Minoh Brewery

On a recent mini-vacation we went stopped at the Minoh Brewery. Just east of Kyoto, and a bit before you hit Kobe on the train, in a tiny commuter town you can find Minoh Brewery.  To our knowledge the town is known for three things: a waterfall, the brewery, and monkeys. As we were only passing through to Kobe and back to Kyoto, we only had time for the beer.

Minoh is quickly gaining a mass following of Japanese and foreign people alike. They recently won multiple gold medals in the WBA (World Beer Awards), and are featured at a few bars around the country. Sadly, they can still be a bit hard to find around smaller towns (Kyoto included) as they are still very small and microbrew beers are still not in high demand by the Japanese. The guy behind the counter told us (and later showed us) their tiny set up, comprised of a few small tanks, one bottling machine, a guy who caps the bottles, and a few people who do all the labeling by hand. The best part was that two of the three sisters who run Minoh were actually their working when we went!

At the brewery, be sure to try whatever they have on tap. They don't keep much in stock long, so it is always very fresh. They brew one beer type a day, sell out, and make it again.

If you go to visit the brewery, the easiest option is to google map the brewery on your phone. If you don't have GPS, you can do the following:

Starting at Karasuma Oike or Kawaramachi station (under Shijo Dori)

Take the Hankyu train towards Umeda

At Juso Station transfer to Hankyu train towards Takarazuka

At Ishibashi Station transfer to the Hankyu train towards Minoo

Exit at Makiochi Station

Walk out the east side of the station and follow the map below (A is the station):

View Larger Map

If you get lost, just head east out of the train station, once your hit the main street (you'll know it, as it's the only non-residential busy street running north to south) find the Lawson's convenience store, south of McDonald's. Walk down the street on the north side of Lawson's (i.e. not the main street), when you hit the park turn right and follow around the park. Minoh will be on the right, across the street from the park. Or ask anyone who looks local, we are pretty sure it's crazy popular with everyone near by.

They also have a map on their website: http://www.minoh-beer.jp/ and you can check them out on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/MINOHBEER

Here are a few photos of our trip:

Outside the Brewery, looks like a beer junk yard. People return their used bottles, there are stacks of kegs of all sizes, a few pieces of broken machinery, etc. This place is small-time business at it's finest. 

A small glass door fridge holds all the beer that can be taken home from the brewery. You can also drink what you like right there, and take one for the road. No one will bat an eye at you drinking a beer while walking down the road (so long as you're an adult). 

A little girl learning how to politely pour a beer...

Minoh is frequently featured in many Japanese and global beer magazines. They have copies of a few at the brewery you can flip through while you enjoy their tasty brews. 

Minoh tasting room/front office/beer purchasing area/staff kitchen

They seem to know what they are doing...

The main line up

The Minoh exterior is hard to miss

Japanese Baseball - Nihon no Yakyu

After several failed attempts at buying Orix Buffaloes or Hanshin Tigers tickets at our local conbini, we finally got a set for a fine Friday evening game at the Osaka Dome to watch the Buffaloes take on the Hokaido Nippon-Ham Fighters.  This worked out perfect, because our friend Steve was in town for his first trip to Japan and Asia.  I'm not sure what you've heard about baseball in Japan, but people go pretty crazy at the games.  Some major differences we noticed: soccer-like cheering sections complete with drums/horns/songs/drunkeness, cheerleaders, a first pitch ritual that involved a live batter trying to hit the pitch, crazy cramped seats even in the lower infield areas.

























After getting a serious buzz started at the Yamazaki Whiskey Distillery earlier in the day, we headed further on south into Osaka for a Friday evening game.  Upon arrival at the stadium, we noticed several people entering the stadium with bags full of food and beverages in paper cartons (like half gallon milk cartons).  Nobody seemed to have bottles or cans, just paper drink boxes- this got us thinking about our strategy prior to entering the game; perhaps we too should participate in the practice of bringing in outside beverages in an effort to keep the drink bill a bit lower.  A little background- in Japan, sake (rice wine), shochu (distilled rice spirits), and umeshu (plum wine) are all served in paper cartons and all are available at very reasonable prices at any conbini.



After loading up on umeshu and beer at the conbini, we cracked a few cans of beer (open container laws are non-existent) and walked toward the entrance of the Osaka Dome.  Upon closer inspection, we noticed people were also bringing cans into the stadium with the exception that they had to pour the cans into paper cups (provided by Osaka Dome).  Taking it one step further, some people had so much beer that they filled multiple paper cups and were provided by Osaka Dome crews with a cardboard cup carrier to transport the liquid goodness safely to their seats.  I don't know if we've discussed the high level of customer service in Japan, but this typifies the respect given to customers.  Anyways, we had a few extra beers unopened in addition to our boxed umeshu, so we poured our beer into the provided cups and took to our seats.

At the Osaka Dome, the seats we had were between home and first, about 12 rows up.  By US standards, these would be $100+ seats.  In Japan, we paid about $40 each, which seemed like a screaming deal.  Unfortunately, like most things in Japan, the seats were tiny and offered up almost no legroom.  Regardless, we settled in for the singing of the national anthem and the start of the game.

About half way through the game, we decided to head to the cheering section (right field).  People openly welcomed us into this section and started to teach us the dances and songs almost immediately.  I think they were just excited to have new people rooting for their otherwise terrible baseball team.

Overall, we had a great time at the game despite the Buffaloes poor performance.  Next up is a trip to Koshien Stadium to see the Hanshin Tigers play.

A Bungalow of Sweet, Sweet Craft Beer Love

So having put up with Nama Biru for the last 6 weeks, save for two visits to Tagd's in Kyoto, we finally decided to venture out to a new craft beer bar in Kyoto called Bungalow. Located at the corner of Shijo and Horikawa, it is conveniently located close to downtown.

We rode over to this place after our dinner at Kerala Indian Restaurant (our favorite Indian food here). The decor of Bungalow is very industrial/hipster... similar to a lot of the beer bars and breweries we were so fond of in San Diego. Based on their Facebook page, it seemed that they had about 10 rotating drafts, none of which was the normal run-of-the-mill Kirin/Sapporo/Yebisu garbage rice beer. We're talking beer with body, hop aromas, fruity esters, etc. I'm sure my pallet was on sensory overload as I started on the beer journey that took me from the mountains of Tottori (Daisen G Weizen by Kumezakura Daisen Brewery) to the sea at Osaka (Minoh W-IPA(double IPA) by A.J.I. Beer Inc.). Neither of these were cheap by US standards (~$9 for a 15oz pour), but were totally worth it.Meg tried a few chisai (schooner size glass) beers- Belgian White and a Belgian Stout, both of which were also delicious. We ordered a fine piece of cheesecake and ice cream to finish our night and thought were good to go...

... Until an overly friendly Japanese gentleman came into Bungalow by himself and asked to sit down at our table. Not knowing too many people in Kyoto, we kindly welcomed him in. Having joined our table, he insisted on an order of pickles (his treat) for us to share. I'm not a huge fan of pickles in general, but pickles after Indian food and cheesecake really didn't hit the spot. And we couldn't refuse- this is Japan, you eat what you are given whether it's plant or animal, cooked or raw, alive or dead, etc. After talking with him for a bit, we were able to conclude that he was an ex-employee of Panasonic and is now working for the Kyoto Chamber of Commerce. Since my background and current employment is in the same field he was in for ~40 years, we found an instant connection. I don't think he was too thrilled about his new gig, (and who would?), having worked at Panasonic for 40 years and now at the Chamber of Commerce. I'm not sure what events led up to his departure, but he didn't seem too positive about it. We exchanged contact information, as is tradition in Japan, and then we went on our separate ways.

Overall, Bungalow is a must-visit for anyone deprived of good beer. It's got great atmosphere, an awesome, fairly priced beer selection, and delicious food. On the SE corner of Shijo and Horikawa- don't forget it.  See the pictures below to get a feel for the bar and beer list.