Another of Brew Dog’s brews targeted at the young and rebellious lovers of good beer.
BrewDog Punk IPA
When I see a bright blue can of beer with a logo design using a font that could as well be from VTKS lineup, furthermore called “punk”, I just feel this urge to give it a try.
Craft beer in Ikebukuro
Saturday night. The party town of Ikebukuro. The craft beer and sake bar called 万事快調 (“all’s well”). Of course I forgot to take any pictures, so I just used the one from Tabelog.
Ginga Kogen pale ale
It’s Sunday. No, it doesn’t matter. I just needed some first words, and somehow it feels that Ginga Kogen’s pale ale is a good pick for a lazy Sunday evening.
Echigo Red Ale
I picked up a can of the Red Ale by the Japanese craft brewery Echigo. Echigo is the old name for the area that is currently Niigata prefecture, where the brewery is based.
Whitstable Bay
The last of the Shepherd Neame beers on shelf at the nearby supermarket was the organic ale named Whistable Bay. I don’t know if it’s because of the “organic” or not, but it’s a really (taste-wise) smooth and quiet beer. Don’t get me wrong, it’s full-bodied, but not in a heavy way, so it’s quite refreshing. Even I recognize a subtle grapefruit-ish aroma from the hops in it. It somehow reminds me of classic all-butter shortbread.
The best part of this all, which I only noticed today, is that these imported ales in 500ml bottles are only 3 yen more expensive than the 300ml can Japanese beers. I think you can guess which am I going to pick.
Mainbrace IPA
Now I get it why people are all going on about IPA this, IPA that. (Although I see people going “it’s not even a proper IPA” in the reviews all around, I don’t have any other point of reference…) It’s pretty damn good indeed. It stays an ale while having all the hops and bitterness that I like in beers. It was a bit surprising that I could taste the alcohol in it, which I usually can’t in good beers. It has what I missed from the other two Shepherd Neame I tried the past days: a lingering aftertaste. Out of the three so far, this is one I definitely would buy again if I got a chance.
1698
Tonight I opened another Shepherd Neame beer, a Kentish strong ale called 1698. Even if I’m not a big fan of pale ales, this one made me go “yumm”. It’s sweet and smooth, and reminds me of the ciders I had in England. I was a bit surprised when despite its entirely different character I discovered some of the beer-ish tones I was familiar with. To be honest, because of its well-rounded caramel sweetness, it feels like a crossover between a pale ale and a stout.
But here I am again trying to sound smarter and more knowledgeable about beers than I am, so you’d be better off with some pros’ reviews instead.
Beer beer
For a change I’m not talking about music, but about the actual beverage. I ran out of food so today after I got out of the studio I went shopping to my usual supermarket “nearby”. (Reminds me, this was the last day of my tutorial month, I’m gonna get assigned to a studio finally next Wednesday.) As I was about to pick up my usual six-pack of Sapporo Black Label, I noticed a few interesting-looking bottles nearby.
