A new beer from St. Bernardus: Tokyo

No beer is out of my price range.

If this was a new style called “Japanese IPA” I would quit beer.

 

Well, it would be a different style, wouldn't it, since the sea voyage would be shorter!

 

Wait is that a thing now?

 

Well damn, guess I have to now huh?

Ha yes, it applies perfectly. Love that movie.

 

People getting upset about new beer subgenres is my favorite thing about BA.

 

33cl is close enough to 11.2oz to be within tolerances.

When I was in Japan a year ago, had what would best be described as an old school east coast IPA with sansho ("Japanese pepper", related to Szechuan pepper). It was dope.

Suggested parameters for Japanese IPA: medium/heavy malt backbone initially, but lightened by rice in the finish and mouthfeel, citrus/floral/spicy hops, accentuated by use of sansho.

 

Would love to try that!

 

What I was pointing out were retailers listing 11.2oz bottles as 12oz

 

I really and truly couldn't tell you. Didn't ask too many questions, we were just enjoying the evening. Basically, my sister sent us off the train with some directions to get to the Beer Belly tasting room and how to get back to her house right after we returned to Osaka after a long tasting at the Yamazaki distillery, so the evening was quite a blur. I recall our bartender being taken aback when I said that in America, the deer at Nara would be shot and eaten. Stuff at Beer Belly was good, it tasted like American craft beer 20-25 years ago, though. We spent the rest of the evening exploring the shotenguy (not sure how to spell it) having snacks here and there. Resulted in us having the most disappointed tacos ever, as well as the Ol' Lady having her worst margarita ever. Oysters and crabs were amazing, though.

We made it back to my sisters house without help.

 

Gotta say, Mexican food would not be my go to in japan

 

Yeah. I’d have to chalk that one up to user error. Though I did have an excellent burger in Harajuku.

 

Wanted to try it out. First thing that should have tipped me off was that the dude that served us had visible tattoos and bleached hair. When he told us that he didn't have an English menu, I was tipsy enough to ask for a Spanish menu (I'm not that fluent in Spanish, but I've been in the kitchen long enough that I can order off a menu written in Spanish). They didn't have that either. Either way, I was sorta drunk and was dead set on trying out what the tacos in Japan could be like. They were salty, there wasn't the complexity of flavor you'd expect, but the tortilla itself was pretty good.

My Japanese brother-in-law says that they were likely the kids of rich folks supporting their whims after they studied in California or Texas. Makes sense.

 

This sentiment I can fully endorse!

 

Can confirm that Mexican food in Japan is a no-go.

 

Nah it’s cool, there’s BAs that are here and don’t drink at all sometimes.

I do love whiskey though.

I’m not that upset by it. There’s other things that are WAY more entertaining though. Like debates over kids in breweries, debates over “what’s beer?” in reference to people saying New England IPAs aren’t real beer...etc.

Yup. Just like how I wouldn’t get a West Coast IPA in New England.