Archive for the 'Food' Category

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Beer Is Good-Sam Adams Blueberry Hill Lager

Published on July 8, 2014 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Another selection from the summer variety pack. Summer is fruity beer time? Anyway, pours a clopudy amber with medium light head. Blueberry aroma immediately detectable upon opening bottle. The berry is mostly an aroma thing, it perhaps lends a little sweet, but there is also a bit of bitter. This one is more beerlike than the previous Porch Rocker, but still pretty light on any malt and grain flavors. Medium mouthfeel. I can’t say I’m a big fan, it’s not like a soda that packs punch that the Porch Rocker is, but doesn’t make it as a good beer either. It’s not horrible.

2 out of 4 blue monkeys.

Beer Is Good – Samuel Adams Porch Rocker

Published on July 7, 2014 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

From their current summer variety pack, this is a flavored beer. A style some might be familiar as a shandy, a combo of lemonade and beer. Pours with moderately small head, a bright clear yellow. Definite lemon aroma, not a whole lot of much else. Not overwhelmingly sweet, but enough to mask most of any bitterness, only a touch of that remains. There’s also not a whole lot of beer flavor to be found, if you try really hard you can taste some grain in the aftertaste. Mouthfeel is light. It’s not objectionable, but it’s like a malt beverage, dare I say it, Zima? At 4.5% ABV it’s about the same as a beer on the lower end, so it can get some buzz going since its so easy drinking.

If you’re looking for something like those hard ciders or lemonades, then this is fine, but as a beer I don’t know how to rate this. 2 out of 4 pop beer monekys.

Beer Is Good – Goose Island Endless IPA

Published on May 25, 2014 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

A limited release item from Goose Island, I bought it with some trepidation as its labeled in IPA, not my favorite type. It’s also labled a “session ale”  and “easy drinking”. We shall see about that! Anyway, pours a clear bright amber with a medium strong head. Strong hop aroma with citrus note that carries through to the flavor.  The flavors clear pretty fast leaving the astringent bitter. Thankfully it avoids the skunkyness  that can afflict some hop heavy brews. I’ve been told that unfortunate flavor is the result of hop compound exposure to UV light. Medium light mouthfeel kept light by carbonation. I’m not sure if I could session this beer solo, it needs some accompanying food to offset the bitter, but it is a pleasant beer.

I would say it just makes 3 out 4 advantageous monkeys.

Beer Is Good – Hitachino 2014 Comemorative Ale

Published on May 16, 2014 in Food and Review by taro. Closed

Took a dangerous stop at Liquor Collection and picked up a bunch of beers as an offering to the machinist who made my bike rack rods, more on that later. Got some stuff for myself too. This here pours a cloudy medium dark amber with small head. The spicy aroma is detectable the moment you pop the cap. Oddly the corriander and spice don’t hit as strong as say Hoegarten. I’m having a hard time describing this beer. There’s a fair astringent bitter that carries throughout the flavor, the spices give it a warm feel and come out at the finish. The mouthfeel is fairly heavy. This is not a session beer but one to be savored. It also packs a bit more punch at 8% ABV. The aroma is the hard to describe part, the spices are clearly there, but it is hard to pick out any single one. This is quite an interesting one, would have been more appropriate during winter holiday season I suppose.

4 out 4 spicy monkeys.

Edible Briefs – Nestle Japan Otona no Amasa Kit Kat

Published on April 27, 2014 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

Nestle Japan makes innumerable regional variations of the Kit Kat chocolate-covered biscuit candy, usually borrowing the flavor of the coating from the local specialty food, whether that be strawberry, green tea, melon, wasabi, sweet potato, or even soy sauce! While killing time at the airport before my return flight, I saw some boring flavors that I’ve had before or are available at Don Quijote on Kaheka, then I saw these. From the get-go, the katakana “otona” for “adult” caught my eye. Adult? What, is it like naughty or something? I couldn’t read the kanji, though it seemed vaguely familiar. The package was dark, and the images of the candy seemed darker than the usual milk chocolate, so I figured what they meant by “adult” was these were a less-sweet dark chocolate version. I threw them in my Kifaru after buying them and forgot about them until a couple days ago. Continue reading ‘Edible Briefs – Nestle Japan Otona no Amasa Kit Kat’

Edible Briefs – Gyu-tan Sumiyaki Kikyu

Published on April 27, 2014 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

Found a new place for gyu-tan in Sapporo, actually in a very convenient location. If you know where the Mexican restaurant in the JR Sapporo-eki Paseo B1 arcade is, it’s North of that in the newly remodeled area. I got the kakuni-don teishoku (1500-yen), which of course had a donburi topped with kakuni (soy-sauce-braised pork belly), a salad, tail soup (clear oxtail soup with julienned green onions), and a side of charbroiled gyu-tan. In all honesty, the kakuni was not very good. I really should have just gotten the gyu-tan-don (1300-yen). The gyu-tan, tsukemono, salad and tail soup were all very good. There was an evil nuka-zuke togarashi (pickled hot pepper) that packed a pretty good burn that was nestled amongst the pickles. I was a little surprised that it wasn’t that busy, but I was there at 13:30, so I probably just missed the lunch crowd. Service was fast and competent. Ingredient quality was very good. There’s no English menu, but pointing works. Continue reading ‘Edible Briefs – Gyu-tan Sumiyaki Kikyu’

Beer is Good – Grand Kirin

Published on April 27, 2014 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

Kirin is generally the last of the major Japanese commercial beer manufacturers on my list, so you can guess how desperate or bored I was to pick this one up. I’ve had several of the Kirin premium line bottled beers before, and in general these are distinct in flavor profile from the standard Kirin Ichiban Shibori, but they still fall short of impressing me. The Grand Kirin is no exception. The label calls out, “rich malt and dip hop,” but this is not mirrored anywhere on the label in Nihongo in any writing system. I find this odd. There was another similar bottle labeled, “aroma hop,” or something, so the Japanese consumer has to differentiate the two (or possibly more) of the Kirin premium products by the English or label color? Continue reading ‘Beer is Good – Grand Kirin’

Beer is Good – Asahi The Master Pilsner

Published on April 27, 2014 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

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’

Beer is Good – Noboribetsu Beer Onidensetsu Kin’oni Pale Ale

Published on April 27, 2014 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

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’

Beer is Good – Moretti La Rossa

Published on April 27, 2014 in Culture, Food, Review and Travel by risu. Closed

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’