Minami Shinsyu Beer - 2612 Chuo Alps Senjojiki

 

Name: 2612 Chuo Alps Senjojiki

Brewery: Minami Shinshu Beer

Style: Amber Ale

Purchased at: Komagane Ropeway Giftshop.

Price: ¥500

Taste: 9/10

Alcohol Level: 5%

Music: Summoning - Oathbound. 
 

Snack: Homemade Pizza. Earlier that day I ate Tonkatsu.

Website: http://ms-beer.co.jp/

Experience: A goal of mine in returning to Nagano was to spend more time in the Alps. During my last time here I did some climbing and snowboarding in the Northern Alps. Now I live closer to the central and southern alps. On this day I rode my bike to the train station, caught the train to Komagane station, caught a bus up to the ropeway and then took the ropeway to the Senjojiki Cirque. I was nervous the whole way that the bus or ropeway would be cancelled because of corona. Access to the Southern Alps has been made really difficult because a lot of buses have been totally stopped for the year. Luckily the bus was running and I was the only person to catch it from the station. There's a carpark closer to the actual road up the mountains and the bus completely filled up then. Before this I was thinking about going back up the ropeway in autumn since it is meant to be beautiful. Seeing how packed the bus was on this day, a normal summer weekday with a little bit of rain, I'm guessing it would be absolute hell in autumn so I'm rethinking that.

Stepping out of the ropeway station and seeing the Senjojiki Cirque is absolutely unreal. Definitely a moment I will remember forever. I was instantly struck with a glad feeling for returning to Nagano. The climb to the mountain tops was steep at the beginning, but once you make it past the first hour of steepness it gets easier. The views the whole way are amazing and gave me enough energy to keep going. It was a bit cloudy that day, so the views came and went as the clouds rolled through. The whole time I had the feeling of being in a high, remote place, which I don't always get when hiking. That feeling, like going out too far at the beach, is a little bit scary but exciting too. Once I made it to the top of the mountain the thunder and lightening started. No one else seemed too bothered, and I've read a lot of stories over the years of people surviving lightening strikes, so I didn't worry either.

I made it back to the ropeway station, a few minutes after I got back inside it began to rain like it had been holding it in after too many beers during the support band and there was finally a break. The lightening got really close too, so close that the windows were shaking, it felt like the building shook a bit too. The cable car was stopped for a while, so I had some beers and lunch. After that I bought the beer which is the subject of this review.

When I drank this beer I was glad to finally be home. I made a BBQ Chicken pizza in the pizza oven I bought off the internet. I didn't expect it to last more than a few times or I'd use it once and then never want to make pizza again, but I can gladly say I have made pizza many times now, each time getting a bit better.

Amber Ale is my favourite style of beer. I've never had a bad one, I love the colour and I love how it's associated with Autumn. The design of the bottle didn't reflect autumn at all, but the colour of the beer and the flavour did. The beer is names 2612 because, I'm pretty sure, the ropeway station where they sell this beer is 2612 metres above sea level. I'm fairly sure this beer is the same as Minami Shinshu Beer's regular Amber Ale, which I have had before and loved. I'd love to drink this beer a lot, but at 500 yen a bottle it's too expensive. I can have one or two special beers like this, and then drink the cheap stuff. This beer is so far away from cheap beer that switching between the two makes me appreciate it more. It also makes me miss making my own beer back in Australia.

While hiking I was listening Summoning - Oathbound. An old favourite that always makes me think of and appreciate mountains, forests and great views. Especially the track Might and Glory was perfect for walking at the of the mountains.

Minami Shinsyu Beer - Golden Ale 330ml bottle.

Name: Minamishinsyu Beer

Brewery: Komagatake Brewery

Style: Golden Ale

Purchased at: Grill The Butcher, a steak restaurant in Nagano Station

Price: ¥800

Taste: 9.5/10

Alcohol Level: 5%

Music: Restaurant background music. Before I arrived I was listening to Aves - Feathers
https://avesmusic.bandcamp.com/

Snack: Steak.

Website: http://www.ms-beer.co.jp/

Experience:
On Australia day I decided to have a beer and some steak. Finding a decent steak in Japan can be difficult, depending on where  you live. Outside of the main cities if you don't love Japanese food  to death, then you will have to learn to cook. Thankfully for us there is a really good steak restaurant in Nagano Station called Grill the  Butcher. Compared to Australian prices, the steaks are not that expensive. They are delicious and there's absolutely nothing Japanese about the taste, except for the wasabi they put on the side of the  plate which I try my best to ignore.

Anyway today's beer was a craft beer from the Komagatake Brewery in Southern Nagano. I haven't visited this brewery yet, but if I find myself down south I will definitely check it out. Making craft beer in Japan can't be easy. It's illegal for people to make their own
alcohol at home, which sucks because just before I arrived here I tried brewing a beer of my own (it was terrible). Maybe the process of making sake can become explosive if amateurs try it, I'm not sure, but they don't want people making it at home. To get a license to make
beer is tough and expensive, so given the chance I will always support a craft beer company here.

The beer made by breweries in Nagano always tastes so clean and fresh. There is basically an unlimited supply of fresh water, thanks to all the snow melting and running down the mountains. Drinking beer made here really feels like you are drinking the nectar of the mountains. I believe this company was born from a whiskey company, so I don't think it is some tiny 3 man operation or anything, but looking at their site tells me they are still quite small and everything appears to be handmade.

I had the Golden Ale. It was clean, fresh and crisp. I wanted to sip it because it tasted so good. Drinking this while eating steak, man I was loving life. There was maybe a tiny bit of sweetness or citrus flavour to it, but nothing too strong. Just the delicious taste of fresh beer straight from the icy mountains of Nagano, perfect.

This beer might be a little difficult to come across. I assume outside of Nagano there might not be too many places to buy it. Here in Nagano you might get lucky at a souvenir shop, they occasionally sell beer and sake. Shops selling local foods and crafts might sell it. I live in the northern part of Nagano, so perhaps going south would be easier. And of course, check the menu and maybe it will be available. To my knowledge this was the first time I'd come across this beer, and it wasn't on the menu last time we were at this restaurant. I would like to buy more, but apart from this restaurant, I'm not 100% sure where to find it.

I've found that bottle shops like Takagi are completely useless for beer, they only sell Asahi and Kirin, so don't even bother trying. Maybe the supermarket Tsuruya would have it sometimes, but I haven't seen it. Most people in Japan seem pretty happy with Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo, so you have to go looking for craft beers here. if you are travelling in Japan I urge you to venture outside of smashing Asahi and Kirin the whole time. When they have a cool label and it says it was brewed locally, it really brings to mind the idea of people taking water straight from the rivers and crafting their beers among the mountains of Nagano.