I recently realized I hadn't published anything on here since 2016, life got in the way as I had a baby girl and so had little free time to devote to blogging.
A few weeks ago, I was able to visit Okayama Prefecture and I was impressed by the increased availability of craft beer there and Doppo Breweries overall rise in quality.
One of my best finds was that in the picturesque town of Kurashiki there is now a craft beer speciality restaurant/bottle shop that focuses on beer from Okayama Prefecture.
The name of the shop is Kurashiki Kura Beer Tei and that is where I saw bottles from a brewey I'd never heard of. If you want you can read my review of that place on ratebeer here. The prices for these 500ml bottles to go were about 650 yen including tax.
Once I got home, I tried to dig up more information on the brewery. I discovered they're locate in a pretty little valley near Bizen (of pottery fame) Okayama. The castle on the label is actually a representation of the brewpub/italian restaurant. The closest station to the brewpub is Yoshinaga but it looks like it is in the middle of nowhere and tough to get to without a car. If you want more information you can find it on their website or this website will show you photos of the castle like exterior.
They seem to make two beers a 4% Day beer and an 8% Night beer.
Dream or Real Door Night
The 8% Dream or Real Door Night was a dark Japanese ale that poured a deep mahogany brown with an impressively thick tan head.
The aroma was fruity berries with a chocolate fudge component that smelled pretty decent.
In the mouth I felt it was quite full bodied with a sharp finish. The taste was earthy berries and chocolate but also a somewhat harsh acidic almost metallic character. I wouldn’t say it was obviously off but it wasn’t really completely right. That finish gave me gas... burp.
However, while gassy the beer did grow on me and it was by no means a drainpour. Think of it like a semi-successful homebrew in quality.
Dream or Real Door Day 4%
It poured an opaque amber orange brown with a foamy tan head. A good looking beer for a sunny afternoon.
The aroma was earthy dank and kind of skunky actually. Maybe brewed by someone who missed skunky Grolsch or Heineken.
Light bodied, sharply carbonated and it had a dry finish. The taste was also fairly homebrew like featuring notes of spice and fruit but it also had a herbal earthy edge.
Overall, I though it wasn't bad and I did get the impression it’d pair well with a spaghetti bolognese. A touch better than the Night version.
