Kyoto Craft Beer Festival 2013

Yesterday, Saturday May 11th, was the Kyoto Craft Beer Festival 2013.  This was I think the 4th year the festival was held. It started in 2009 with a small event in Shinpuhkan in the heart of downtown Kyoto which was alot of fun. The following year they moved it to the shopping arcade on Sanjo street and it has been there ever since. A change that took place this year was instead of being on a Sunday from 12-6pm it was moved to Saturday and started and ended later from 2-8pm which is a MUCH better idea.



I think this is why this year's festival seemed much busier than last year's. People are much more likely to go out and drink late on a Saturday afternoon/evening rather than in the middle of a Sunday afternoon. There also seemed to be many more shops stalls selling snacks which was nice!








Overall, it was a great event with a good crowd even on a rainy day. This did lead to line-ups sometimes at some breweries and a few beers I wanted to try were sold out by the time I got there(Three Rascals Golden Ale from Outsider & Kyoto Machiya's Event Beer). I did hear from a few people that the original glasses for the event sold out incredibly quickly, by 2:30pm they were gone even though the event only started at 2pm! I guess they should make more glasses next year and possibly set up more restrooms as the one in the park often had a long line snaking out the door.

My stand out beers were Daisen G's Imperial Stout & Grand Saison as well as Baird's really nice Coffee Stout which I heard was also a big hit at the Copenhagen Beer Celebration. Nothing I tried was really that bad, at worst they were average so I think that means the Japanese craft beer industry is on the right track. Now all they need to do is learn to be a bit more consistent. 

I did have a great time running into old friends, drinking with my homebrewing club members & meeting tons of new people. I am looking forward to next year's event!