutes’ The Dissident and The Stoic, and Hair of the Dog’s Fred and Adam. Sharp phenolic nose, some vinegar, a slight chemical note, too. Clear dark brown brandy-like color. The distinctive characteristics of each of the four brews are mellowed out into a kind of sweet beer soup. The oak comes out clearly in the finish. I do like this, but would really prefer to drink the four beers by themselves, as individual experiences.

Thanks to Albert of AQ Bevolution, we had a chance to sample several brews from Utah's Epic Brewing Co., both bottled or on tap, including the following:

Epic Brainless Belgian-Style Golden Ale  --  4

Fruity nose (peach, berries), with light hopping. Clear medium dark straw color. Beautiful peach flavor in initial; this strengthens in mid palate; in the finish, it all levels out and glides down to a pleasant sweetness. Lip-smacking stuff.

Epic Hopulent IPA  --  3.8

Great stinky hop aroma. Cloudy orange color. Hops dominate the initial; a mild sweet fruitiness emerges in mid palate; final leaves strong tracks of hop bitterness. Very good.

Epic / DC Brau Fermentation Without Representation  --  3.6 

Epic’s first collaboration brew. Good coffee nose, with pumpkin and spice. Very spicy initial flavor; mid palate has some chocolate notes; the finish lets the chocolate develop a bit more. I hate pumpkin pie, but I like this.

 

Epic Brainless on Peaches  --  3.5

Mild yeastiness and very fresh fruity nose. Pretty hazy orangeish color. Mild initial; the peaches are not apparent until the finish. Very pleasant stuff.

AQ Bevolution

http://www.aqbevolution.com/

Got 35,680 empty beer cans?

If so, you might want to try beating the Guinness World Record for "largest aluminium can sculpture." This record was set in early September by three groups from Takatori-cho, Nara Prefecture. They created a replica of Takatori Castle with 35,679 empty cans donated by 380 households as well as by local companies.

For a video news report, look HERE.

Of course, the record is for the "largest" sculpture, so perhaps you can do it with fewer cans.

Charlie Papazian in Japan

Charlie Papazian, the iconic beer writer, festival director, and magazine founder visited Japan recently. His book, The Complete Joy of Homebrewing, has probably encouraged and guided more aspiring brewers than any other volume. He has been posting occasional articles on the Examiner.com web site, in which he chronicles his beer adventures around the country. Each article has an accompanying slide show.

He first stopped in Tokyo to serve as a judge for the International Beer Competition. The article also gives a brief overview of the Japanese craft beer scene and how it has changed since his last visit 14 years ago.
Have a look here:
Discovering Craft Beer in Japan

His next stop in Yokohama, an up and coming beer city, where he visits several beer spots, including Yokohama Brewery, El Nubichinom, Brewpub Pangaea, and T.Y. Harbor Brewery.
Yokohama - city of beer surprises

The third article describes a beer and food pairing event, in which he comes across several types of indigenous brews made with local ingredients, such as shiso, melon, and natto. He also marvels at the intricate yet efficient Japanese system of distribution, specifically that for chilled beer. Oh, and at the end of the evening, he somehow manages a visit to Popeye, the best beer bar in Japan.
The Good Marriage in Tokyo is Beer & Food

The fourth article opens with a glowing description of Africa Pale Ale, made by Shiga Kogen, which Japan-based beer geeks will probably note as the most competent, consistent, and just plain best brewery in the country. He also visits the newish beer pub, The Watering Hole, and ends the evening at Craft Beer Market.
Africa Pale Ale, good hope & more Tokyo beer shenanigans

Fifth, Papazian heads out of Tokyo and southwest, to Wakayama, a resort town. Her spends time at Nagisa Beer and also notes that his father had visited the same town in 1945.
Wakayama, Japan - a beer place I was destined to visit

The next article promises to be about the Osaka beer scene and, we assume, the two Oshita sisters who brew at Minoh Beer. Stay tuned.

Sampling Session -- October 6, 2012

It was a cool cloudy day, and a bit windy at up Lefty's place high in the hills above Kyoto. Five of us gathered for an unusual sampling session -- saisons and stouts, two radically different styles, but two that all of us love.

We went through about ten of each, with the saisons first of course.

Here are some of the standouts:

Saison

Hill Farmstead E.         4.5 (out of 5)

Manure demons escaping into the ether, crushing citrus fruit and raining it down on the earth. Explosions of fruit in the initial; mid palate is full of overripe and even rotten fruit; final is sharp and tart and stays on the tongue a good long while. Exceptionally complex, in both aroma and flavor. One guy at the table kept a quarter-glass of this for a few hours, so we could occasionally have a scent of it. Transporting and transfixing beer.

Fantôme Santé-12!     4.3

2008 vintage. Chopped weeds, pencil lead, and lemon pie aromas. Cloudy yellowish-orange. Lemon dominates the initial; candi sugar sweetness emerges in mid palate; then smooth mild lemon; subtle bitter finish. Very smooth, with a complex aroma. This one has aged very well.

Boulevard Smokestack Series - Saison Brett     4.1

2012 vintage. Sweetish, light lemon, slight Brett notes in aroma. Clear pale yellow color. Smooth, light peach and kiwi flavors. Mild mid palate and final. As smooth as can be. Maybe it needs some aging. I’ve had an earlier vintage and it was quite a bit better than this one.

Stout

Struise Black Albert     4.2

Heavy dark fruit, stewed prunes and raisins. Strong fruit: berries with crushed fruit in mid palate; smooth balanced finish. Outstanding aromas and flavors, fresh and juicy

Struise Cuvée Delphine     4

2009 vintage. This is Black Albert aged in Four Roses barrels. Smooth refined dark fruit aromas. Dark, near black, translucent at edges. Very smooth, with chocolate flavors blending nicely. Balanced and matured.

Mikkeller Black Hole Barrel Aged Edition Cognac     4

Dark chocolate aroma, along with a chemical, phenolic note. Initial flavor features a big burst of chocolate and vanilla; mid palate is sweet chocolate cake. Then the alcohol blasts through and stays strong in the aftertaste. A young and promising imperial. I'd like to have it again in a year or two.

Founders KBS (Kentucky Breakfast Stout)     4

Super strong coffee syrup, sweet chocolate aromas -- then the bourbon sneaks in and takes over. Coffee flavors begin smoothly, and then go a bit harsh. The bourbon complements (and does not overwhelm) the aromas and flavors. Maybe a touch past its prime. I had the same vintage two years ago, and it was much richer and fuller.