Shiga Kogen Brewery - Yama Bushi, Champagne looking bottle.

 
Name:Yama Bushi.

Brewery: Shiga Kogen Brewery.

Style: Inspired by Belgian White.

Purchased at: Aeon Supermarket.

Price: ¥1100

Taste: 9.5/10

Alcohol Level: 6%

Music: I absolutely can't get enough of Demon Bitch - Hellfriends.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n03AEI2NiKM

Snack: Got some Dill Pickle flavoured chips from a Seiyu. Jeez they were good. Didn't get a chance to take a picture because I ate them all in the car on the drive home.

Website: http://www.tamamura-honten.co.jp/

Experience:

Last Friday I decided to celebrate being alive with this incredibly fancy looking beer from the Shiga Kogen Brewery. I haven't reviewed any of their beers yet because I am saving them, since they are so readily available here, but I should really just get around to doing it.

As you can see this beer came in a champagne bottle. The cap was hard to get off, for some reason my bottle opener kept slipping. Once I finally got the damn thing opened, boy was the beer delicious. I think it's a Belgian White beer. The back label says it is inspired by Belgian beer. This beer really reminded me of the taste of some beers I had at the Snow Monkey Beer Festival. Since this is one of the breweries that helped run the event, maybe I tried it already without realising it. It was light, fizzy and fruity, almost like a soft drink. Completely delicious and refreshing.

The beer's name is Yama Bushi. I looked this up in a dictionary and it said it meant ''Mountain Priest''. Not 100% sure that is correct. Google translate also said ''hare'' and ''slut'' at one point so who the heck knows. There is a picture of a goblin on the label, so I reckon it has something to do with that. It might be a local sort of name or something. It also says on the label that it was made from home grown rice and hops. I got the impression that this brewery was a lot bigger than it actually appears to be, perhaps they just have good distribution around Nagano. Now that I think about it I haven't really seen any of their beers outside of Nagano.

The next day I decided it was time to check out the brewery itself, the Shiga Kogen Brewery that is. To my disapointment, it turned out to be pretty small and I don't think they offered tours. This brewery spawned out of a much older sake brewery that has been around for a few hundred years. Sake seems to be waning in popularity amongst younger people (can't blame them as most of it tastes like nail polish remover AND it's only about 17% ABV so you can't even argue it's worth skulling just to get the job done) it seems like they decided to add beer to their portfolio. They literally make about 12 different types of beer and I cannot begin to imagine how they manage to brew it all in their small brewery. I'll do some more investigating in the near future.

If you are in the area during winter, apparently they have a tap room bar. It shut for the season like last week so I didn't manage to go there. But many bars in town have this beer on tap. Look for the distinctive dragon logo! And all their beers come in bottles, which is somewhat unusual in Japan. I'll have more reviews from this brewery in the near future. 

OH! LA! HO! Brewing - Kolsch, Can.

Name: OH! LA! HO! Kolsch

Brewery: Oh La Ho! Brewing

Style: Kolsch

Purchased at: Seiyu.

Price: ¥350

Taste: 9/10

Alcohol Level: 5%

Music: Still listening to Visigoth album, “Conqueror’s Oath.”

Snack: Still eating the Piri Piri chicken.

Website: http://www.tomi-kosya.com/ohlaho-beer/ohlaho-beer.html

Experience: Had the OH! LA! HO! Pale Ale a minute ago, now on to the Kolsch. This one was smooth as milk my man. Very tasty. I couldn’t drink more than one or two of the Pale Ales, but I can see drinking many of these and it being good. I don't know what a Kolsch is, I expected the beer to be dark based off the name. I'll have to research it.

I love the can designs. I mentioned the orange can in the last interview, this one is blue. These cans really stand out, they look pretty simple but I like that. Some cans around here have scribbles and stuff all over them, they look terrible, like they were designed by a two year old.

I think this might be the last OH LA HO beer I had to try. I’ll keep a look out, and they do release new ones now and then. But this might be the last of their main ones.

OH LA HO! Brewery - Pale Ale, Can.

Name: Pale Ale

Brewery: Oh La Ho! Brewing

Style: Pale Ale

Purchased at: Seiyu.

Price: ¥350

Taste: ８/10

Alcohol Level: 5%

Music: The new Visigoth album, “Conqueror’s Oath.”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Xtc2Yn6WJQw

Snack: I bought some Piri Piri seasoning in Australia and cooked some chicken with it. It was mainly spicy, not that tasty, not a fan of that but next time I reckon I’ll use less.

Website: http://www.tomi-kosya.com/ohlaho-beer/ohlaho-beer.html

Experience:

I’m doing my best to try all the OH! LA! HO! beers. So far I can’t say they have any bad ones, they have all been delicious. On this particular night I tried two, the first being the Pale Ale.

OH!LA!HO! have another Pale Ale, the Captain Crow Extra Pale Ale, which I have reviewed before. The regular Pale Ale is definitely easier to drink. They hops flavour is definitely a lot smoother, which I prefer. The taste was pretty typical of what you would expect for a Pale Ale. I used to be a big fan of this style, but recently I go for darker beers instead. I still found this to be very tasty and I’ll definitely be buying it again.

Love the orange colour of the can. My favourite colour has always been orange and I think I worked out why recently. My birthday is in October. In Australia it’s springtime, usually overcast, maybe a little bit green with some warmer days, overall a green, blue or grey sort of feeling. In America however, it’s autumn, lots of orange and warmer colours. Halloween is in October too, which has a very orange feel. I’m guessing when I was younger I’d watch cartoons and other TV shows set in October and associated it with the good feeling of my birthday. I’ve always liked autumn, being cozy and Halloween too, I’m guessing this is all for the same reason.