Administration is my Bane

I wanted to do an update every month or so explaining what has been going on here in Japan. The month of April can be summed up with one word: Administration. It's been so hard to get into classes this semester because of all the little things that I have to do. First it was all the paperwork for the school for class registration and class selection. Basically this means that I went to all the classes the first week just to figure out what I wanted to take. This was followed by interviews and paperwork for scholarship applications. I didn’t get anything since most believe that since I’m from outside of Asia, I have a lot of money. The Canadian government and the Japanese government offers very little in the name of assistance to schooling in Japan. The next order was the application and interview for the duel masters program. 

I’ve been looking forward to this part for a long time. Unfortunately, my first choice for Granada, Spain fell through because I complained that the program was not in English and the guy who was there right now was complaining that it was too hard. I would have loved to go to Spain to study it would have been such a great experience. I quickly needed to find an alternative and I found Lancaster University in the UK. Upon further inspection I realised that this was probably a better choice. I’m not sure if I’m justifying after the fact but it looks like it will be exactly what I need for my research. Once I learned that I was accepted into the program for my university, next came the application to the host university, Lancaster. More documentation.

This semester is also when graduates have to present where their current research is going. Thus, I had to prepare an essay and presentation for the graduate professors to explain what I’m working on. I posed my essay last month on this blog. The preparation and execution for both was not that bad just time consuming.

With my application for Lancaster finally being sent out and the rest of the admin documentation behind me I feel like I can finally return to the work for my classes and my research. 

Most of May has been filled with both. I’ve decided to work a lot less this semester so that I can get as much of my thesis finished as possible so if I’m accepted in Lancaster I won’t have an enormous work load on my plate. This week I’ve been working on a presentation for my Japan and the West class depicting the relationship between Europe and Japan in the 18^th century. The work can be hard since the texts are old and strangely written. 

Socially, there have been some parties in the last few weeks. Last weekend we went to the river since it was a hot night and had a little drinking party. It was really great to relax and catch up. Its been really hot this month and the rainy season decided to start two weeks earlier so this last week has been pretty unpleasant.

Japanese Beers 02: Asahi - Japan's most famous Beer

If we were to make a spectrum from least known and popular to most, the last beer I covered would be the least known beer in Japan and today’s beer is by far the most known. It seems strange to have to cover it at all since it is so synonymous with Japan. It is impossible to not know about this beer no matter who you are. The company has a 40% share of the Japanese beer market. And from what I’ve seen most of the advertisement for any beer is for this beer.

This can I found hiking with Jordan in the mountains in Toyohashi.

Asahi is huge. But funny enough their website sucks. It only covers their mega popular Asahi Super Dry. This beer is easily the most popular beer in Japan. But to be honest there is nothing much to it. I tried it in February and I thought it had little to no taste. It’s frothy and tastes like a common pale lager. I guess that’s why it is so popular it’s simply a common beer.Even Hugh Jackman needs to promote it for a lot of money.

But the main reason for covering this beer is because although Asahi is famous for its Super Dry the other beers it makes are less known and deserve to be covered. Asahi makes at least 20 something beers and from what I’ve gathered they all taste about the same. In some ways one of the reasons I chose bottled beer was because of Asahi. If its in a bottle it has to be a recognised by the company as being a premium beer. If the company only releases their beer in a can, I feel like there is something wrong with it or its somehow lesser in quality. There was one episode of the Simpsons where Homer goes to the Duff Brewery and they show Duff, Duff Light and their new Duff Dry all being fed from the same pipe. That is how I feel about some canned beers.

Although Asahi has 20+ beers that it produces it only has 5 in bottles.

1) Asahi Super Dry - 5% – Easily purchased in any supermarket, corner store or most restaurants. 6/10 "Fresh, crisp and clear - with a sharp delivery that slakes thirst before slipping gently on."

2) Asahi Stout - 8% – This one I found in a small restaurant in Kyoto. I loved it so much I came back just to have the beer again. Dark black pour with a fluffy tan head. Aroma is very sweet and malty with some hints of roasted coffee and whiskey. Flavour is smooth and roasted at the beginning with a smooth and slightly chocolaty middle. Finishes warm with a mild and sweet malt finish. This is so far the best stout I have had since I started my book. It really is excellent. 9/10 "Strong stout, made in the Irish and British tradition. This huge beer is earthy, tar-like, smoky, whiskyish and very much a winter warmer."

3) 3) Asahi Premium (Jukusen) - 5.5% - This one sometimes has two names as it also goes by the name Premium Draft Beer – Low fluffy white and quickly disappearing fluffy head. Clear golden body. Mild barley malt aroma with grassy notes. Mild barley malt flavour and strong hops bitterness. Short aftertaste. Bad hops smell. - 5/10 "This beer is brewed from quality ingredients by using our pure cultured yeast and our brewing techniques."

4) Asahi Black (or Kuronama) - 5% – I finally found one restaurant that has this I’ll update it when I’ve tried it."Asahi Black is made from three different roasted malts. This gives it a rich, nutty flavour and makes it incredibly smooth-drinking. Unlike other, more bitter dark beers and stouts, it’s brewed in a process called bottom fermentation, which gives it a subtle, sweet edge and smooth"

5) Asahi Brewmaster’s Select - 5% – Never seen this one and it may be available only outside Japan but I’ll keep my eye out."An original premium lager skillfully crafted using our finest malt and pure yeast selected by our brewmaster."

The main brewery, the Asahi Beer Hall, is considered one of Tokyo's most recognizable modern structures. Locals call it "the golden turd" (kin no unko, 金のうんこ) and the Asahi Beer Hall itself as "poo building" (unko-biru, うんこビル).

This brings our total of Japanese beers up to 7.

Japan, 〒130-0001 東京都墨田区吾妻橋１丁目２３−１ +81 3-5608-5111

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Japanese Beers 01: Chichibu Beer

Since there are no decent websites on Japanese Beer in English I will try my best in the next little while to document what I've found.

This beer company is a microbrewery, or as the Japanese like to call it "Craft Beer" from Chichibu in the Satiama Prefecture. The best websites I've found on these beers are
http://www.find-chichibu.jp/db/companies/view/30
http://db.dokoikube.com/asaya.htm

This hemp shop in the mountains seems to be the only place that sells it. "8 minutes walk from Chichibu Chichibu Station. Hemp shop (Linen Shop), the original beer "beer refreshing Titibu"

Address is 麻屋商店 Japan, 〒368-0044 埼玉県秩父市本町３−６ +81 120-412-555 ‎ asaya_shoten@yahoo.co.jp
Made by: Miyoshi Town, Saitama Iruma-gun上富small commercial brewery co Edo Corp.



1) 秩父のビール translates into Beer in Chichibu but the label says Asaya Shouten
Made with: Malt, hops - 5%



2) 蕎麦からつくった発泡酒 translates into Low-Malt Buckwheat Beer or Maple Liqour
Made With: Malt, hops, buckwheat, barley - 5.5%

"While clean your throat, deep" Titibu refreshing beer "is sold. Please relish once. "



I haven't had either of these beers but on the map my friend gave me they are the first to be mentioned. Is seems that the only place to buy them is at this store in the middle of nowhere.

Beer Book Challenge

I was sitting at a fairly decent Indian restaurant on Christmas Eve last year in Thailand where I ordered a beer. In some ways this beer is momentous even though it was fairly terrible tasting. When I took one sip of it I decided I never wanted to drink it again. So I peeled the label off the bottle and went to find a book to paste it into and remind myself that this beer was in fact awful. Also, it reminded me of the reality of drinking really good beer and forgetting what was good and what wasn’t.

The idea to do this started about a year and a half ago when my friend Jason Kogen said that he was now obsessed with drinking high quality beer. He took me out for some micro brew pints and I was shocked how good my beer was. This experience combined with a few in Europe where I ordered a beer and I got a giant goblet of gold juice put in front of me made me realise that there was really really good beer out there you just had to find it. Before leaving to go to Japan, I did some brief research on Japanese beer by consulting the two sources I knew, Wikipedia and the Ultimate Encyclopaedia of Beer, Spirits and Liqueurs. I got a micro list of Japanese beers that I needed to try. In retrospect there is nothing ultimate about that Encyclopaedia.

So after I drank my Thai sludge and bought a book, I took it upon myself to try as many different kinds of beers as I could. Soon I realised, I needed to place some ground rules in order to make this system work.

Beer?

What classifies as a beer. Does Root Beer or Ginger Ale count as beers? clearly not. But it did bring some thought. There needs to be a clear alcohol percentage in order for it to be classifiable as an alcoholic beverage which beer clearly is. Thus non-alcoholic beer is also clearly out. Some have argued that after a certain percentage it becomes a liqueur. I tend to agree. Liqueurs start at 15% alcohol by volume.

Bottle, Can or On-Tap

The next order of business was to determine standard for drinking the beer. This is highly debatable but after much deliberation this is what I’ve concluded. The bottle must be the standard. If you have a bottle you can get a label from the bottle. This shows evidence of the tasting. A pint cannot provide such evidence. Nor do you want to be cutting cans while drunk. However, the bottle does pose some problems.

The first problem of a bottle is having the bottle not be past its expiration date; a problem that on-tap beer does not have. Second, it needs to be served at the right temperature which may be difficult; again on-tap does not have this problem, much. Third, it needs to be poured right. This is an interesting point and where cans may be superior to bottles. A widget provides the right amount of air to be mixed with the beer and assists in pouring the beer out of a can. Most bottles do not have this widget, but some do.

Even though the bottle has these problems it is important to have it first as the label is the basis for building on further review. For example, one would drink a Guinness out of a bottle without a widget, and save the label. Afterwards, if given the opportunity, one reviews the assessment from a can or from the tap.

Where the beer was made may also be an issue. For instance, people say that a Guinness outside of Ireland is not a real Guinness and especially if it wasn’t poured correctly. This is partially true. A beer is only made from the authentic ingredients of where the brewery is from. Thus, the water, malt, wheat and other aspects are unique to its area. Also, even if the beer is from that area, the transport to a new country will affect the taste of the beer. If it was in the sun or shook too much, etc. So the project is tricky.

Label:

The next issue is how to get the label off the bottle. Some are really easy and you just need to use a knife or your nail to peel it off. Others have strong glue and need more elaborate steps. The first works best on labels that have some kind of metallic surface. You can place the bottle in hot water for a few minutes. But be warned this can be dangerous as it may destroy the label if it is too fragile. This once happened to me and I had to reconstruct it piece by piece. This is not a good strategy. The other way is to clean the label and attach sellotape to the surface. Use a knife to get the air out and that should be a stronger hold than the glue on the bottle.

There are two other strange circumstances. The first is glass manipulation bottles where the bottle itself is moulded into the label. For this use a piece of paper and make a rubbing. The second is sandblasted bottles like Corona. These bottles have an image right on it that cannot be taken off. Not really sure what to do about these at the moment. I’m open to suggestions.

Book

The book itself does not have to be special. I chose a little one just enough to write 6 things in it. 1) The brewery that made it. 2) Where this brewery is from. 3) What kind of beer they say it is. 4) My thoughts on its Appearance, Aroma, Palate, Flavour, Personal Feeling, and overall enjoyment. 5) When and where I drank it. 6) Overall score out of 10.

0) Bad Zone I threw up after I tasted it

1) I nearly threw up from the first few sips and I just couldn’t drink it

2) Taste is bad and finishing it would make me sick but I had maybe half.

3) I don’t want to finish it because it’s just not that good.

4) Mid Zone The beer tastes ok but I didn’t really like it and I prefer not to drink it again

5) The beer is drinkable. Overall have simple feeling about it. Mediocre. Common

6) This is average. Fine to drink, with a meal or relaxing. Enjoyable but nothing to really get excited about

7) Good Zone Truly excellent beer, Overall enjoyment and taste is high as is the experience drinking it.

8) Incredible beer, in a league above all others and a full pleasure to drink it. May be drunk in 3-5 sips.

9) Exceptional beer, delicious in every sense of the word and drank uncontrollably in 2-3 sips.

10) The moment it touches your lips the glass stay there until there is no more.

For fun I also cover by book with the neck labels. I hope I can have a nice collage with I’m done book one.

Glass

A beer needs to be in its appropriate glass. I’m nowhere near the authority on this. More on this as I learn more.

Prioritise the search for beer.

As I am currently in Japan, I will be focusing on Japanese beer for the time being. There are a few standard, mass produced beers and an unknown amount of microbreweries. Outside of Japan you will be hard-pressed to find microbrewer beer from Japan. Heck it’s hard in Japan. My friend gave me this map to guide me. I’ve been systematically crossing out what I’ve found. Whoever made it did some cool research as some of these beers are hard to find. I will attempt to post every Japanese beer I find as I have not found one website that accurately covers this topic. Maybe I’ll be famous for doing it.

SO I challenge everyone and anyone to become a critic of beer. There is more beer out there than you can know. And you have no idea how good or not they are. Why drink the same beer all the time when you can drink new beer.