Hokkaido Craft Beer

I don't know why but Hokkaido craft beer is widely available around Japan. I guess it is the idea of Hokkaido as Japan's source of fresh & healthy food, especially Western food. 

This means many department stores have Hokkaido Fairs as do supermarkets. These events often include craft beer. This trend makes it fairly easy to stumble across small breweries from Hokkaido while going out and about shopping.

In this post I'll look at two of these breweries: Otaru Winery & Ishikari Banya.

First let's look at a few beers from Ishikari Banya which is located in a rural part of Hokkaido.

Ishikari Banya Gold Lager 5%

A brilliantly clear deep gold with a dense white head. The aroma is earthy green hop bitterness on a light bready Pilsner malt body - not my thing too earthy grolsch like.

Sharply carbonated on a med-light body with a crisp dry finish. The taste is much nicer than the aroma. Semi-sweet, a bit floral and quite bready. 

Overall, pretty good & it apparently won some prize in 2008 in the Pilsner category.

Ishikari Banya Red Ale 5%

This poured a surprisingly deep brown with a somewhat molasses looking color. It's got a rich malt forward aroma, plums/prunes, caramel fudge and some nuttiness.

Medium-light bodied with a scratchy carbonation. The taste is initially caramel with a bit of a hop bite, then fudge, sugar and a lingering brown sugar biscuit, cookie, molasses and some astringency. It's alright but the lager was nicer.

Otaru Winery is located in the picturesque town of Otaru about 30 minutes by train and it is also home to the beautiful canal house that is home to Otaru Beer that brew many nice quality german style beers. 

Weizen 5% 

A pale opaque gold with a semi-soapy head and a sweet sulfury eggy-cloves aroma. The taste is bready, candyish, cloves with a prickly carbonation. The aroma underwhelms but the taste satisfies.

Helles 5%

Served in my footed Pilsner glass it pours a nice looking light gold with a fizzy fast-dissipating white head of foam. The aroma is very bready & sweet with a flour like character to it. Light body with a bright crisp finish. The taste is really good - bready light malts, herbal noble hops. An amazingly clean tasting beer with clearly defined flavors. For a beer marked down to 360¥ where I wasn't expecting much it was a pleasant surprise.