Goodbeer Faucets

Goodbeer Faucets in Shibuya. 40 real ales on tap.

Bashamichi Taproom

A few photos from the opening day at Bashamichi Taproom.

Went to the opening day at the new Baird Bashamichi Taproom this afternoon after seeing it mentioned on Drinking My Brains. Good food, good beer, and a great atmosphere. Will probably go there again at some point.

Kronenbourg 1664 Blanc is a girl’s drink

As evidence for this, I offer the fact that bottles of it come with a free Swarovski crystal jewelry stone fingernail decoration.

Ginga Kougen Silver Bottle

Found the bottled version of Ginga Kougen in a couple of the local supermarkets. Most of the stock was the Star Bottle but a few were in this Silver Bottle. I’m wondering if was a special limited edition because I haven’t seem them again.

Both seem to taste nicer than the canned version, but I didn’t really notice any difference between the two.

Kirin “Koku no Jikan”

I thought I’d try this beer after reading about it on Tokyo5.

It’s quite a nice beer. Good flavour, not too dry, not too bitter. The only thing that puts me off is the name. They translate “コクの時間” as “Golden Moment”, but my brain somehow takes the more direct literal approach and turns it into “Cock Time”.

“Hey guys, wanna come round to my place tonight for some cock time?”

Carnegie Porter 3,5

Found this in the local supermarket at the weekend. Even though it`s only 3,5 ABV it`s not bad. At least compared to the piss that usually passes for beer in Sweden.

Gingakougen Wheat Beer

I’d seen this beer in the supermarket a few times but only this past weekend bothered to figure out ask the wife what it says on the can.

Turns out it’s a wheat beer “with yeast”. If I’d known that before I’d’ve grabbed one sooner.

It’s more like a Hoegaarden than a Franziskaner, but definitely one to add to the list.

Land Brauerei Echigo-Bräu Premium Beer Pilsner

I spotted this beer with a German-looking name and was unable to resist grabbing one.

A closer look at the description on the can (what I could read of it, anyway) revealed that it’s not actually a German beer. It’s brewed here in Japan by Echigo breweries using aroma hop from the Czech Republic.

Either way, it’s a pretty good beer, and it more than made up for the disappointment of the not-Ginger-Beer Ginger Draft.

Like the Eku Pils it’s not as bitter as a German (or Czech) pilsner. More like a Munich helles Bier.

Definitely another one to add to the list of replacements for my ever-decreasing supply of German beer (I’m well into the last crate now).

It doesn’t seem to be a limited edition, so I hope it’ll still be available next time I’m at the shop. If not, their website has a online shop that seems to have quite a range of beers.

Asahi Ginger Draft is not ginger beer

I saw this Ginger Draft in the supermarket at the weekend, and bought it thinking that it might be something like ginger beer.

Rather disappointingly, it isn’t – it’s just another Happoshu. And more disappointingly, it doesn’t even taste of ginger.

I need to memorise the kanji for Happoshu (発泡酒) to make sure I don’t inadvertently buy it again.

World Beer Bakusyu, Shinbashi

Just back from meeting Penguin at World Beer Bakusyu in Shinbashi, a bar recommended by John Turningpin who was unfortunately sick and couldn’t join us. (Get well soon, JT).

Bakusyu has quite a decent range of beers from around the world. I tried the Anchor Porter and I have to say it’s probably the best dark beer I’ve ever had. Quite surprising, since I’d had the Anchor Steam from the same brewery, when I was in San Francisco a few years ago, and thought it was one of the worst beers I’d ever had.

I’ll definitely be heading back there to drink it again, even though at 1000 Yen a bottle it’s expensive with a capital E.

World Beer Bakusyu, 東京都港区新橋３−２２−３.

Less than 2 minutes on foot from Shinbashi station’s Karasumori exit.

Asahi “Munich-Type” black beer

Recently I’ve been trying to find a shop that sells this Asahi Stout bottled beer but it’s proving to be quite elusive.

While I was in my local supermarket I came across this “Munich-type” black beer, which is also by Asahi. It was right next to the Kirin Stout that I found last week so I’m surprised I hadn’t seen it before.

Taste-wise I’d say it’s pretty much the same as the Kirin, but with a slightly bitterer taste. I don’t think either of them are quite as good as a real Munich Dunkelbier, but I’ll probably buy them again.

Note: Wikipedia has a convenient list of Japanese beers to avoid. Who the hell came up with the idea of brewing beer with soy protein instead of malt? The mind boggles.

Japanese beer, German style

My supply of beer from Munich is running dangerously low (only 1 crate left) so I was pleased to read about this German style beer that is available in a Japanese supermarket.

One day way back in November last year I bought a can of it on the way home from work, stuck it in the fridge, and then forgot about it until a couple of weeks ago.

For a Pils (which is not usually my choice of beer because I’m not keen on the bitter taste) it wasn’t that bad, and maybe I’ll pop into the shop again one day and see if they’re still selling it (almost 3 months later). If not, there are plenty of other domestic beers to choose from.

This past weekend I found a stout beer from Kirin, which is much like a Bavarian Dunkelbier, and I can see myself stocking up on that when my last crate runs out.

Now if only they’d do a Weissbier…

Yokohama Oktoberfest

We went down to Yokohama yesterday to visit the Yokohama Oktoberfest.

Photos: Yokohama Oktoberfest 2008.

Compared to Munich, it was incredibly expensive – ¥3600 (about €26) for a Maß of Spaten Oktoberfest Bier, and ¥1000 (about €7) for a couple of sausages. I made do with a half liter of Erdinger Dunkles Weißbier for ¥1300 (about €9,50).

We stayed a couple of hours and then went for a walk around Chinatown, where we had an early dinner before going back to Tokyo.

Getting unpacked

The second and final shipment of our stuff from Munich arrived yesterday.

We still have a load of boxes stacked up in the spare room, but at least we managed to unpack the important stuff…

Starkbierfest

On Thursday I went to the Starkbierfest at the Löwenbräukeller. They had an ox on a spit outside – there wasn’t much left of it by the time we got there.