Craft Beer Japan iPhone app from the Japan Beer Times

Those following the Japan Beer Times in print, online, or on Twitter have probably heard about their new iPhone app, called "Craft Beer Japan," which is a bilingual guide to where to find craft beer across Japan. I'm not sure when exactly it hit the Apple Store, but I saw someone post about it and immediately installed in on my phone. 

My quick take is that it's a great platform that will continue updating as new information becomes available. If I visit a big city that I know has a few craft beer places, I know I can use this app to guide me. Further, bars can add their own specials to the app through a chalkboard-like feature. After a quick scan of Sapporo's entries, I saw the Beer Inn Mugishutei will waive their normal cover charge if you show the app. 

Meanwhile, we can expect additional features to be added as time goes by. Craft Beer Japan is certainly worth the few dollars it sells for. Check out the Japan Beer Times app page here. 

Beer in Korea

Two weeks ago, I downloaded an iPhone application for studying Hangul, the Korean writing system. Two hours ago, I downloaded Beer in Korea, the app for finding craft beer. The 10 minutes I spent browsing the beer app trumps the time spent on the Hangul app by roughly 9 minutes.

So maybe I won't be reading any Hangul, but if I can find the time, I might be trying an interesting beer.

My time in Korea will be so limited,, outside of perhaps one afternoon, that I have not been too worried about learning Korean. Multi-lingual signage, the help of friends and intuition should steer me just fine (I hope).

The trip revolves around a wedding ceremony for two friends who live in my little town in Mie. He is Japanese and runs a nice little bar in town (Premium Malts on tap; Corona, Sam Adams among bottled choices). She is Korean, and teaches her native tongue in a classroom adjacent to the bar.

They already tied the knot here in Japan, but in lieu of a formal ceremony, the bond was celebrated by a surprise party at the bar.

Now, the formal part comes in Korea. A few dozen friends of the couple from Japan are making the trip across the Sea of Japan (aka East Sea if you're Korean) to attend the wedding.

It marks my first trip to Korea, and aside from the wedding I am very much looking forward to limited exploring, eating and drinking.

And while my Hangul skills are certainly suspect, at least I have Beer in Korea to guide me as best it can.


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Practically speaking, although my trip comes next week, I can already endorse the Beer in Korea app. Even the background information in the app served as a nice primer about what I might encounter, and the frank descriptions make clear what bars to hit and which to miss. Whether or not I'll get to any of the listed bars on this trip is yet to be determined. But either way, I'm glad to have the app in the books.