The latest beverages in my journey

Hello readers, thanks for tuning in. Again sorry for the lull in updates, beer is expensive and money has been tight. That said, I have taken advantage of a local super market providing mixed six packs for 10 dollars. While I do have the option of choosing bottom of the barrel beverages, I try to stick with something a bit tastier.

      First on my list we have Wilhelm Scream from Magic Hat Brewing Company. Overall not too bad, one of the few pumpkin brews I tried this season (pumpkin beer is unheard of in Japan [ edit apparently they do! Thanks Tom!]). I liked it well enough, a definite hint of spices, a bit of cinnamon and nutmeg. A good change from the IPAs I usually drink. I enjoyed it well enough, but I wouldn’t drink it year round.

          Next we have El Rojo Red Ale from Griffin Claw Brewing Company, located in Birmingham Michigan. I had not seen this one before and when a friend of mine bought a six pack I had to try it. Coming in a can is a bit different, I almost exclusively buy bottles (I’m not bias, generally the beer I like comes that way) I liked the artwork on it though. The color was reddish brown, not unlike other red ales I’ve had in the past, that aside though there was a dominant malty taste as well as some chocolate, an interesting combo. Not too sweet either. Overall it is good red ale, which I would drink again.

            Now we have Green Flash’s West Coast IPA. Having had many IPAs in my time, some good, some not so great, I really liked it. I would like to try it again sometime to get a better feel for it. The color was a burnt orange. Scent was a bit sharp with some floral bits. Super hoppy, which I generally tend to enjoy, overall not bad!  

            The next beer to mention is Best Brown Ale from Bell’s Brewing Company. Another Michigan favorite of mine, I have always enjoyed Bell’s products they brew fantastic (in my opinion) beer. The Brown is no exception, dark in color, but not opaque. Great malty flavor with a hint of caramel, medium body gives it a very high drinkability. I would easily recommend this one.

            The following beer is Samuel Adams Rebel IPA. Overall I felt like it was a bit lack luster. I was not super impressed, not bad by any means, but there are much better IPAs available for a comparable price. Hoppy and a 6.5% ABV which is nothing to shake a stick at, however I don’t imagine I will go out of my way to find this brew. That said, Samuel Adams makes some other fine beers.

       The last beer on my list is one I had not tasted in a long time. Bell’s Two Hearted Ale. This is one fantastic beer. It is hoppy, but not overly done, with malty undertones. The 7%ABV is not overbearing surprisingly enough. Even some people who do not like IPAs may enjoy this beer. This beer has lots of flavor, a nice somewhat piney aroma, a great beer which I would recommend for IPA lovers.

That's all for now. Cheers!

And we're back again!

Another delay, I won’t bother my few readers with the reasons as to why it has taken me so long to make another update. While in California I had more than a few really good beverages. I however grew lazy and among other things did not write them down. I will have my readers know though that I really enjoyed a few from Lagunitas Brewing Company as well as Mission Brewing.  That said, we will move on to more recent developments. And this time, abroad again!

First off since moving to Hikone in Shiga prefecture, I have had a hell of a time getting good craft beer. None of the continence stores sell it. It is possible to find at specialty stores, but those seem to be reasonably rare.

We will start with two that I picked up first. I got them at a small liquor store (of course specializing in sake). They were a bit over 500 yen each. The one pictured on the left was the better of the two. Though a bit lack luster in taste, it was very drinkable, crisp and kind of reminded me a bit of pale ale. The bottle pictured to the right with the Samurai on it was awful, over carbonated and way to sweet. It had a mild raspberry flavor. I’m definitely not a fan of fruit beer. I would steer clear of it.

During a trip to Kyoto we did some exploring in one of the many shopping districts. There were of course many restaurants some of which advertising a beer “selection” Naturally I had to investigate, for science. As it was they generally held the weak “variety” that this region seems to support. Mainly they were: Guniess, Becks, Budwiser, Corona and Stella Artois. I’m not spending money on any of those, especially the premium 700+ yen these places were asking. I did however see a few bottles I did not recognize. But, I have a limit, and 1100 yen is just too much for one bottle. So, we walked to the next block over and saw a

JCA? O.o

small sake and wine shop. They had the same bottles that the restaurant was offering but 450 yen cheaper, deal. So I bought two.  The one with the blue label I don’t recall as much. I remember it being decent, but light with mild hops. The red label bottle was better. It had a slightly caramel taste, a bit malty, very good. The last bottle pictured was probably my favorite. I found it at a Jupiter import store in Kyoto station. I was initially intrigued by the little owl, and the fact that I had no idea what a Japanese Classic Ale was… So, for science, I tested it. I was pleasantly surprised that it basically was an IPA, my favorite kind of beer. And with 7% ABV I couldn't complain. It was great.  The bottle told a brief story about how that was the first kind of beer to be developed in Japan. Somehow I’m not 100% sure about that one, either way though, I would not mind seeing this more widely available.

Kirin, Kirin everywhere!

During a trip to Osaka a few weeks ago, I went to an omiyage shop looking around at all the Hello Kitty themed souvenirs; I saw a small cooler in the back stocked with water and tea. As well as a few bottles of sake and a beer with an octopus on it. I had just had my first takoyaki the night before so I decided… why not? I was expecting the beer to have ground up octopus in it, however, it did not. It had a fairly generic lager taste. Not bad, not worth 500 yen, but it was decent. The other two I have shown here are nothing

terribly special. Kirin Lager Beer is a go to out here, there is a Kirin factory in Shiga, so it is pretty much everywhere. Sapporo, Yebisu and even Asahi are less common. On the far right I added a cheaper alternative to Kirin Lager. Basically from what I can tell it’s the PBR of Japan. *Shrugs* the frat boys need to drink something right? Anyway, thanks for reading, take care everyone.

Cheers!