I’ve seen this a few times at the supermarket, but have always passed it up because it was an Asahi. With no current varietals from Sapporo/Yebisu or Suntory, I picked one up. Like Asahi’s Super Dry lager, this pilsen doesn’t have any objectionable traits. The pour reveals a slightly deeper color than a standard Japanese lager, hinting at a more intensely flavored decoction, but the head is the expected transient film. On first taste, there is the dry bubbliness across the tongue that Asahi prides themselves on, and as expected the malt flavor is especially rich and is quickly followed up by a strong bitter. Japanese beers are formulated to go with food, and this is no exception: It almost demands an accompaniment! It went very well with my spicy char-siu don. This is a great beer and is on approximately even standing with the Suntory Malts Premium Pilsner. It would be interesting to do a head-to-head with the two! Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Asahi The Master Pilsner’
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While in Noboribetsu, I happened upon a new varietal from Noboribetsu Beer. I’ve had their Ao-oni pilsnener (gold can) and Aka-oni red ale (red can), but this green-labeled glass bottle was a first. Being in bottles instead of cans, I was not taking the chance of bringing any back on the plane, so I just got enough for my immediate use. Named the Kin’oni (gold demon) Pale Ale, it is described on the label as an “American type pale ale”. Cracking the cap, there was only a light hiss of pressure. Since Nobiribetsu Beer’s products are all non-pasteurized bottle/can conditioned craft beers, this worried me a little. These worries were short lived. After pouring the deep amber beer and taking the first taste, my fears were gone. The mouthfeel was the heaviest amongst their other offerings, with a rich caramel malt flavor backed up with a strong hopping. The hops used were both bitter and flowery, giving the ale an overall fruity flavor and aroma. They weren’t being timid with this one! The carbonation level was low. This beer pairs well with salty foods or red meat where the sweetness of the hopping stands up to heavier, savory food flavors, and the bitter finish refreshes the palate, but this beer truly shines when enjoyed unaccompanied. Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Noboribetsu Beer Onidensetsu Kin’oni Pale Ale’
This is one of the two easily available Moretti products on the worldwide market. I’ve seen it referred to as “Moretti Dark” at Verbano, but a more apt description for this doppio (double) would be “Moretti Strong” with its higher alcohol content and robust flavor. The decoction was strong and the hopping was more sweet than bitter. The initial taste was that sweet that faded into an understated malt, then a slight astringency in the fade to the finish. This doppelbock wasn’t syrupy, but it did have a thicker mouthfeel than the standard Moretti offering. The carbonation was low and head short-lived. The heavier, sweeter taste of this beer works well with veal and heavier marinara sauces, but doesn’t go that well with delicately flavored dishes like carpaccio or pasta or entrees with cream sauces. I’ll still choose a Peroni over either of the Moretti beers if given the choice. Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Moretti La Rossa’
This is another beer that I’ve seen a few times but never tried. I came across it again while trying to search for Kawaba using “Japanese weiss” as search terms. I shortlisted it for a taste test. All I needed was the chance to get one, and on the way back from Noboribetsu, I got the chance. The “cat beer” can is unmistakable. It does make one ponder who the intended market for this beer is. The same brewery also makes Yona Yona Ale and Tokyo Black beer. Neither of these sounded that intriguing, especially when I already had some special brews from Noboribetsu Beer already in my pack, so I just got the cat.
Now as to the brewery, the katakana on the can has them as “Yahou”, like as you’d call out from a mountaintop. The website listed on the can is the romaji “yohobrewing dot com”. When you go to the site, they use the romaji “Yo-ho”. Seriously? Do they not know themselves what their own company name is? Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Yoho Suiyoubi no Neko Belgian Ale’
The Coca Cola company has introduced a bottled Yerba Mate drink in the Japanese market. Sold as an unsweetened tea, there is no indication on the bottle that it contains caffeine, so you’re left to your own knowledge as to what Mate contains. The specific Yerba Mate they use is fairly mild: It is lightly smoked, so it doesn’t have the “green” taste of unsmoked leaves common in American health-food markets nor the strong smokiness of traditional Argentinian leaves. If not for the label, you might think you’re drinking a lighter houji-cha. I like it. The English, “Latin biorhythm Mate, Play! Eat! Drink Mate,” marketing text is a little weird though. Go figure – this is Japan!
When I saw the new taillights of the mid-cycle refresh of the Camaro, I thought it looked pretty good. Seeing it again though, it made me think that the car looked like a swollen Nissan Silvia S13.
(0)There’s “squirter overflow” on the Likelike. If you’ve driven on the H3, you know what a squirter is: They’re the drivers going 35 in the passing lane who you pass only to have them blast by you a mile later going 90, but you end up passing again at the bottom of the hill when they’re going under the limit again. Essentially, drivers who can’t properly control or understand their speed. Guess there are so many on H3, they’ve bled over to other trans-Ko’olau routes.
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Of course, since there was something happening in the sky at night, it was cloudy, then rainy at my house. The sky did clear enough for me get these lame pictures with my point-and-shoot. I didn’t feel ripped-off, but it was a lot less impressive than I imagined it would be. In the long shot, that’s Mars at the top of the frame, and some unknown star to the right of the moon. Continue reading ‘Gesshoku’
I’m lying head downslope in knee-deep powder looking up the underside of a leafless tree canopy, the sharp pain in my front leg beginning to dull with the onset of the adrenaline rush. I manage to get my board untangled from the ice-ball rock garden that I have wandered into and try to rub out the Charley Horse in my right quad. I know from the dullness this isn’t going to be a minor injury, so I focus on getting the board under me and traversing out of the sidecountry and onto a groomed course before I go shocky and black out in the worst-case-scenario. I am a little wobbly, but the leg doesn’t fold under the weight. I complete the drop into the little bowl I was S-turning down onto when I found the icy Linga of Death, crossing a little gulley and toe-siding out to the Echo course. After a little breather, I ride out to the base. Continue reading ‘Oh, Snap!’
Back from dealing with buffet sensou with yelling Chinese tourists in Noboribetsu. Figured going to a less-known property would be a safer bet against the throngs of foreign tourists, but apparently where we went was specifically marketing themselves toward the package foreign market. Onsen itself was not bad, though the scenery was lame, and the baths themselves set in the concrete industrial underside of the hotel. Had some good gyutan for lunch in a new place in the basement of JR Sapporo-eki, North of the Mexican restaurant. Dinner was at an unremarkable ramen-ya. Organic, but not all that good. If you like niboshi-based broth, you’ll like it, but if you lean more toward chicken bone or pork bone bases, you’ll find it painfully fishy. I guess I’m not too upset I forgot both my camera and phone in the rush to get dinner. It’s in Maruyama, around the corner from the second location that Bozu was in before he went under. The place screams, “former salaryman with a dream to open a ramen restaurant”. There was a centimeter or two of new snow in town, so that might be enough to get me motivated to catch the bus out to Kokusai tomorrow.