Sucks to be you

Friday night was a quiet one. Just had an Yebisu (6.5/10). Had to try it after all the bashing it has been getting recently. And guess what? It's a good beer. Nice full body. I enjoyed it and would drink again in a heartbeat If offered.

Saturday involved a trek to Shibuya to check out the Oita Ukiyo-e Museum. Being a fan of this style of art, I highly recmmend this place. It's in Harajuku and has a good collection of art. After that I took a quick photo of the Meiji Shrine Torrii and then headed to Mejiro. At Tanakaya they had a good selection in. Picked up a Firestone Union Jack, Lagunitas Hop Stoopid and Sierra Nevada Torpedo IPA. As you can see coming in to a hot summer requires big, hoppy beers!

I was waiting in McDonalds with a McFlurry for my friend to call. They did, but to cancel our plans, so I decided to drink the Firestone (8.5/10) in the Maccy Ds. Haha. It was good. Really hoppy and sweet without being over the top. Would try it again, but at 1500 yen a bottle, It's pushing it a bit. The Mcflurry was awesome too. Oreo, If you really need to know.

After a bomber of that I headed to Akihabara to visit a maid cafe. I had never been to one and since I'm leaving thought I better cross it off my list. Well it wasn't quite what Iexpected. The maids only smiled and 'Genked' it up when they had to. When I tried to take a photo they nearly jumped on me yelling 'No photo!!'. I drunk my 600 yen coffee, chatted to some young ladies there, then hightailed it to Popeyes.

Popeyes is an institution. The best selection of beer in Japan. 70 plus taps. The staff are great, particularly Aoki san, the affable owner. The beer quality and serving quality are not always amazing, but never bad. On this evening I downed a Yona Yona Real Ale, Rogue Brutal Bitter, Ozenoyukidoke IPA, Yo Ho Barley Wine and a small Divine Vamp, the House Beer. Good times. As this was my last visit Aoki san graciously presented me with a Popeye's mug and magazine. I will always have fond memories of this place and will be back with bells on If I ever come back to Japan.

I then made my way to Aldgate for a Rogue Double Dead Guy. Unfortunately It was finished, so I had a Preston IPA, Aldgate ale (Swan Lake Amber) and a Erdinger Weiss. The boys (ie Capa, Chuwy, HBJ and TimE) showed up for a bit, but by then I was 3 sheets to the proverbial wind so after a bit of drunk banter I took my drunk ass home for some kip.

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Sunday was a reasonably early start, as I went bowling with my co workers. It was fun time, but I really need to practice. I sucked! Although in my defence, I haven't bowled in at least two years. After a few games we went for lunch at an all you can eat bread place. I ate about 20 pieces of bread and a salad. Just a small meal. We then took some print club and played some games at the arcade. Man those places swallow your loose change so fast.

After that, I invited my co workers around for a drink at my place. I drunk the Hop Stoopid (8.5/10) and Torpedo (7.5/10) as well as a few Westys (look at the great pouring shots taken by my co worker above). Good times and interesting conversation. After walking these retrobates back to the station it was time for bed. Back to work next morning, where i find myself writing this, during my lunch break on a balmy Summer day. Atsui, ne!?

Hopstar 88 yen beer - sound appetizing? no thanks....

I don't know If this was the name of the shop, but it gave me a chuckle.

what's not to like?

Friday night involved hoping on a bullet train to Tokyo to meet Tim and his mates for a special beer tasting. After having a Whiskey barrel Iwate Kura IPA at Bulldog, we went and found a very urban, chic environment (ie under the train tracks) to try Mikkeller Beer Geek Weasel (made with civet coffee - most expensive in the World) and Deschutes the Abyss (aged in French Oak and Bourbon Barrels).

Two huge, black 11% Imperial Stouts they were both sublime, as we watched (and cajouled) the nightlife walking by. The winner for me was the Abyss (9/10), just because of the huge complexity, though the weasel (8.5/10) was no slouch. Anyone that knows me knows I love a big, black imperial - so I was very happy. Company was good too. Cheers for sharing Tim! Back on the train for last trains to Yokohama, then home. PHEW safe!

                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Which brings us to Saturday. I decided to head to Motomachi to buy some shoes (a steal at 6000 yen down from 16000 yen), before walking through Chinatown and along Yasmashita pier to the Red Brick Warehouses for the Y150 celabrations. If you don't already know, it is 150 years since the Black Ships of Commodore Perry shimmied their way in to Yokohama, opening up trade with the outside world for the first time in centuries (except for with the dutch I believe). Here is a replica of said ships.

 

Anyway, enough with the history lesson. They have an exposition type event at the port, which I wanted to see. First problem was the entrance fee - 2400 yen! Over thirty Australian dollars. Next it was all in Japanese and finally it was a waste of time. The exhibits were bland and lifeless. There was an Anime especially made for the event, though it was all in Japanese and the quality of the anmation wasn't that great. The big robot spider thingy from Paris was interesting, but only a few hundred yen interesting. Get where I'm going with this?? 

Anyway Toyota had a pavillion which amounted to the World's biggest TV showing a ten minute movie on Japan and lots of advertising for it's green awareness cars. Woo hoo. Finally there was a big 20m in Diameter balloon that displayed images at night, which wasn't as fascinating as it sounded. All in all I felt done. Royally. Well the best I can offer is to warn others not to waste their money, particularly as the Spider can be seen from a nearby pedestrian overpass anyway. Oh for shame Yokohama. It wasn't crowded and you could see why. The number one rule of business is to get repeat custom, but there is no chance with the shite on display. Ahem, moving on.

In fairness, my day did get a lot better. I decided to head to Yokohama Brewery (which I had never visited!) where I met up with Chris 'chief running mouth talkalota' Chuwy. We had a really good pint (600mls actually) of Green Fresh, their big unfiltered IPA. Then it was a quick, gassy dash (I drunk my beer too quickly) to craft beer bar to meet up with Homebrewjapan and his missus. A real affable chap, he bought some of the brews he had been perfecting recently, as witnessed on his blog. But not before I got a pint of Shiga Kogen IPA in, from my favourite brewer. 

We made our way down the pier, which was lovely and cool in the evening, with a lovely sea breeze. Very romantic if I weren't with a welsh talking machine and a couple. Homebrewjapan then whipped out the big guns (oh my!). We tried his great homebrew and I must say he shows great potential. For a full run down see here, for HBJ's write up, and here for Chris' two pints worth. I thought his pilsner and hitachino nest IPA were the pick of the bunch, but there were no bad beers. I think they might have suffered from carbonation issues, but that was explained by homebrew. Apparently forced carbonation was used over traditional methods (that's what I was going to say, but he explainrd before I had the chance ;P).

Chuwy then whipped out his big gun...luckily it was a bottle of HaandBryggeriet dark force (8/10) and not his long suffering willy. It was delicious. A big, black wheat (?!) imperial stout. Boozy and long. Cheers Chris, it was a nice surprise. We then made a run to Yokohama for a Thrash, but for some reason it was closed (We would find out later Koichi had a cold). So we made our way to cheers. Haven't been there for ages, as this focus is on Belgian beers, which I haven't been a fan of recently and it is a little costly, compared to Thrash.

We ordered four glasses of St. Bernardus 12, which is a great beer, though just a bit too sweet for me on the night. Great as it was, it was time to down it quickly and dash for the station for the last train again. Whew thanks Chris and Homebrewjapan for a pleasant evening, after a lackluster day. Let's do it again before I leave!

(Above two photos: My second hometown. Always in my heart.)

Yeti

It's commmiinnnggggggg....

Sunday Arvo

Sunday evening beers - Sierra Nevada Bigfoot (8/10), followed by a 2001 Samichlaus (8/10)! Both big fruity beers. Obviously the Sami had mellowed and matured. It was good, but I think the 2008 is good too - just different! Had a wedding on Saturday (see the pics below), before going to craft beer bar and finishing off at home with a Nogne Imperial Stout (8.5/10), which I found hiding in Tanakaya. I thought they were all sold out, but I found one hiding at the back hooray! Nice big example of my favourite style...

Westy v. Berny 12 rounds (geddit?)

I had a review of the holy grail of beers - the Westvleteren 12 up the other day til blogger decided to f@#$ me around and delete the post. I haven't had the time or energy to put it up again...til now (cue eeire music). So take two - here's my ratebeer.com review...

Yes it’s a great beer. The best in the world? Debatable. It serves as the holy grail and does its job well. Poured a magnificent auburn unfiltered ruby red. A sight to behold. Nose of raisins, alcohol, toffee etc. Taste was expressive. Lots of alcohol, port, sweet dark fruit and a little coffee. mouth feel was medium to full. Left a lasting impression of alcohol and cinnamon in the mouth. Lots of yeasty sediment to this one. Glad to try it, now I can move on try a few more on my wishlist!

I have a few more so I will crack them open later for a better review. I also had a St. Bernardus ABT 12 the same night. The Berny was also very good and a little similar to the Westy. The story goes that The St.Bernard Brewery brewed Westvleteren beers for the monks up till recently. Here is the full story from 52brews.com.

"In 1946 the monks at [Westvleteren] decided to devote less time to brewing, producing a small amount a beer at their abbey (close to Watou) and contracting Saint Bernardus to [brew] the Saint Sixtus line of “Trappist” under contract from 1946 until 1992…

After Westvleteren ended the deal, Saint Bernardus continued with its own brands, extending the range and boosting production to 10,000 hectoliters (8,500 barrels) a year. Today it brews beers with no monastic influence…but still uses recipes the brewery claims haven’t changed since 1946.

Because the head brewer from Westvleteren helped set up the Saint Bernardus brewery, it seems likely he brought along the original Westvleteren yeast with the recipes. We can only guess how Saint Bernardus yeast today might have changed in sixty years. We know, of course, that Westevleteren now uses yeast acquired fresh from Westmalle each time the monks brew. "

So obviously both are great beers. There were discernible differences, such as the Westy having a more auburn colour, where as the Berny was a browny colour with better head retention. The tastes where not dissimilar, with big roasty, fruit flavours, but more like cousins than siblings. Similar profiles with notable distinctions. If I were to pick a winner it would be the Berny, just because it's 1/3 the price of the Westy and a hellava lot easier to get your hands on...just saying.

Anyone got some thoughts on these two?

Time for a body shot

Where do you want your body shot? Cold coffee in a can...mmmmmm

Like Beer?

Went to Tanakaya before work today ( nearly late!). Here's my haul..

Dark Horizon 2nd ed.

Fantome Saison

Lagunitas Imperial Stout

St. Bernadus 12

Haviestoun ola Dubh 12 yr.

Dogfish Head 90 minute IPA

Guinness Foreign Extra Stout

Lion Imperial Lager

Samichlaus

and for a possible future trade...

Sankt Gallen Barleywine

Daisen G Barleywine

Hakusekikan Brown and Dual Porter

Shiga Kogen wheat wine and IPA (x2)

Yona Yona (x2)

I'm a very happy chap right now...

San Diego Beer Party

Well yesterday was a fun day. It was pouring rain most of the day, but just like any trooper in search of beer I made my way to Ginza for the San Diego Beer Party to introduce Ballast Point to Japan. 

Held at Salon De G, this was a well planned gig. Props to Andrew from Nagano trading (the importer) for this. When I got there I was one of the first in the door. 5000 yen got entry, food, lots of beer and a pint glass. I ordered the Big Eye first, which is a fantastic IPA.

Good to see many beer lovers there. The two Tims who are very knowledgable on beer and Chewy (who is a beer God!) I had met before. But met a slew of interesting and friendly people as well. One who stood out was Scott, who is a brewer now at Gotemba Kogen, having worked at Sierra Nevada before. He was very friendly and forthcoming. Cheers to all the other people I met.

The food was delicious and plentiful. Ranging from Organic vegetables, to mini hamburgers and fried shrimp to delicious olives. It managed to compliment the beer wonderfully.  As for the beer well the aforementioned Big eye was the highlight for me, but the rest of the beer was wonderful too. A quick run down on the beers I drunk are as follows-

Big Eye IPA (9/10)

Dorado DIPA (8/10)

Green Flash 30th street Pale Ale (7/10)

Bourbon Barrel Black Marlin Porter (8/10)

Victory at Sea Imperial Porter (7/10)

Stone IPA (7.5/10)

Abandon Hope Smoked (7.5/10)

Green Flash Trippel (7.5/10)

Calico Amber Ale (7/10)

So all in all a great time. I must have ended up having around 6 or 7 pints (US size) but kept well hydrated, so no hangover! I look forward to drinking more Ballast Point in the future...

Ballast Point

Ballast Point Beers outta San Diego are making their way to Japan, thanks to Andrew of Nagano Trading. I am the first to admit I have yet to put a BP to my lips, but I'm looking forward to having more than my share at the Welcome Party for Ballast Point in Tokyo. All I can say is welcome to Japan and I look forward to downing my share of West Coast goodness!

In honour of this I present my 5 favourite japanese brews that could stand up to anything produced in America at the moment...

1. Shiga Kogen House IPA - This is Japan's equivalent to a Pliny from Russian River. Not overpowering, but BIG BIG BIG. Very well balanced for a DIPA.

2. Hakusakien Super Vintage Ale - This is more like a port than a beer. Super smooth and alcoholy at 14.3%. Try the raisin version for extra OOOMMMPHHH.

3.Yona Yona/Tokyo Black - My two favourite readily available brews. Yona is perhaps one of the best pale ales I've ever had and Tokyo is a dark dream. Both amazingly flavourful for 5%.

4. Swan Lake Amber Ale - This is how to make an Amber ale. Full bodied and moreish with delicious caramel tones. 

5. Fujizakura Weizen - When I feel like a German this is the brewery to turn to. Their Weizen is the best I've ever had, Japanese or otherwise.

These are all year round beers. If I turned to specials I would include Shiga Kogen and Baird's Imperial Stouts...but then I am biased towards the dark lord of beers;)

Weird and wonderful japan

In Japan the local dragstore is just a hop, skip and girly laugh away...

Words escape me

St.Swear is the patron saint of Japan. This chapel was named in honor of him.

Sumos patrol Train platforms in Japan in order to curb the growing trend of athletic salarymen training for the 100m dash

Pliny I hardly knew you

Had a bastard of a weekend so I decided o get in to my bottle of Pliny the Elder sooner rather than later. It was good. Damn good.

Yes the best double IPA I’ve had along with the ruination. Pours a gorgeous dark yellow with a creamy froathy head. The nose is an unbelievable hop extravaganza. The mouthfeel is smooth and medium to full bodied. Taste of grapefruit, citrus and pine. Lingers in the mouth for a while, but not in an overpowering way. I stumbled across this in Tanakaya and it was 1260 yen well spent. Who knows when I’ll be able to try this amazing brew again, if ever!

Good ol Double IPAs. They certainly know how to show you a good time. On a slight note they are also one of the most dangerous beers to drink in a bar. At 7 to 10% and gooing down so easily, they can really sneak up on you quickly. I really enjoy the Stone Ruination, Speakeasy Double Daddy and Shiga Kogen's House IPA. mmmMMmmm its beer time (copyright McDonalds corp).

Be jealous....

I was in Tokyo yesterday to pick up a passport (long story!!) and decided to stop by Tanakaya in Mejiro. The place is the sh@t!! Always great, even if the prices are not always. Yesterday they had World Wide Stout (18%) and 120 IPA (21%), Avery Metistophiles (?!), Dark Horizon by Nogne and Black Flag Imperial Stout, which I got a recommendation about, not to mention hundreds more. 

I was there to pick up some Takashi Imperial Stout by my favourite Japanese brewer. Tamamura Honten, who make Shiga Kogen Beer. Takashi is the head brewer and If you read way back I visited these guys way back in December. They only brew this once a year so I picked up a four pack. Already drunk one, which was sensational (9/10). Here's the review.

Tamamura honten done good here. A reasonably full bodied stout with a strong dark nose. A pitch black pour with a taste of chocolate oils and berries, that just gets better as it warms. Lingers in the mouth. Quite hoppy for the style. Too bad its only brewed once a year...p.s its up to 10% this year.

The find of the day however, as you can see in the photo, was a bottle of Piny the Elder by Russian River! I have never seen Russian River in Japan, so before you could say "Holy cow Batman how did you fit that in there?", I grabbed this little beauty. If you don't know it's a Double IPA (or WIPA as they say over here - geddit?!). It has some majorly good press on ratebeer, so I'll defo do a review when I pop it. Sorry to those in Japan who want a bottle, I think I snapped the last one up...it didn't even have one of those little postings most beers have, just a price tag. But don't feel bummed - Tanakaya still has a kick ass bunch of beers for all tastes! Prost!

Old Rapscalion....

Polished off a bomber of Old Ruffian Barleywine (8.5/10) by Great Divide outta Colorado last night. Picked it up at the fantastic Tanakaya. A real hop malt kick in the bollocks. At nearly 11% it had a big alcohol burn, but was as smooth as you can get at this density. Nice way to finish the week.  Bring on the weekend!

Real Ale? Can i have more please sir...?

Well the Tokyo real ale festival is in the books and a nice event It was. Running between 1 and 5 on a Sunday afternoon is certainly a bit strange, but everyone was well mannered and had a good time. Winners for me on the day were the Baird Barley wine, Sankt Gallen imperial chocolate stout and the Tokyo black. The Baird Barley wine (8/10) was big and bold with lots of sweet fruits permeating though the mix. The other two were brews I've tried more than a few times before and were well represented in cask form. My good friend Aiko enjoyed the Tokyo Black the most, so I really think this represents the quality of the brew. She enjoys beer, but as a more casual drinker she tended to enjoy the more mild beers, so it was an all round winner.

The Shiga Kogen was a little disappointing for me as it was a collaboration with Nogne 0 from Norway. Called 'Not so Mild ale' it was a simple mild bitter that fell in to the normal Shiga profile, but didn't present anything special. Oh well collaborations generally aren't the best anyway, just look at the Stone, Ale Smith, Mikkeller collaboration recently....

The event was reasonably well organised, although the popular beers ran out after about an hour and a half and by about the third hour pretty much everything was gone. Hitachino Nest Japanese classic ale ran out just as I was the the third person in line to try it. It had been sitting there in a shochu cask and I couldn't help but pine for it. Oh well.

The best part of the day was perhaps meeting up with other beer lovers. I saw Koichi the owner of Thrash Zone and a lot of rate beer regulars. It was particularly nice to meet Mark (aka Kyotolefty) and the Jolly one. Thanks for the three philosophers beer generously shared by Mark! Great to meet you mate! Also met Nate and his lovely girlfriend, who does the blog 'Good Beer and Country Boys'. Seemed like a nice chap. Keep up the good work with the blog!

Well now I'm back to work and still dreaming about those loverly loverly brews! Onwards to the next festival!!

Friday the 13th followed by Valentine's Day? What strange forces are at play here?

Here's a little reminder I left for my students on the class schedule board today...

Already got some chocolate from a few students and even some beer tickets (?!?). Seriously. They know I love beer so I got 6 big bottles and 4 cans worth of beer tickets to use. Hope i can use them on some Yo Ho brews or at the very least Yebisu (or maybe a chocolate beer?) at the local liqour store. Lovely start to this the most evil of days!

To honour this day I present my top 5 horror movies in no particular order.

1. Jaws (Scared me outta the water to this day)

2. Evil Dead 2 (black comedy and grissly horror...Bruce Campbell!)

3. Predator (Not a horror film per ce, but the predator is the stuff of nightmares)

4. Night of the Living Dead (The original - Amazing especially for it's age)

5. Texas Chainsaw Massacre (Again a great movie for the time that still stands up today)

Choco beer reviews from jay pan

Sankt Gallen have some special beers out for Valentine's day. I didn't need an excuse to buy and drink them. But, to the love of my life, If you're out there, I bought them for you.

Sankt Gallen Imperial Chocolate Stout (8.5/10). Smooth Impy here. Slightly thin mouth feel is the only distraction form the obligatory dark chocolate and Sweet dark fruit combination on the palate. A bit on the nose at 600+ yen, but good for a few.

Sankt Gallen Orange Chocolate Stout (8/10). Nice surprise here. The orange chocolate is nice and evident throughout what is a nice stout. The beer name perfectly sums up this little beauty more than I ever could. Take a punt and enjoy. A more reasonable 500 yen sweetens the deal for me. 7% abv.

Unfortunately I went to pick up the Shonan Chocolate Porter today at Sogo, but it was all sold out. Blast my indecision!

Beer Geek Breakfast

Just downing a bottle of the infamous bear geek breakfast. All I can say is wow that title is certainly no misnomer. Not for the uninitiated. Huge coffee bitterness. Very smooth due to the oatmeal. Actually would make a good first beer for the day, although thankfully I haven't regressed to that stage (yet!). Do yourself a favour and check this bad boy out. Steve Newman at his baddest in a bottle. Cheers Mikkeller!

My God I am losing my hair big time!

Here it is! My first taste of the Racer 5 (8/10) by bear republic on tap at the always fun Thrash Zone. Huge IPA with lots of pine and citrus hops. A very full body. Just shaded by Green Flash's IPA as the best american IPA I've had.

Next up was the Big Bear Stout (8.5/10). At 8% abv it teeters precariously between a huge stout and a light Imperial stout, but either way it is delicious. Bitter, ugly and black, I could drink this all night.

Lastly had a Green FLash Barleywine, generously shared by a Gentleman there with his Girlfriend. Nice people. The Barleywine (8/10) was huge, especially on the nose. VERY full bodied and lots of sweet flavours on the palate. A bit too much, as I had trouble finishing it.

Then the dash for the last train home before watching 30 rock and curling up for a well deserved kip. TOP NIGHT! Thanks Koichi!