U
User169
Guest
I've just checked and he's doing a gig here tomorrow, so I wasn't imagining things! He was looking pretty sprightly for a codger.
Beer?
- Thread starter Chuffy
- Start date
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I've just checked and he's doing a gig here tomorrow, so I wasn't imagining things! He was looking pretty sprightly for a codger.
U
User169
Guest
Still waiting for the blinking plane, so quaffing a wizened from Schlossbrauerei Stein. Much better than the Erdinger. This has got for some proper banana ester flavour. A bit too drinkable!
threebikesmcginty
Corn Fed Hick...
- Location
- ...on the slake
The only beer action here is Mrs 3BM knocking a bottle of Insanely Bad Elf out of the cupboard and smashing it all over the floor!
U
User169
Guest
What did you do?
threebikesmcginty
Corn Fed Hick...
- Location
- ...on the slake
I managed not to cry.
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Okay, so I checked out the first of Tokyo's craft beer bars on my list last night - after training with my running club for almost two hours, so I'm allowed... 
I went to Goodbeer Faucets in Shibuya - which I think is the one which someone said looked like a chemistry lab. Actually, although it was all steel and concete, it was actually a very nice atmosphere. Music was not too intrusive, so you could have a conversation at normal volume, knowledgeable bilingual barmen, and there was a mixture of people including small groups of Japanese women, which was good to see.
I decided to go for the obvious option - a 5-glass tasting set, which I guess probably added up to about a pint and a half altogether, which is just about as much as I can cope with. I would have preferred an all Japanese tasting set, but this is not specifically designed for foreigners. It would be different if I went again too - they change it every week. I took some brief notes...
1. Cream Lager, Nide Brewery Japan, 5.5%. Very smooth and creamy, it was almost like a cream soda. Couldn't taste the alcohol at all, so although it would make a fantastic summer evening session beer, it is also quite dangerous.And probably not anywhere near hoppy enough for modern North American craft beer tastes.
2. Rising Sun Pale Ale, Baird Brewery, Japan. 5%. A moderately hoppy pale ale in a classic style, which was very refreshing and didn't suffer from the 'let's put every kind of hop known to humanity in this' that some West Coast American APAs do. Very refreshing and fit to be put up there with some of the best pale ales I have had.
3. Floris Wit Blanche, Huyghe, Belgium. 5%. A bit boring for a wit, it was certainly floral but had none of the fruit or spiciness of some of the wits I love. And it's hard to describe but it seemed to have width but no depth.
4. Mystic Cherry, Haacht, Belgium. 3.5%. Cherries. More cherries. Cherries mixed with cherryade. Cherries. Did I mention that is tasted like cherries? Well it did.
5. Belgian Stout, Shonan Brewery, Japan. 7.5%. Woof woof. Now this is good. A firm head, with a long smokey taste. Didn't have the depth or oiliness of imperials, but it wasn't aiming for that. You could drink a lot of this without noticing the alcohol content until later... very nice.
All this was accompanied by the pizza of the day which, in typical Japanese fashion was something that resembled but was also totally unlike pizza. A great thin crust covered with a mustard mayonaise base, shrimp, small dried fish, asparagus, pink peppercorns and cheese. And really excellent too.
I should have left it there, but there was a beer on the menu of 40 perfectly kept drafts that I really wanted to try: the Baird Brewery's Imperial Pale Ale. At 7.5% and really hoppy, this was a monster compared to the Rising Sun I had had earlier. Complex, spicey, and well, a half was quite enough and this is what resulted in the trip home being a little more amusing that it should have been. Oh well... a good start to my research, I think.
I went to Goodbeer Faucets in Shibuya - which I think is the one which someone said looked like a chemistry lab. Actually, although it was all steel and concete, it was actually a very nice atmosphere. Music was not too intrusive, so you could have a conversation at normal volume, knowledgeable bilingual barmen, and there was a mixture of people including small groups of Japanese women, which was good to see.
I decided to go for the obvious option - a 5-glass tasting set, which I guess probably added up to about a pint and a half altogether, which is just about as much as I can cope with. I would have preferred an all Japanese tasting set, but this is not specifically designed for foreigners. It would be different if I went again too - they change it every week. I took some brief notes...
1. Cream Lager, Nide Brewery Japan, 5.5%. Very smooth and creamy, it was almost like a cream soda. Couldn't taste the alcohol at all, so although it would make a fantastic summer evening session beer, it is also quite dangerous.And probably not anywhere near hoppy enough for modern North American craft beer tastes.
2. Rising Sun Pale Ale, Baird Brewery, Japan. 5%. A moderately hoppy pale ale in a classic style, which was very refreshing and didn't suffer from the 'let's put every kind of hop known to humanity in this' that some West Coast American APAs do. Very refreshing and fit to be put up there with some of the best pale ales I have had.
3. Floris Wit Blanche, Huyghe, Belgium. 5%. A bit boring for a wit, it was certainly floral but had none of the fruit or spiciness of some of the wits I love. And it's hard to describe but it seemed to have width but no depth.
4. Mystic Cherry, Haacht, Belgium. 3.5%. Cherries. More cherries. Cherries mixed with cherryade. Cherries. Did I mention that is tasted like cherries? Well it did.
5. Belgian Stout, Shonan Brewery, Japan. 7.5%. Woof woof. Now this is good. A firm head, with a long smokey taste. Didn't have the depth or oiliness of imperials, but it wasn't aiming for that. You could drink a lot of this without noticing the alcohol content until later... very nice.
All this was accompanied by the pizza of the day which, in typical Japanese fashion was something that resembled but was also totally unlike pizza. A great thin crust covered with a mustard mayonaise base, shrimp, small dried fish, asparagus, pink peppercorns and cheese. And really excellent too.
I should have left it there, but there was a beer on the menu of 40 perfectly kept drafts that I really wanted to try: the Baird Brewery's Imperial Pale Ale. At 7.5% and really hoppy, this was a monster compared to the Rising Sun I had had earlier. Complex, spicey, and well, a half was quite enough and this is what resulted in the trip home being a little more amusing that it should have been. Oh well... a good start to my research, I think.
threebikesmcginty
Corn Fed Hick...
- Location
- ...on the slake
Good work FM!
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
Are you sure it as just the one you had? Drink a few more and you too might see the Dalai Lama...
Flying_Monkey
Recyclist
- Location
- Odawa
I'll keep 'em coming - one a week, hopefully!
U
User169
Guest
Let us know if you spot Santana or the Dalai Lama.
threebikesmcginty
Corn Fed Hick...
- Location
- ...on the slake
You haven't had a proper beer until you've clocked the Dalai or Carlos.
Just a quick snifter of Kernel Porter for me before meeting beer chums later down the pub.
U
User169
Guest
Black Mamba Hoppy English Stout from Brasserie Sainte Helene.
Not bad at all, although the simcoe and citra hops aren't very English. Good coffee aroma and roasted malts. A bit thin maybe, but its only 4.3%.
Not bad at all, although the simcoe and citra hops aren't very English. Good coffee aroma and roasted malts. A bit thin maybe, but its only 4.3%.
U
User169
Guest
Kicking off the weekend with a Black Saison. A collaboration between St Feuillien and Green Flash.
ceepeebee
Veteran
- Location
- Some imaginary Flanders
I really loved thatwhen I had it. got a bit of a haul today, but it's fridged already. There's a nogne roast black pepper ale, a struisse vs de molen ignis & flamma, a bunch of art brew things and another bottle of the terrific partisan grisette saison. Ahhhhh Friday.
U
User169
Guest
I remembered you rating it - so have been looking out for it.
I'll be interested to see which you like best of the struise and de molen.
