Tag: Food Pairing
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Tenth Beer of Christmas, Kizakura Brewery, Kyoto Beer, Golden Ale

As we come to the end of the twelve beers of Christmas we return to the Kizakura Brewery. Like many beer breweries in Japan Kizakura has its foundation as a sake brewery. This beer is even more unique as it has been brewed with koji mold spores that are usually used to brew sake. Koji…
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Ninth Beer of Christmas, Echigo Brewery, Niigata Koshihikari

Today’s beer is made by the Echigo Brewery that I highlighted Flying IPA earlier in the beers of Christmas. This lager is a repackaging of the brewery’s regular line up beer Niigata Koshihikari. The art work on the can highlights the characters or mascots of the towns in Niigata. In the Japanese culture there is…
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Eighth Day of Christmas, Baren Brewery, Coral Island Sunset Lager

The Eighth Day of Christmas Beer celebrates the 10 year anniversary as Friendship Cities of Morioka and Uruma. The Baren Brewery is located in Iwate Prefecture where Morioka City is located. If Japan is viewed as a Dragon with Hokkaido being the head facing into the Pacific, Morioka is located in the dragon’s neck. Uruma…
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Fifth Day of Christmas, Kizakura Brewery, Kyoto Beer, Brown Ale.

Kizakura Brewery takes its name from a cherry tree variety that blooms later than others and has a yellow flower. This is different from other cherry blossoms which bloom white or light pink in the spring. Kizakura Brewery produces several lines of beverages. These are Lucky Brew, Kizakura Sake, Yuzu High-Ball, and Kyoto Beer. In…
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Fourth Day of Christmas, Karuizawa Brewery, The Karuizawa Beer, Clear

The Karuizawa Brewery takes its name from Karuizawa Japan. This mountainous region in Nagano Prefecture has long been a summer retreat area for the Japanese to escape the summer heat. Situated at the base of Mount Asame the cool temperatures have welcomed those that are trying to escape the summer heat. In 2011 the brewery…
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First Day of Christmas, Helios Brewery, Sheequarsar White Ale

The first beer of Christmas starts here in Okinawa Japan. The Southern most province of Japan. In 1961 when Okinawa was still a Military Protectorate following the Second World War, Tadashi Matsuda started the the Helios Distillery. Originally he sought to “Produce a Product Made of the Finest Locally Grown Ingredients”. This product was initially…
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Star Wars Day; Kirishima Beer, Stout, Kirishima Shuzo Co.

This week is Golden Week in Japan. This is a series of holidays that all fall within a weeks time. They are Showa Day, Constitutional Memorial Day, Greenery Day, and Children’s Day. Because of the close proximity of these holidays this is the big travel and holiday time for many in the country. Today, May…
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Helios Brewery, Santa Beer, Christmas Beer, 7% ABV

As spring approaches here in Japan cleaning our house has taken center stage as we say goodbye to winter. As I was cleaning the refrigerator I found a beer hiding in the back behind the well expired left overs that were starting to take on the features of a misguided science experiment. During Christmas I…
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Chapter 5: Palate Trips from Beer Pairing; The Essential Guide from the Pairing Pros, Julia Herz and Gwen Conley

Since the beginning of the year I have read and written reviews for about a dozen beer books. In many of these books are recipes and exercises the reader can utilize to reinforce lessons taught in the book. Last week I wrote a review of Beer Parings by Julia Herz and Gwen Conley, now I…
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Beer & Book Review: Beer Pairing – The Essential Guide From the Pairing Pros, Julia Herz and Gwen Conley, 2015

At the beginning of the year I wrote a series of post on the Twelve Beers of Christmas. In that series I provided a food pairing for twelve beers of each day of Christmas. Several people have asked my how I decided what to pair with the beers. Some of these pairings I have long…
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Beer & Book Review: The Great Beers of Belgium – The new guide to Belgian beer culture, Michael Jackson, 1991, 1992, 1994, 1995, 1998, 2008

It is rare for two celebrities to share the exact same name. But two men found their way to top of their profession. Sadly both men have passed away but the legacy they have left in music and beer/whisky world are still felt today. These two men share little in common other than the name…
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Beer & Book Review: Ancient Brews, Patrick E. McGovern, 2017

I have read many descriptions of Patrick McGovern. The one that I enjoy the most is of a beer version of Indiana Jones. While the theatrical imagery is great to have, I understand that Patrick McGovern is less leather jacket, fedora, and bullwhip and more scientific procedures to determine what is in the ancient vase.…
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Twelve Drummers Drumming. Fukizakura Heights Beer, Rauch

Traditionally the Yule log was burned through the Christmas season. It seems only fitting that we end with this holiday tradition. On the last day of Christmas the Yule log would be completely burnt and this season would come to an end. To mark this occasion we finish with a distinctly unique style of beer. …