Craft Beer Base's IPA Event

Last Wednesday Craft Beer Base near the Umeda Sky Building hosted an IPA event where they had tons of IPAs available on tap and in bottles at special prices(200 yen off if you were drinking at CBB). I planned on popping by to try the almost impossible to find in Japan Burton Baton from Dogfish Head early in the day before it ran out but as it was raining the whole time I never left!

I started off with a Citra Single Hop IPA (420 yen take out price) from De Molen as I wanted to compare it to the Mikkeller Citra Single Hop IPA. I preferred the De Molen one which seemed to have a fuller body. One thing that really blew me away with this beer was that the head of foam was so long lasting that it was still there by the time I finished my beer!




I was actually quite surprised when I got there as the place was pretty full for 1:30pm in the afternoon. Usually, when I go there during the day it is quite peaceful & quiet. This time there were a good dozen people drinking like crazy!

 Everyone was having a good time drinking IPAs so I ordered a Lagunitas Little Sumpin' Wild which I had been meaning to try for awhile. It had a funky piney aroma but a smooth spicy malt flavor followed by a spicy fruity bitterness. A very mellow IPA packing an 8.8% ABV.


 By this point I realized I couldn't keep going at the same pace as I was waiting to meet friends around 5pm I decided to slow down and grab a bite to eat. Thankfully, CBB had put a burger on their menu for the event. Actually, I have no idea why it isn't a standard part of their menu as it was fantastic! I would gladly pay 750 yen again to eat it, one of the best burgers I'd had in awhile. It really hit the spot~!







Seriously, what a great looking burger~!

By this time, the bar was getting busier and busier.




 

It was time for another beer. I decided to grab a Mikkeller Black IPA, Sort Gul. This was the first Black IPA I liked as here the malts came first. Usually, Black IPAs taste like normal IPAs but happen to be black. I think it is really tough to achieve a nice balance. I thought it was really good but to be honest it was probably not hoppy enough to properly evoke an IPA taste. I didn't mind as I enjoyed it.

Finally, my friends started to show up and we had a great time catching up and talking about our hobby: beer!

 The party was getting in full effect!

The conversation was flowing and it was time for another beer. I decided to try the Green Flash West Coast IPA as I had heard good things and it lived up to the hype as a very solid IPA.

 I then followed it up with a California Sunshine IPA and my first Scuttlebutt beer the Gale Force IPA!

 All in all it was a fantastic event! Now all I need to do is persuade Ai to add the burger to CBB's regular menu...

Tingara Kyoto's Ichijoji Brewery's Pub

 Hey everyone, last Thursday I had business up in northern Kyoto so I decided to stop in for lunch at the very nice Tingara brewpub! It is run by Kyoto's Ichijoji Brewery who specialize in fruit beers and always seem to be trying new things. Their small brewery is in the same building right next door. It's a great place that focuses on okinawan food and of course great beer!



 

 They have a great lunch set, 800 yen gets you a nice meal. 1000 yen gets you the meal plus a 240ml beer of your choice from the 4 taps on offer. I always go for the 1500 yen lunch set with a tasting set of all 4 beers! You can also order the tasting set on it's own for 800 yen, each beer is about 115ml in the set.

As you can see it is a really nice looking place. The food is pretty good too. Here are some lunches I had there.

 1500 set lunch featuring an old ale, pumpkin ale,  peach ale & ginger ale. I really loved their pumpkin ale, not pumpkin pie just nice rich pumpkin flavor!

 1500 yen set lunch of a fish curry-delicious!

My tasting set featuring a coffee stout, blonde ale, ginger ale & melon ale.

 As you can see the coffee stout was a collaboration with green eyes coffee. I am not a coffee drinker but that stout really grew on me!









All in all a great brewpub in Kyoto but I may be biased as Ichijoji Brewery is my favorite local brewery. When I visited this week, I realized that the ceiling has been made to have the same curve of a starry night as Ichijoji's logo, cool!

If you need directions in English check out ratebeer's page on this brewpub here. You can also see more photos and my review in my facebook album for Tingara.

Tuesday Tasting : Mikkeller's Orange Yuzu Glad I said Porter

Every Tuesday I review a new beer for my page on facebook and have decided to post that on my blog too.  This week I decided to try Mikkeller's Orange Yuzu Glad I said Porter.

It was a  bottle from Asahiya. It poured a nice dark brown with a brownish-white head of quickly dissipating foam. Right off the bat the aroma was one of citrus  over a malty coffee base. With the first sip there was a sweet-tangy yuzu/citrus taste followed by a roast coffee sweet porter base. It was fantastic with a mikan (tangerine) which brought out the citrus flavor. It was even better with some chocolate which made some smokey flavors come out which was very nice. I also tried it with this odd Meiji Orange Bitter & Chili Pepper Choco Sticks. This was the worst of the three pairings where the flavor was way too strong and overpowered the beer, it did highlight the smokiness & gave it a bit of a bacony flavor but for the most part the beer was buried by it. It went very well with mikans & chocolate though. All in all an excellent beer, well-balanced but with hidden depths. Definitely worth trying again. 4 out of 5.