The snow isn't falling

Just about every night since the first snowfall this month, I walk over to the front window once or twice an hour to see if it's snowing. Often I can only make it out in the glow of the streetlight, so my eyes shoot there involuntarily. After establishing this habit, even in the daylight hours I look first at the streetlight. Nope, still not snowing.

I'm adjusting to life in Hokkaido, and thanks to a late-start to the snowy season we're still easing into it here. We've had a few bouts of snowfall but nothing substantial. And now the rain. Tomorrow the temperatures are set to drop and snow is forecast most days this week. The shared apartment shovel is on standby, my knit cap collection has been boosted, my light summer shoes have been traded in for a pair with traction. 

You may have picked up on my snow obsession. I can't seem to shake it. A colleague who has been here for five years says he too used to like the snow, but now he's over it. Will that happen to me as well? It's possible. But this being my first real winter (Oregon's occasional winter blasts notwithstanding), I reserve the right to be excited. I don't know what exactly excites me about it, but I'll try to figure that out in another post. 

As for beer, I've been enjoying the occasional visit to Adanonki, the used-book-store-craft-beer-bar in the city center. Two taps bring in a rotating selection, usually with two offerings from the same brewery. If the taps don't suit your fancy, a selection of bottles is available as well. 

I've also made a few solo trips to Kalahana, the cider and craft beer bar in the Tanuki Koji shopping arcade. There's always something interesting on the menu, and occasionally I find something from Mie's Ise Kadoya, somewhat easing my waxing sense of nostalgia for Biyagura and their nomihoudai. 

Closer to home, the Seiyu grocery store not far down the road has recently been stocking Yona Yona for about 250 yen per can. Great price for a nice every day beer. I'd like to branch out and find some more bottle/can options for home. I recently heard of a liquor shop in Susukino that might have what I desire. 

So that's my update. And in case you're wondering, despite all my efforts, it's still not snowing. 

Kansai Special Part 1: Baird Brewing's John Chesen

As part of my work on the article in this month's Kansai Scene magazine about the craft beer scene in the region, I did an email interview with Baird Brewing managing partner John Chesen. Before we get to the interview itself, meet John, in his own words:

Bryan and I were classmates in grad school (1993-95 at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC) and I was his first investor when he started Baird Brewing Company in 2000.  I joined the company in July 2010, having spent most of my career in satellite telecommunications and in manufacturing.

Now on the main interview, a small portion of which was included in the article. Keep in mind that this interview was conducted in April 2012, and obviously some of the discussion is about events which have already taken place.

Can you tell me about Baird's background up until now in the Kansai region? 

Arguably the seed for Baird Brewing Company was planted in the Kansai region. Bryan Baird spent is first three years in Japan in Izumisano, South Osaka, after graduating from Williams College in 1989. It was in Izumisano that he first fell in love with Japan, in particular its dining and drinking culture.

Fast forwarding to the present we’ve got a strong and growing number of retail partners in the Kansai region. In Osaka, these include two beer bars, Qbrick and Eni-Bru, and a superb bottle shop, Asahiya.  Recently Café Absinthe has become a Baird customer.

In Nishinomiya, Beer Café Barley, which opens every day (except Tuesdays) at 1:00 PM, is a long-time Baird supporter. 

Kyoto, too, is home to some wonderful craft beer bars that always have Baird on tap: Tadg’s, Beer Café Bakujun, and Beer Friends. Third-generation Kyoto noodle shop Omen serves Baird beer at each of its three locations, and Baird bottles are always available to take home from sakeya Yamaoka Saketen.

Last year in July we participated in the Japan Craft Beer Festival in Osaka. It was a lot of fun, so we’re looking forward to being there again this year. Next month, on May 13^th, we’ll participate in the Kyoto Ji-Biiru Matsuri. In addition, Osaka-based craft beer enthusiast and entrepreneur Ajen Birmingham has organized a couple events featuring Baird beer in the last several months. His next event, called Beer Base Live, will take place on September 22^nd in Umeda. 

What plans, if any, does Baird Brewing have to expand its presence in the Kansai region? 

We currently own and operate four Taproom-restaurants. The original one is in Numazu (Shizuoka Prefecture), where our brewery is located. There are two Baird Taprooms in Tokyo (Nakameguro and Harajuku) and one, at Bashamichi, in Yokohama. We would love to have a Taproom in Kansai!  Before we can embark on new Taprooms, though, we need to build a new brewery. All of our current resources – human and financial – will be focused on that project for the next year to eighteen months.  Our new brewery should expand our capacity by a factor of five, so once it’s operational we’ll be looking for thirsty folks in Kansai with whom to enjoy a pint or two.

While planning and analysis are important, serendipity also plays a big role in Taproom planning. We tend to move quickly when the stars align around city, neighborhood, people/partners, and food concept. A good example is our Bashamichi Taproom in Yokohama, which opened in January of last year. In the space of about ten days we decided on Yokohama; hired an accomplished and passionate practitioner of Texas-style barbeque, Chuck Morrow, to be our pitmaster/tencho; and found a amazing three-storey building in the bustling nightlife district of Bashamichi. The Taproom opened for business three months later. We’ve got a hunch that a similar alignment of the stars will happen before too long in one or more cities in Kansai.

What do you think overall about the growing scene in Osaka? 

We’re thrilled about the recent growth in interest in craft beer in Osaka. Minoh Brewing and Isekadoya Brewing are playing catalytic roles, as are the pioneering Kansai craft beer bars and retailers mentioned earlier. This energy, investment and passion notwithstanding, we think the Kansai region is significantly underserved relative to actual and potential demand for craft beer, and that tremendous room for expansion exists.

On a more sober note, sustainable growth in craft beer in Kansai and elsewhere in Japan, and the substantially greater retail investment required to support it, depend on the there being more good Japanese craft beer and significantly greater consistency in terms of product quality. Far too many Japanese craft beers are good to excellent one time and mediocre to horrid when one drinks a beer from the next batch two weeks later. Operational inconsistency is the kiss of death for any company or industry, especially those that manufacture food or beverage products. Unless brewery processes for controlling quality, (particularly on the “cold” side of the house where fermentation and packaging take place) are more rigorously understood and implemented, the current Japan craft beer boomlet risks losing momentum, just as the first, late-90s one did, as initial consumer excitement is overwhelmed by inconsistent, occasionally awful beer.

How might the growing Osaka scene compare with the Tokyo/Yokohama scene? 

Awareness of and interest in craft beer started much earlier in the Tokyo/Yokohama region than in Kansai, and the gap is growing. It seems like a new craft beer bar opens every couple of weeks in the Kanto region.  Moreover, craft beer’s penetration of the upscale dining market -- restaurants with a 10-page wine list but a single (industrial lager) beer option -- is accelerating in Kanto, albeit from a near-zero base. 

Kansai, though, is waking up, and we’re excited about some of the new projects now under way.  (Word has it that craft beer entrepreneur Ai Tani is now building a new place near Umeda that will offer draught beer on-premise and bottles for take-home. Ajen Birmingham is also rumored to be looking start a place.) 

It may only be a matter of time before Kansai’s legendary zest for good living, no where more in evidence than in its enjoyment of good food and drink, propels the availability of craft beer in the region to the same, or higher, levels as those in Kanto. We intend to play an active role in realizing this potential.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the craft beer movement in Japan? 

The retail revolution needed to introduce more people to craft beer in Japan is in its infancy. More entrepreneurs are needed to start craft beer bars and, even more important, to include craft beer in existing and new restaurant formats, from fast casual to fine dining. 

In addition, large beverage distribution intermediaries -- tonya and gyomu oroshi -- need to study the unique attributes and handling requirements of craft beer and then make it more widely available in the marketplace. This part of the craft beer retail revolution took decades to happen in the US market, but most of the AB-InBev and Miller-Coors distributors in America now have specialty craft beer sales groups; in fact, as sales of industrial lagers like Bud and Bud Lite continue to stagnate or decline, craft beer is now the sole source of revenue growth and profit growth for these distributors.  The craft segment is fast approaching 10% of the US beer market. We’re betting that the same thing can happen in Japan.

Finally, as previously mentioned, Japanese brewers of craft beer must make more good beer and do so with greater consistency.  The “brew it and they’ll think it’s cool and drink it” phase of industry development needs to wind down at a much faster pace.  Japanese consumers are simply too sophisticated and too discerning. Fortunately, there’s more good beer this year than last year, and consistency of product quality is improving.  Japan is a country that reveres craftsmanship as well as freshness, variety and character in food and drink. We’re confident that these deeply rooted cultural influences spell a bright future for Japanese craft beer.

What challenges might be unique to the Kansai area? 

Kansai may be more culturally conservative that Kanto and therefore more measured in the pace with which it evaluates and embraces new ideas. It’s impossible to say if this is a factor in the relatively late start and slow pace of the region’s embrace of craft beer.  It’s clear, though, that there’s been awakening, and we’re delighted to be participating.

----------- 

That's it for the interview. I'll soon post a couple more interviews that fall under this "Kansai Special" label. Thanks for reading! 

Strong Scotch: Ise Kadoya's Highland Ale

Allow me to introduce Ise Kadoya's Highland Ale, a sort-of strong Scotch Ale that boasts 40 IBU and 7 percent alcohol. This seasonal, brewed by Masaya Sakakibara (part of the brewing/buying team), offers a sweet punch with caramel malts, backed up by a bitter finish via magnum hops. Although I'd say this ale veers on the sweeter side of the pallet, it's a pleasant and powerful drink.

Brewer Sakakibara was most recently behind last year's Rye Zen. His newest offering is a much bolder choice that is among the taps at his weekends-only craft beer bar near Ise Station. That bar, called Twelve, is open Saturdays and occasionally Fridays. Follow him on Twitter for info on his bar. Feel free to contact me for directions or other info on beer in Ise. 

Read about the Highland Ale (in Japanese) at Ise Kadoya's website here.

When I picked up the bottle today (900 yen) the staff reminded me of Biyagura's half-price beer days, which seem to fall twice a month on weekdays. The next one is February 28th. Check their homepage for updates each month, and you might catch a nice deal if you happen to be in town.

(I also picked up the newest Japan Beer Times, half of which I've already read online but it's so nice to have a print edition.) 

Further, they always offer a two-hour all-you-can-drink for less than 2,000 yen on the regular menu.

Has anyone tried the Highland Ale out at the beer bars?

Enjoy!

Ise Kadoya presents: the Nut's Brown Porter and the American Amber Ale

It's January in Japan, and the chocolate islands have sprung up at shopping malls, setting off a two-month love roller coaster that begins on Valentine's Day. On February 14th, ladies are supposed to give the guys they have eyes on some chocolate, and in a Japan-created twist, men are to reciprocate a month later on "White Day" (if they feel the love).

Not to be left out of the fun, many brewers large and small come out with chocolate beers around this time of year. Last year, Ise Kadoya released its seasonal Nut's Brown Porter, a sweet but not over-the-top offering meant to be paired with chocolate rather than be a replacement for it.

Well, it's time get get Nut's (sic) again!

First of all, the Nut's Brown Porter is meant to be a special treat, coming in at 1,000 yen instead of the usual 900 yen for Ise Kadoya 500ml bottles. That extra 100 yen, perhaps, goes toward the packaging, which makes the beer a ready-made gift for beer-loving man-friends.

After the unwrapping (tip for guys: re-use the red ribbon on White Day!), the beer pours a deep amber with little to no head. First taste: It's sweet. Probably because I just finished a much more bitter beverage. Deeper into the tasting I started to enjoy it more, remembering what I liked last year. Sure, it's a bit sweet compared to my usual top choices, but it's a pretty decent sweet.

I don't have any chocolate in the house to test out the pairing capabilities, but to be honest, this beer is sweet enough as it is. Give it a try, I advise, at your neighborhood craft bar.

And now on to the bitter beer that made the Nut's Brown seem so darn sweet: Ise Kadoya's American Amber Ale. I believe this to be the first time I've tried this seasonal, which I haven't seen bottled since I've been paying attention. A search online shows a few reviews from a couple years back but nothing recent. Although there's a nice balance, hops dominate, bringing something akin to a darker pale ale back in Oregon. This beer was nice, especially as it warmed up and let out its flavor. I'll definitely aim to try it again. Maybe I can drop some hints to my special person ahead of Valentine's Day: Skip the Nut's Brown Porter, and aim for hops.

Ise Kadoya Imperial Smoked Porter (2011)

And I have graduated to the capstone of the evening: the Ise Kadoya Imperial Smoked Porter. I live down the street from the brewery/restaurant but this is my first taste of the season. I'm reminded of how good a porter feels on a cold night. This also marks my first smoked style since I gambled on an Echigo Rauch, a mysterious beverage indeed. Needless to say the style is rescued here. It's bold, black and hoppy. And 7 percent alcohol.

Behold: 

Tomorrow me and the fiance are heading for Nagoya. Many things on the agenda but I'm sure I'll find room for some beer I can't find in Ise. Cheers!

Ise Kadoya Weizen Bock (2011 edition)

I'm home from my school's bounenkai (end-of-year-party / aka "forget the year party") and I'm sipping an Ise Kadoya Weizen Bock, a nice upgrade from the endless flow of Kirin lager supplied by the Ise City Hotel catering staff.


This is one of the styles I haven't had much experience with, but I'm enjoying the light character at the moment. That said, all I can think about is the Imperial Smoked Porter in the fridge. I haven't tried this one since the last release and I'm quite anxious to savor it.

Meanwhile, enjoy this photo of the 2011 Weizen Bock, compared with the previous model:

2011 edition

The slightly-more-Christmassy 2010

Ise Kadoya Imperial Red Ale (bottled)

This evening I'm enjoying a glass of the 85-IBU Ise Kadoya-led collaboration Imperial Red Ale, which has made rounds at beer bars and festivals over the last few months.

Sadly I couldn't make any of those festivals, but I was able to pick up on this beer a while back at the local craft bar (owned/operated by an Ise Kadoya brewer in his free time).

This beer emerged here in Ise just after I made a trip back to Oregon, where I was surrounded by wonderfully hoppy beers. It was a nice surprise to find this nicely balanced offering coming out of Ise (while Ise Kadoya regularly puts out fantastic beers, not many aim for this particular taste). 

As of now, the beer is for sale in bottles at Ise Kadoya's Biyagura brewpub and it is also available for online order. I haven't been in to Biyagura for drinks for quite a while, but it has been on tap as well for limited runs.

I'm curious to find out how it's being received among domestic drinkers, so I'll ask around next time I get a chance.

For those who have tried one, how did you like it?

If you haven't tried it yet, I'd move quickly ... this might not be around for long.

Free Style Beer Garden Twelve - Ise's new craft beer bar

A quick look at the new craft beer bar in Ise, featuring photos taken on my cell phone (forgot my real camera at home). 

The bar, which used to be the owners' living room, is in this nondescript building near Iseshi Station. They still live upstairs.

Sakakibara-san, who still has his day job with Ise Kadoya as a buyer and brewer, stands behind the bar. He's a nice guy and a beer lover who thinks Japanese brewers need to step up their game. 

Above the bar, you can still see the remains of the wall that used to belong to the bathroom. 

  

The menu features a variety of beers from around Japan and the world. Prices are good for craft, with a featured IPA from Brewdog coming in at 600 yen for a glass. 

The beer from Brewdog comes in what I describe as plastic orbs, which are housed inside the casing shown in the second shot.

Here's a Hardcore IPA from brewdog. I like the Punk a bit better.

There are eight beers on tap, but Sakakibara-san hopes to make the 12 in the bar's name come true one day.

With the new year comes a new drive for craft

Since I've been home (home meaning Japan) from my trip to Oregon, I've had a few chances to try craft beer, and except for a New Year's Eve marathon that went from Caldera to Asahi to hangover, I have avoided standard beers and instead looked for ways to branch out.

I have not been disappointed. My girlfriend's father, aware that I am a beer fan, stocked the fridge at their house ahead of my visit on New Year's day. It was a thoughtful effort, which included a nice variety, but craft beer was not represented.. I of course graciously accepted what was served, but the conversation inevitably led to what kind of beer I really like. I also shared a Caldera IPA which I had brought from Oregon. They liked it, despite its bitterness blowing everything else on the table out of the prefecture.

For my return visit on the second, the daughters of the family had been instructed to obtain some Yona Yona Ale. To add to this, I brought along a few bottles of Ise Kadoya as well. It was nice to pour everyone a sampling and decide which ones we liked best. Ise Kadoya's Pale and Brown proved popular. The seasonals were a bit too festive for my taste, but among them were a decent Blonde Ale and a just-barely-too-sweet Yuzu Ale.

On a following weekend trip to Nagoya, I popped in to a liquor shop in Sakae which sells Kinshachi Beer and picked up a few offerings. I liked the IPA but ended up giving the others away without trying them (there will be a next time). On the Nagoya trip, I also visited Keg for the first time. It was easy to find thanks to the Beer in Japan app, and I was pleased to start my session with a Shiga Kogen IPA. I had a few more offerings, all that I had not tried before, and enjoyed them all. My only regret was that I couldn't stay longer (there will, of course, be a next time).

More recently, a friend and I hit up Ise Kadoya's Biyagura for a 2-hour nomihoudai (available on the regular menu at under 2,000 yen). There were three seasonals on tap, including the aforementioned Blonde Ale, a "Nut's Brown Porter" (sic) and a ginger flavored beer. The Blonde is nice and I quite enjoyed the Nut's Brown, but the ginger was best kept in sampler size. Of course, after two hours, we were decently drunk and quite satisfied. The brown and pale are always there for you when last order comes around.

In all, I have mostly avoided the standard beers while trying a wider variety of craft than I had normally availed myself too. I hope I can keep it up. Perhaps it's time to branch out to a web order from Ezo?


(I'll add some pictures to this post later)

Heady travels in the land of beer

During my two weeks in Oregon, I had but one (maybe more like one-half) can of Weasel Piss, the nickname my brother Phil and I use for mainline beer. In this case, it was a Pabst Blue Ribbon, partially consumed and then slapped from by hands by a smoking bartender as I (drunkenly and illegally) tried to carry it from a Pendleton bar to the sidewalk (oops).


(Disclaimer: I've been living in Japan for 3.5 years, and open container rules don't operate ... guess I was a bit rusty? Also you can drink in a car as long as you aren't driving that day, in which case it's zero tolerance.) 

Our choice to go to that bar in the first place was indeed a mistake, as we had already consumed plenty of booze from the Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub a few blocks east (this was a amid a series of mistakes that make up a larger story to be told at a later time).

But the bad decisions made on that night are overshadowed, perhaps, by the overall walk away from mainstream beer into an exclusive craft beer diet (I also did not drink an ounce of soda/pop on the trip ... a first for me).

Where better than Portland, Oregon, and a couple other Oregon towns, to stay on a The Path of good beer. On my first day in Portland, Phil and his fiancee and I went to the Hopworks Urban Brewery for a delicious pizza a couple of pints. My first choice was my first craft crush: IPA. Among the three of us, we sampled about five different offerings from HUB, and all were very nice.

HUB's claim to fame, besides the good beer they produce, is that it is an organic and sustainable operation, concepts that fit in perfectly in Portland. The place was busy on an early-vacation-period weeknight, with a 30 minute wait for tables in the dining room. Over in the bar, though, you can seat yourself if you find a table. Phil's fiancee, Julia, managed to score a table after a successful bout of hovering near a guy who looked to be almost done (he had two growler's full of delicious-looking beer).

We tapped in to the growler scene ourselves down Interstate 84 in Pendleton. My mother recently moved from 10 minutes out of town to a loft overlooking downtown. Imagine a loft, then think bigger. The cascading space features high ceilings with vents snaking across them, gaping windows looking out on a snow-covered main street, and a loft-within-the-loft to break up the vast real estate spanning from the kitchen to the eastern wall.

And to top off the beautiful surroundings, the apartment sits a few minutes away from the freshly opened (well, fresh as in it opened in 2010) Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub, at present Pendleton's only craft brewery (bar chat revealed rumors of a possible brewery in the works, though noting is official). The large seating area, though rarely full when we visited, has a very homey ambiance, and we felt very comfortable sitting down on chairs and couches around what we might call a coffee table if it wasn't in a brewpub.

In all we made three visits here, plus one growler fill for the road (the road back to the apartment, not the one back to Portland -- I haven't totally forgotten Oregon liquor laws).

I had a short fling with their IPA, boldly declaring it my favorite IPA of the trip so far, though this was later retracted when I met a Stone Ruination IPA at a bottle shop in Portland.

Prodigal Son is picking up steam as their beers are making the trip to Portland-area tap houses and getting noticed in the amid the crowded craft scene in Oregon.

My eventual favorite of the bunch, the Bruce/Lee Porter, was recently honored with the "Satori Award" for 2010 on an Oregon beer blog. 

The next stop on my beer journey was Corvallis, where I attended Oregon State University and where my dad and stepmother live. Corvallis now boasts two local brewpubs (in addition to a pair of northwest chain McMenamins locations). For a late lunch one day, I headed to the only one I hadn't been to: Flat Tail Brewing.

Here, I went directly for the tasting tray, which featured eight beers (seven by Flat Tail and one guest beer from Ninkasi of Eugune). I found the line-up very enjoyable, and ended up picking the Amber as my favorite owing to its wonderful balance.


One brewpub per town was not the end of my craft beer experience in Oregon. Even trips to the supermarket feature a wide selection of craft beer (convenience stores, too, stock a few varieties beyond Bud Light).

For an even larger selection, I made two trips to Belmont Station, a bottle shop with a tap room attached. Being a Japan beer blogger, I inquired about what Japanese beer they had available or have had in the past. No sign or memory of Ise Kadoya, though I believe it's available in another shop in town. Also nothing from Baird, though they guy at the register said they used to have it. He said it didn't sell very well. This was a little surprising, so I asked if he had any idea why. He did not. My guess could be that if people are looking for a beer from Japan, they want something that screams "JAPAN" - and perhaps the Western name isn't Japanesey enough. Or something. I could be way off. For whatever reason, only a small selection of Hitachino Nest shares space with Asashi Super Dry in the Japan section of the "other" category in the world beer area.

Now, it's back to a rotation of Yona Yona, Ise Kadoya, and whatever else I can get my hands on without dropping too much cash.

Today, it shall be exactly that at a sukiyaki dinner. We got six Yona Yonas and a host of Ise Kadoya options, ranging from the standard pale and brown ales to a seasonal maple cinnamon offering. 

I'll return later with a post looking ahead to the new year, which may reveal a bold New Year's resolution that will probably be impossible to keep. Cheers!

A welcome back with a WiezenBock

I admit that it has been harder than I had imagined to make the time and muster the effort to keep this blog going at a serious level.

One of my problems has been that I don't get out much ... that is, out of Mie. Another angle for the blog I had tried out was scanning and summarizing Japan beer news from around the internet, but I didn't exactly find a grove there either.

That said, I do very fortunately live a one-minute walk away from Ise Kadoya's brewpub. I just made that one-minute trek and picked up what they call the "Weizen Bock." Clearly a seasonal, a shadow of Santa filling a stocking with a beer, in front of a Christmas tree, adorns the label.

It's taste is pleasing, reminding me of winter seasonals back home. That is, it goes down easy but doesn't exactly hook me for a long-term commitment.

For the beer reviewer types, this entry from 2007 seems about right for the 2010 batch.

Stand by, as another seasonal Ise Kadoya offering currently resides in my fridge.

As for the blog as a whole ... I cannot make any promises. When I find a new seasonal at Ise Kadoya, I'll be sure to give it a try. And when I travel, I'll be sure to take in material to post. Otherwise, I'm going to have to think about what direction to take the blog.

Regardless, happy drinking!

Ise Kadoya "Biyagura" suspends its Beer Day special

The news came from Midori, a hard-drinking hair dresser who has been a frequent participant at Ise Kadoya's all-you-can-drink specials. September, she said, would be the last month featuring the special until Spring (or, perhaps the last one ever ... more below).

Every since I arrived in Ise, a little more than three years ago, this special has been running. Two Wednesday's a month, the brewpub would bring in about three guest beers from microbreweries all over Japan, complementing the slate of beers made in-house, including some interesting seasonal offerings. (The roster was always rounded out with a two mass-market offerings to appease stubborn drinkers who think they know what they like.)

The result was a colorful, half-sheet of paper, describing 10 beers available that night. For 60 minutes, you were free to drink as much as you could for only 1,000 yen (until a recent price jump -- more on that below). If you didn't get enough, a second hour comes for just 900 yen.

The offerings weren't always good. Let's face it -- raft beer among the prefectures is a hit-and-miss game. But with three guest beers each time, there's was almost always something to like. But in the event of a strikeout, you could always rely on Ise Kadoya's own fabulous staple brews: The Brown Ale, Stout, Pale Ale and Shinto Beer. In all, it was a great deal, guaranteed to provide you with good beer.

The first sign that something was amiss came two months ago, when the price went from 1,000 yen for the first hour to 1,500 yen. Although this price hike made sense to me, I feared the deeper meaning -- the special was losing money. Sure enough, a few weeks ago the Japanese website announced the special's "vacation."

What's to blame? Or who? An easy potential target can be found in the mirror. I would usually eat dinner at home and then head to the pub for the nomihoudai a bit later. A few other friends would do the same, so we didn't order food while we drank quite a lot of beer. Did customers like us hurt the bottom line? Seems like it could easily be a factor.

But what else? Has it recently, for whatever reason, become more expensive to purchase and order the guest beer for delivery? I truly have no idea on this one.

Perhaps, also, the special still IS making money ... but barely ... making it an easy target to get the ax.

Whatever the case, it appears that they're going to use the time after this week's final installment to ponder what can be done, if anything, to make the special workable. While the original announcement said the break would last until spring, a more recent post on the Japanese site says something along the lines of "this COULD be the last one ever!"

If they do, how could they make it work? I have some ideas of my own:

Jack the Price
The original 1,000-yen hour was pretty crazy. I wouldn't have flinched the first time if I had found a 2,000 yen price tag. And I won't flinch next spring if they bring back the special with a new price/time structure. How about 2,000 yen (or more?) for 90 minutes? Sometimes an hour feels rushed if it's busy at the bar. And sometimes two hours is a bit much. Maybe 3,000 90 minutes, plus 1,000 for an extra 60? Basically, crunch the numbers and try it out. It just might work.

Map to Mini-Stop
Instead of offering Suntory's The Premium Malts and an Ebisu, point the stubborn types to the convenience store, where they can drink as much Standard Swill as they'd like. An award-winning brewery is no place for beer you can get ANYWHERE ELSE. Practically, this would cut back on customers who just come for a cheap hour of Premium Malts. Idealistically, it would force weary friends of beer-lovers to actually try something new. Or am I way off here?


Well, my ideas have run out for the moment. But surely there are more.

Whatever the case, I hope the special comes back. Being in rural Mie means that I don't have easy access to a wide variety of Japanese craft beers. This event has let me, and others, try all kinds of stuff, be it Baird, Shiga Kogen, or any myriad small breweries all over Japan.


Notes:
-Any visitors to Ise-shi should certainly pop in to Biyagura, just a 20-minute walk or a 5-minute cab ride from Ise-she station. A 2-hour all-you-can-drink, for less than 2,000 yen, remains on the regular menu. Biyagura is closed Wednesdays, except for the soon-t0-be-suspended beer nights. Try the famous mochi across the street ... from the same company, it's history is much longer than the beer's.

-I will try to snag an interview with somebody at Ise Kadoya about the suspended beer nights. Stay tuned for that.

The Japan Beer Times summer edition hits beer shelves everywhere

With summer comes the third issue of The Japan Beer Times, the bilingual (and free) quarterly magazine about craft beer in Japan.

I popped in to Ise Kadoya's Biyagura after work today to pick up a few copies. Ise Kadoya itself is featured in this issue, along with a brief eyes-on-the-ground report from myself on the Wednesday nomihoudai specials.

I just got done reading through the whole issue. It's great to see such a magazine exist, and it's also nice that content is presented in English and Japanese. Besides the Ise Kadoya feature, you'll find, among other things, a write-up on Helios of Okinawa.

The summer issue is not yet online, but perhaps your local craft brewpub has the hard copies in stock. Go for a drink, leave with a magazine.

Which Ise Kadoya beer would you stock in your shop?

If you were running a wine shop in an Oregon college town, and you were in the process of expanding to craft/world beers, which of Ise Kadoya's export offerings would you add to your line-up?

This is the question faced by my stepmother and father. She runs the wine shop full time, while my father helps out when he's not occupied by his main job.

On his recent trip to Japan, I took my dad to Ise Kadoya's Biyagura and the Great Japan Beer Festival in Osaka. All of that drinking, we decided, was marketing research.

Right.

But really, my dad e-mailed this morning asking which Ise Kadoya beer they should stock. Not an easy question.

Here is the lineup available from their U.S. distributor, Shleton Brothers:

Triple Hop Ale
Presently on tap at Biyagura, this seasonal is very nice. Oregon craft beer types tend to go for the hoppy brews, and the "triple" label might attract curious consumers.

Brown Ale
As a regular tap at Biyagura, the Brown Ale has become one of my favorites from Ise Kadoya. It would serve as a fine representative of Ise Kadoya's quality, but does it lack a certain flash?

Genmai Ale
Another seasonal recently on tap at Biyagura, the Genmai Ale is a unique offering. Probably a good one to have on stock for a store boasting a huge beer selection, but not a must-have for a wine shop expanding to craft/world beer.

IPA
Oregonains love their IPA. And college students, be they hop-heads or not, like the higher alcohol content. Splash the 7 percent on promotional literature and perhaps some recently anointed legal drinkers will be drawn in. Plus, it's a tasty brew (although I have not had a sip for months upon months).

Pale Ale
This is another very nice regular offering from Ise Kadoya. I tend toward the Brown in a head-to-head but the Pale can be a very nice somewhat lighter experience.

Scotch Ale
Never tried this or seen it. Anyone?

Stout
Another regular offering, the Stout is pretty tasty. But there's no way it could gain a following in the land of Deschutes Black Butte Porter.

So after all that, I'm still torn between the IPA and the Brown Ale, with the Triple Hop in the mix for good measure. Where do you stand? Help stock the shelves with the right choice!

Drink the culture

My father's visit to Japan has already included a lot of drinking. Here's a rundown:

Monday: Beer, wine and nihonshu with a colleague
Tuesday: Beer (not craft beer) with friends
Wednesday: Ise Kadoya's nomihoudai

So today, Thursday, we're taking it easy. We've decided not to drink. But that plan might change, as I collected a few beers as birthday presents and they're right there in the fridge.

But I could let those fridge beers linger there a little longer and re-charge, since the Great Japan Beer Festival in Osaka is just around the corner. My father and I, along with a friend, are hitting up the festival on Sunday. If anyone out there is going to be around, leave a comment and perhaps our paths will cross amid the taps.

Price Check

I just called and confirmed our (large looking) group reservation for the Ise Kadoya nomihoudai next week, and learned that they've upped the one-hour price to 1,500 yen. Still a very good deal, and it also appears that a second hour is still only 900 yen. I'll try to confirm that next week when I slide into hour two with a hour-drunk-confidence that I'll be fine at work on Thursday.

So to be clear, it's 1,500 yen for one hour of unlimited drinking, choosing from Ise Kadoya's four main offerings, plus a rotating roster of guest beers from around Japan. Can't beat this deal.

Ise Kadoya's nomihoudai night

If it seems like I write about Ise Kadoya a lot -- more than any other topic so far -- that's because their brewpub is a one minute walk from my front door.

This company represents my first contact with Japanese craft beer. And thankfully, twice a month, they bring in guest beers that share space on a special all-you-can-drink menu.

First, to appease wary locals afraid to try new things, the menu always features Suntory's The Premium Malts and an Ebisu. Other staples are Ise Kadoya's four main brews: Shinto Beer, Brown Ale, Stout, and Pale Ale. Occasionally, as with last night, one spot is given to an Ise Kadoya seasonal. This month it has been their Imperial Wheat Ale, which is a bit too light and sweet for my taste.

That leaves three slots for guest beers.

I usually start with a glass of the most suspicious entry. Last night this was a Grapefruit Ale from Chiba's Harvest Moon. Nothing to sing about here. The tasting notes point out that it is "easy to drink," code for "beer for people who don't like beer." Let's move along.

Next, from what the sheet lists as a company called Preston Ale, came a very nice pale ale. While good, it didn't stand up to a side-by-side battle with Ise Kadoya's new pale ale, which had a fuller flavor and more bitterness.

The third guest beer did not disappoint. We were able to gleam that it came from Nagano, but we couldn't read the kanji listing the company name. I asked at the bar, and upon hearing Shiga Kogen I was excited. The entry was their Wheat Ale, which we decided was smooth and bitter. Listed as an American style ale, it brought back feelings of nostalgia for the taps back in Portland.

And with that, the special beer menu is complete. With any remaining nomihoudai time, you can head back to the bar to grab a glass or two of your favorites. I had a Shiga Kogen Wheat Ale and an Ise Kadoya (new) Pale Ale to round out the evening.

A month will pass before the next round of Ise Kadoya events. If you ever find yourself in Ise on the second or third Wednesday of any given month, hit me up -- or simply show up at Biyagura -- and let's have a few drinks.

Cloudy Recollection

Rainy season has begun, announced here in Mie by a steady cloud cover since Sunday and then confirmed by the official, seemingly unnecessary, declaration by the government weather bureau.

I'm sure some brewers have already thought of the idea of a "Rainy Season Ale" or something along those lines, but regardless of names, the muggy, wet weeks to come will certainly be aided by a few good beers.

On Wednesday, at Ise Kadoya's nomihoudai night, I sampled a few beers from around Japan. Unfortunately I sampled a few too many and left without the menu which has details about the guest beers. But I do recall that there was a decent brown ale from Tochigi on the guest list.

The event returns this week, but I am not sure now if I will make it. If I do I will shoot for a more documentary approach (in contrast to last week's marathon two-hour get-fuzzy-based approach).

Meanwhile, the next several weeks will see trips to Kyoto/Osaka and perhaps even Tokyo. I hope to include some beer stops while traveling around and will include any findings here. Recommendations are welcome, but I'll also surely tap the Beer in Japan iPhone app.

In the last several months, I have hit the bars a bit too much and I have been feeling it in the wallet. I am officially going on a bar hiatus, with and important exception: bars serving craft beer are acceptable. It's a mixed blessing that such bars are hard to come by down here in rural Mie. But hopefully with some savings recouped from taking it easy on the regular stuff, I can travel and try out some good stuff.

More to come, hopefully this weekend, as I aim for my first trip out of Mie since April.

Fighting for the good stuff

The 20-something bar-family daughter was driving us to a mutual friend's house for a party when the subject of craft beer came up.

She had picked me up in the parking lot of Ise Kadoya's brewpub, Biyagura, where I had just bought two bottles of their limited release Common Beer to take to the party.

After hearing what I had bought, she immediately asked if I had ever tried locally-made beer.

"Well, yes, every time we go for the all-you-can-drink at Biyagura, it's local beer made by Ise Kadoya and other brewers."

Local beer, she surmised, is "mazui," Japanese for gross or bad-tasting.

Disturbed, I tried to explain that among the many kinds of beers made by hundreds of local breweries all over Japan, of course there were hits and misses. Most of Ise Kadoya's stuff, I said, was actually pretty good. And there is good stuff all over the country.

It didn't register. She likes Asahi Super Dry. That's beer. The local stuff, ji-beer, doesn't rate.

Her feelings on craft beer are frighteningly common here in Japan. And it's that prevailing thought-process that has inspired me to start this blog.

Further inspiration goes to the guys from Good Beer and Country Boys. When I found that blog upon arriving in Japan, I started to get excited about local beer and made it my mission to scout for the good stuff whenever I was traveling. I am not trying to copy what they were/are doing (now from back in the states), but the underlying theme is the same.

That is: I want to find and highlight good beer here in Japan, telling the stories of those who make it, enjoy it and promote it. Meanwhile, I want to celebrate the culture and lifestyle of good beer here and around the world.

I face certain limitations, be it imperfect Japanese and a paltry travel budget. But when I do get out and about, I will be on the hunt for ji-beer. Meanwhile, from home here in Mie, I will do what I can ... like converting skeptical locals who think the good stuff is bad.