Aka beko - Aizu beer

During one of my previous jaunts up into the wilds of Fukushima, I managed to get to Aizu beer brewpub in Aizu Wakamatsu... ...in Wakamatsu... ...in Aizu.

I was up there visiting some newish friends I made. They were all ALTs in Fukushima and one of them (Padraic) was having a bit of a birthday bash.
After a nice gentle night of 10 or so beers and terrible karaoke, we were to head to Aizu beer for about 3 hours of all you can drink. Not bad. Before that, we had a nice barbecue near a river somehwere in the middle of nowhere and no, I really don't think anyone heard me scream. Keeping one eye open for my beer and one eye for any amouruos bears and one eye on the hurly wurly thing that was flying around (Irish game - very dangerous hence very popular), I managed to survive and eventually found my way at Aizu beer restaurant (the more perceptive of you may have realised that I mentioned three eyes. The still more perceptive would know not to enquire further and could easily guess which 'eye' was watching out for the bears - if the 'twitchometer' was pointing due North, then I would know temptation was close at hand - grr).

So, despite being slightly plastered from the BBQ, I managed to follow everyone and found myself here:
This is the Aizu Beer place. It's in Wakamatsu.
For the map, click here (in Japanese).

The inside of this place is quite nice. The actual bar/restaurant area is on the 2nd floor.

However, I don't understand the need for the huge central stairway. Seems to take up half the area of the whole 2nd floor.
But there is still plenty of space of 40 or so revellers (including a piano onstage).

Right.
Frist up, I decided to try the amber ale. This was poured for me by the owner, Mr.Johnny Lager.
You can see Mr.Lager in this shot.

He just poured an AkaBeko amber ale and a stout. Nice guy. Happy to talk to you and also sat down and drank with us (didn't buy us a drink though).


The amber ale was not an amber ale for me. But I was 79%paraletic by that time, so I could've been wrong.
Tasted like a normal-ish lager. All their beers had the similar (weird water/distinct strange hopping) flavor to them. Hard to describe.
Almost like with eyes closed you can taste a Baird beer or a Tama no Megumi.
These are like that. Also, like those beers, only a few are best suited to that particular 'taste'. These are similar in background taste to Tama no Megumi in that a pe ale or stout best fits the style.
The amber ale was ok but I wouldn't order another, unless there was nothing else to drink.

Aka Beko Amber Ale: 5/10
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Next up was the stout.
Mmm... very nice.
Suits the background taste and consistency just right.
Not a bad pint at all.
I could drink more of this and indeed I did.
Slight creaminess both in taste and body texture. A reasonable pint.

Stout: 6.5/10

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After that I decided to chance their experimental beer which was the kurogome, brewed using rice.
Im not a fan of rice in beer, but I decided to give it a shot:

Creamy head. Looked very smooth. The smell was a little strange.

Taste - semolina? Weird.

Very, very weird.
Wouldn't describe it as beer, as we know it, Jim. I tried but I just couldn't get used to it.
Think only certain peple will take to this. As for me, I had trouble finishing it.

As for me, nasty stuff. Sorry, Mr.Lager.
Your stout was much better.

Not for me, sorry.

KuroGome: 1.5/10

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Next I decided that I would try the other beers using smaller glassses, just in case I had a repeat of the kurogome to contend with.
The guys at the bar were very kind and allowed me to try a taste selection:

Here's a shot of the bar and some of the taps.
They had two hand pumps for the amber ale and the stout at the end, just past the register and to the left.

I had the amber ale, the beethoven, the kurogome(whoops) and the stout.


The amber ale was drinkable.
The beethoven was suprisingly drinkable (especially when compared to the other lagers - almost like the ugliest man or woman in the room actually seems quite attractive when on a trekking holiday with them in the mountains of Thailand, with only a bunch of retarded mongoloid (but still very nice in their own way) kids or some really 'big smack in the face with the whole ugly tree, not just the stick' ugly people - but when you come back to normality, you wonder what the f**k you were thinking at the time) . When surrounded by morons, even the village idiot would win the nobel prize (it's all relative).
Well, this beer, whilst not being a vilage idiot by any case, was still more or less surrounded by members of a disfunctional family.
There was younger brother kurogome, who after incessant bouts of self masturbation has gone half blind, lost functioning of his genitalia and can't be quite sure of who or what he is, only to semi resemble a member of his own species.
Then there is the older brother akabeko amber ale, who, because he's been to the big city, thinks he can imitate some viennese sophistication, but doesn't quite pull it off. Still, no one else back home knows that and he gains confidence from it, whilst a tthe same time knowing he can never leave home again.
Beethoven is the sister who has suprised everyone by blossoming suddenly into quite the 'members' of the family. Both of them. Looking quite plain and unassuming on first glance, once you get under the surface, you discover there are quite a few suprises. Tastes promising and soon you reliase there is more to this lady than you bargained for. Too late, the powerful inner strength of the 5.5% kicks you, right between the testicles of taste. There's no escape. you become the next in a long line of victims.

Then, there is the stout. The intelligent, smooth, charasmatic, well travelled uncle who can calm any situation. Can communicate in any language and any culture. The answer to all the families problems, he can stroll in and save the day, leaving nothing but comfortable satisfaction in his wake.


I'm sidetracking again, aren't I?
Sorry.

Here's a quick video of some drunken monkey, trying to sound sober and talk about beer. Not making much sense.


After talking to Mr.Lager, I realised there was yet another beer available for tasting!!!
He mentioned the doppelbock and warned me that it was deceptive in that the alcohol was quite high (about 8%).


I decided to give it a whirl and she was a beauty!!!

Yes, indeed she was a deceptive lady in a glass.
She's the kind of lady you would rush to hold the door open for, as she approched in her evening gown, only to then realise that she was on her way to her advanced kickboxing class, 15 flights of stairs further up.
She packs a punch, but you are so distracted by the taste, that you don't quite realise it until it's too late and you have lost control of your vital organs and are laying tits up in a ditch somewhere in Aizu Wakamatsu.
p.s. that didn't happen to me. I manged to get myself wedged, in a presumably tits up position, on my friends minature sofa. What little sleep I had was interrupted by 'hmm hmmm!' - other things.

Dopple bock : 6/10

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Overall verdict for Aizu beer: 6/10.

I liked the place.

Don't mean to be overly critical of the beers.

I really appreciate the stout and the doppelbock. Lovely.
Also the beethoven wasnt bad. But therer's still that similar aftertaste that really nags at me.
Baird has it but that's kinda due to the hopping (some people either like it or hate it). Tama no megumi has it and I think it ruins some of thier beers (but a the smae time compliments their ale and stout). Aizu kinda has it too.
Brought a couple of beethovens and stouts back and my friends said the same thing. Weird taste to the beethoven, like something was amiss. Stout was liked by all.
Nice atmosphere (partly supplied by the great Fukushima ALTs - thanks, guys!).
Nice food and reasonably priced.
Nice location.
Good interior (but why that huge staircase?).
Nice owner who is happy to sit down and talk with you over a pint. Good selection. Even though I don't like some of the beers, I still appreciate a selection of more than just an ale, stout and weissen.
Not worth a special trip out there from say, Tokyo, but if your in the area, why not pop by?

Im glad I did.

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Note: Unfortunately, Aizu Beer is no more and Jonny Lager has finally quit the business. I think it's a pity. I liked what he was doing and liked some of his beers and respected the ones that I didn't as a brave attempt at making original and interesting booze. His location in the mountains of Fukusnima's Super Dry country wasn't the best place for a thriving business but I think he did a good job with his pub. It will be missed.
Aizu Beer is dead. Long live Aizu beer.
you can still drink some of that is left at the Aldgate, in Shibuya. Just ask if they still have it (renamed) on tap. Could be the last to have a little bit of beer history.

MbarK, Motosumiyoshi (Ozzie bar)

I ventured to a new(ish) bar, M　bar　K, in Motosumiyoshi, in the Yokohama/Kawasaki area.
A guy I knew before, Australian Mike runs the place with a nice Japanese lady.
I popped by to see the Wales rugby game.

This place is down a small street, a few 100m from the station. Not so easy to find.
Here's a map [Shibuya direction (top) to Yokohama direction (down)]:
The place itself is quite nice.
Here's another pic of the front. This is what you'll see from the street. It has a nice seating area outside. This should be good in the sunnier weather.
An L shaped bar has seating for around 20 or so. Here's a pic of the front, just inside the entrance:
And here's one of the other half:
Thsi is taken from the same position as I took the previous photo. Unfortunately, I didn't take one of the bar.

At least 3 Tvs (normal size, wall mounted - no big screen) shows most of the matches/games/sports events. If you ask and if they have it, I'm sure Mike will put on whichever game you want to watch.

Beer is good. They pour a nice guiness. I recommend trying the Coopers Australian beer. It's not a bad drink. Most people prefer Cooper's Sparkling Ale. I tried it and it was pretty good.
They also serve a few other Australian beers (Fosters, Tooeys, etc) and have a nice selection of Australian wine.
Food - well, I didn't order any so can't talk about that really.
Nice enough selection in the menu.

MbarK 5.5/10

Not a bad little place. Atmospherewise not party central but they do have live music playing and I haven't been to experience that. Points for the Ozzie theme and coopers beers. Nice enough little local.

Overall a nice enough little pub.
I think they play live music in there, too.
Not sure of the schedules.
You can check their website for info, but it's not developed very well yet. Hope they fix that soon.

Delirium Cafe

This is a great place to discover full bodied, strong, fruity Belgians, if, like me, you are a nervous virgin.
I've never understood why everyone is so enraptured by fruity beer (a common lager and ale swiller's way of summing up Belgian beer).
After almost killing myself at the Sugaya belgian beer tasting party, I decided to give this place a go.

It's situated at Kasumigaseki (on the Hibiya line).
Actually, a closer station is Toranomon (Ginza line, 160yen and 11 mins from Shibuya).
Here's a map:
It wasn't that easy to find (at least it wasn't for me).
I went to the towering high rise building complex and everything seemed to be closed or undergoing construction.
I found some signs for Delirium Cafe and I followed them, only to find a closed building with the lights off. I didn't give up and 20 minutes of exploring finally found me on the other side of the complex and a collection of restaurants and stores that were indeed very open.

This is an estimate of my route that evening (it was in the dark):

Here's a photo of the entrance to the Delirium Cafe:
Going in, the staff were very friendly and very proffesional.
The interior is laid out very well.
First thing you see is the main bar. It forms about a 90 degree arc of a circle with high stools around it, seating around 10. The stools have convenient baskets built into the bottom, where you can store your briefcase (Kasumigaseki being a salaryman stronghold) and the stool being tall enough to hang your Jacket on. The barstaff are very well informed about Belgian beer - as they love the stuff themselves. What better person could you want as a bar steward?
I used to be a bar steward in several places (or at least that's what I thought people were calling me).

My beer tutor for this evening was Arisa. I'd met her before at the Sugaya beer tasting party (this was when I was still conscious and had some functioning brain power to give me memories).
She impressed me with her knowledge of Belgian beer and he ability to hold a conversation with me (not many people can - I tend to, what can you say, oh, it's like that time I decided to suddenly dive into the tiny river outside the place where I used to live when I was younger. Instead of just floating and having fun wading in the waist deep water like everyone else, I decided to dive straight in. I had my arms stretched out either side of my head and when I dived in, body straight, I hit a jagged rock with the point sticking out. I struck that rock and hit it with my whole bodyweight behind me. I struck it straight on my forehead and was floating around in the water unconcious for a while when something told me it wasnt right and I stood up to see the astonished looks on my friends' faces. I had this enormous bulge swelling out of my forehead on the right side and still have the bump today and now I'm reminded of the time when my little brother was about 8years old and he was for some reason, rubbing his bottom up and down the newly laid wooden bed of my father's truck. I had no idea why someone would do such a strange thing but then it was my brother and he is over 96% chimpanzee (whereas I am clearly more bonobo - far higher intelligence). He was just laughing and rubbing his arse up and down the fresh, unsmoothed wood and then suddenly he stopped and his eyes were staring straight out and his mouth was open in a silent scream. Later, my mother removed a 4 inch splinter from his ass cheek. Idiot. Anyway, where was I? Oh, yes - tangents.).
I sometimes go off on tangents. That reminds me of 2 days ago, as I tried to help a student with his mathematics. I's forgotten that a straight line leaving the centre of a circle, intersects the circumference of the circle at a tangent. I felt like such an idiot. Again.

Well, Arisa told me of this new bar and I decided to check it out.
After studying the draught beer menu:
I decided (on advise) to try the Guldenberg beer, by De rank. Normall, 'rank' is not a very good name for a beer brewer or any product that is meant to be consumed. Still, this was Belgium and we all know Europeans and their smelly cheeses. I gave it a shot:
It wasn't bad. It certainly wasn't rank.
Although it was a little sour. It quite dry and hoppy. I think a friend of mine would apppreciate this beer more than I.
Still, I give it a 5.5 to6/10.
Not bad, seeing as I don't especially like Belgian beers.

The beer here was expertly poured by Arisa. There was no fake 'back push' of the tap producing artificial head, to go with the image of draught beer for the Japanese customer.
No, this process involved normally poured beer then the skimming off of the top of the foam (apparently, it improves the quality of the rest) with a silver...'skimmer'(?) and the careful dipping into fresh water of the glass, to remove the overflowing suds (a certain amount of beer goes down the drain every time - wince!) then a gentle wipe around the outside of the glass, but not and I repeat NOT with a dirty slimy coth and not around the top of the glass, where one's mouth was soon to venture.
I hate it when some bars use a cloth to wipe the top of the glass.
It's disgusting. This time, it was nice just to watch the whole process (for which I was undoubtedly paying for).
The beer was very good and served in the correct glass, too.
They have a great variety of glasses, to match their variety of 10 draught and many more bottled Belgian beers.

I decided to try the menu and also to have another beer.
I went with the Belgian fritters with the original Delirium cafe mayonnnaise.

Chips, basically.

They were among the cheapest option there (yes, I am a cheap b*st*rd) and also were warm and I figured I would use the fried potato as a taste test standard for the rest of the menu.
My logic being, if the fries were crap, the chances were the rest of the food wasn't that amazing.
The fries were good.
Strange presentation but they stayed warm for a reasonable length of time.
They went well with my beer.
The mayonnaise was not bad. I'm no fan of mayonnaise but this stuff wasn't so nasty. It seemed to suit the fries.
Belgain fritters: 6/10. Not as good as Kua'aina fries. Those are (excuse me for this ridiculous and now very unPC phrase) the bomb!

My second beer was the recommended one and the one for which the cafe is famous. The pink elephant beer!
Quite a nice brew. 8.5% alcohol so take care with this particular pink elephant.
You can pet her, stroke her, but once she sits in your lap, you're screwed (she only wants you for your nuts).

Fresh from a new keg. The picture kind of suggsts that the pink elephant discretely added a special extra ingredient.
Even so, this was very nice.
I reccomend trying this,, if you visit the bar. After all, it's their trademark beer.
After all, when in Rome, do as the Romans do (ride around on scooters all day, shouting obcenities and gesticulating widly with your arms, then drinking your sorrows away with some buono vino rosso - still on the scooter).
When in Sparta, walk around naked and have sex with little boys. Woof!

(click on pic to open the gif in another window)

Where was I?

Oh, yes, I was in Sparta.
No I wasn't.
I was talking about trying the bar's reccomended beer.
These guys import their beer direct from the brewers. No middlemen.

The whole bar can probably accomodate around 50 or so customers or perhaps a whole tribe of over 200 pygmies (but they'll have to check their blowdarts at the entrance).
There is some nice tabled seating further in from the main bar. Nice and dark so a great place to take a special someone or just one of your sad male friends who also have no one of the opposite sex to drink with.
They also have outdoor seating. Great for the summer months or perhaps for any Eskimos who happen to pass thru (sorry, it's Inuit {innit?}).

If you do visit this place and you don't feel like going to the toilet, make an excuse and just go.
It's quite an experience in itself.
The whole place is lined with mirrors, so be careful where you 'let go of the day's tensions'. double check your target area, just in case.
Another warning is that I believe the toilets may be haunted.
Every time I use them and open the door, I believe a ghost has just been interrupted from 'spookus relievus', as the toilet seat magically seems to move, as if a certain 'casper' is just about to be at peace. After suppressing a girlish scream, I entered and, after I finally found which reflection was the actual toilet (not through a system of trail and error, I may add), I tried my best to perform the intended function.
It wasn't easy.
I had a little bronze boy trying to piss all over me (I bet that's not the first time you've heard that).
It's not so easy when there is a tiny little boy who is peeing without stopping, right next to you.
It's very intimidating. It's also tempting to take up his challenge and pee right back in his face. In which case you better bring along a big box of towelletes and a nice excuse for the management (I recommend blaming the mirrors).

Overcoming the mirrors and the unrelenting pissing boy, you then have to contend with the spaceship controls.
There seems to be a button for everything.
Awesome! Also, scary.
I may go back and try out all the buttons, just to see.

(Boys and their toys.)

Overall this is an impresssive, classy addition to the numerous Belgian bars around Tokyo (Frigo, Belgo, etc).

A nice addition. Classy. Not cheap but also not overly expensive and an impressive selection of 10 beers on tap. Nicely poured beers, I might add. A place to attend to remind yourself that yes, you are indeed in Tokyo. Posh with a rich Japanese clientelle.
This evening, I was drinking next to the new chef. Nice guy. I reckon the food looks very good indeed. It should be changing soon. Interesting.

Sadly, a combination of bank balance, time and the fact that I had work in the morning necessitated my departure.

I'll be back.

To get back to Toranonomon station or the further Kasumigaseki station, walk in the opposite dorection to the Micheal Jackson glowing steps:
Or, if you are really extravegant, perhaps you could take a helicopter home.
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Blendmeister Beer Pub (Yokohama beer pub)

There's a new bar in town. It's lean, mean and has Steve McQueen

(well, perhaps if he was in the area and he wanted a beer).
It's called Blend Meister.

Seems like a weird name for a beer bar that serves up to 30 world premium beers draught and plans on having around 200 beers in bottles. Perhaps the blend is in the styles of beer available?
Of course, as the name suggests, it's Japanese managed.
This is a country where there is no shame in drinking blended coffee (it's even a branded name). Everything is blend this, blend that. Never mind that a blend incorporates several different vaireties and therefore is not 100% pure. This, in a homogonous society is simply intruiging. "Go crazy, try something blended! This way, you can be different! Just like everybody else."
p.s. I'm not knocking the idea of a blend as being inferior, just that often blended coffee means mixing the good stuff up with some nasty crap to make more money.
The very idea of blending beers, well, not a nice thought.

"Unless it's in mah belleh!!!!"

Anyway, back to the BlendMeister.
I heard a rumour about this place and decided to check it out. I've been there twice. Once in December, 2007 and once more in Janurary, 2008.

It has connections with Yokohama Beer. Yokohama Beer beer restaurant, Sol Ponte, is very close by, just 3 or 4 blocks away. Yokohama beer has one of the best weissens in Japan and produces over 6 varieties of pretty good booze. They also have by far the best value all-you-can-drink that I know of. 1800yen for 90 minutes of over 6 craftbrewed quality beers. Awesome. (HERE is a link to one of my old adventures with an old friend in both senses of the word - I meant 'old', not 'friend', as perhaps implying a sexual connection - of which there is none that I am aware of.)

Once more, back to reality and the point of the blog entry.
Perhaps the bar is called 'BLENDMEISTER', as the owner has skillfully managed to blend together some of the best international beers you will find in this country and a few others perhaps you won't (he has connections with a certain importer).

For example, here's one of the beer menus:Not bad, eh?

I was told by the barman a few days ago that they had 30 beers on tap. Impressive.
I meant the selection of beers, not the barman.
They change some beers every now and then. They also change beers from slected brewers (e.g. changing the styles of Hobgoblin beer or perhaps introducing a new variety of British ale or bitter.)
The happy new suprise I recieved upon my second visit was this beauty:

Yesssssssssssssssss!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pilsner Urquell. The original pilsner and perhaps the best. I love this baby. so much so that I made an effort of visiting the brewery in Pilsn, Czech Republic, twice and taking the brewery tour and sampling the real thing, from a wooden barrel, un filtered, unpasturised, unchilled and unbloodybelievable!The bar itself is not too difficult to find, as it's in the ground floor of the Heiwa Plaza Hotel.
Here's a map I made using Google Earth:The closest station is Bashamichi, on the Minato Mirai Line. This is an expensive line and a cheaper option would be from Sakuragicho station. a little further but still an easy walk.

Once you get to the Heiwa Plaza Hotel, you will see the bar on the ground floor.
It's a bit of a let down to see the cars parked right outside the bar. You'd think they would have parked them elsewhere (can't do much for business), but then this is a functioning hotel.

Once you go in, you may find the place resembles an American style bar. A rectangular bar full of taps of various styles of beer greet you, along with the TGIF badge madness cladded barstaff (WTF?). The bar has high chair seating for around a dozen drunks.Before the bar, there is tabled seating for around 20. Overall, they did quite a nice job in the interior. The only thing I don't really care for is the overabundance of fake darts games. I hate those things. That's just not darts, in my humble opinionated opinion.
There is a small kitchen to the right, just before the toilets.
Check out the cool mirror in the gents (I didn't check the ladies - mainly because there weren't any)!There is a small back room at the far end of the bar, on the left side. I was so excited to find out what this would hold. A pool table? A VIP room?
No, fake darts. Three of the flippin machines. Why?
I hate those bloody things. What a shame. Just a perfect place for a pool table.
Back in the bar, near the door to the room of fake darts, you can see the coolers containing the bottled beers.
I read that they hope to stock a LOT more bottled beer soon. At the moment, their selection is still quite decent. Just watch out for the two headed woman. She'll get ya.The second time I was here, I met this guy:Great guy and the brewer of Yokohama beer! He knew a lot about beer and I wasn't suprised when he immediately ordered a pint of Urquell, as soon as he sat down. He agrees that it is a lovely pint. It was really great, chatting to this guy, using my broken Japanese and his knowledge of English and our shared passion for all things sudsy
(I can also say that Yokohama's upcoming new beers should be very, very interesting - keep an eye out for them!).

I had another urquell, then followed it up with a favourite of mine from back home, Marston's Pedigree. Cask aged ale. Just 4.5% alcohol but nice and malty, mellow tasting. Just give her 10 minutes to rise above the insanely freezing serving temperature first.
Mmm...

If, like me, you'd prefer your beer not chilled to the point of freezing in the frozen glass, then ask teh barstafff not to use a chilled glass or not to dip your urquell mug into iced water, to make the already overchilled beer even colder. I think this is perhaps Japanese style (the manager told me it was stiill Yokohama style to drink ice cold beer) and it does indeed suit the Japanese lagers, but not for British ales or fine lagers.
I really believe the beer not only smells but tastes different, as the temperature changes. Perhaps the Budweiser or Miller would be better iced (or preferably switched for a glass of urquell or pedigree).

Something else that confuses me is how everything is almost the same price. A pint of Pedigree is 1000yen, as is a Guinness, as is the Budweiser and Miller! I hope I don't come across as a snob ( as opposed to come across a snob - unless I simultaneously sneeze and orgasm at the same time) but they are a whole different class of booze and the Budweiser has got to be the least value pint.
I just can't justify 'wasting' 1000yen on Bud if I can have a comparably superior pint for the same price. Whatever the drink, 1,000yen isn't chicken feed, anyway.

The beers are good, but too cold. I had a few beers in the time I was there:(the entrance is behind me, on the left)

Pilsner Urquell: Lovely, dry and malty Bohemian pilsner. One of the beers. Served very dry tasting and a little undercarbonated, perhaps. Seemd to go flat fast. If you like your beer at a normal temperature, ask the barstaff not to dip your glass into the iced water. It's up to you.Tasted ok but not perfect. Still, very good. Good enough for a second. But not cheap. 1200yen a pint. However, I doubt if you will find this anywhere else in Japan right now. I only had it once at the Belgian bar in Shibuya and that was only from one barrel. If you like this beer, drinki it now, while it's stil there.
7.5/10.

Marston's Pedigree:Very nice. But again, too bloody cold! Gets better as it warms. Poured perfectly with a nice head. Not a perfect taste, but I've had this a 4 other places in Japan and all with the exception of Cheers (when they still had it on tap!) did a terrible job of serving it. This place is ok.
Nice, malty, smooth and so easy to drink. Brings back memories.
7/10.


Enough talk about world beers. How about local ones?
More to the point, Yokohama beers. Seeing as this is a yokohama beer venture, it would be good to try their nice brews.
Also, the Yokohama beer offers better value at 900yen for a pint.
I highly recommend their weissen and also this fruity little baby.

Tsunashima peach ale:Ooh! Lovely! Made with peaches from Tsunashima (the next station to mine).
You can really taste them, too. In a good way.
Very nice and fruity peach ale.
One for the ladies, and the fruity guys.
6.5/10
I had another peach ale in Popeye's bar a few days later and I was dissapointed, as it lacked oomph, compared to this wondrous cacophony of flavor.

Shonan beer Russian Imperial Stout:Another nice beer. Stronger and darker (duh!). In the 18th Century, the British brewed this style of beer, under request of the Russian Imperial court. Chocolate malts, hops, dark dark roasting and 7% alcohol give this baby something else. Not bad. another Russian Imperial Stout you may see in shops here is the Rasputin (you can find it at Sugaya beer shop, near-ish to Kajigaya Station), by the American NorthCoast Brewing company. This beer was nice but not so easy to drink.
6/10.

Yokohama beer's Toddy:I think this was an experimental beer, brewed by the Yokohama beer guys. All I can say is I feel it was a nice change. This is a spiced Christmas ale. And for me at least, it really did taste of Christmas! Very nice. The spices reminded me of the Christmas puddings we'd gorge ourselves on after Christmas dinner. The flavors, the spices, the nuts in my mouth...oh, so many repressed memories.
Very nice and brought on memory lane with every sip.
7/10

Franziskaner Hefeweissen:This is a very good weissbeer. From Munich, that nirvana of weissbiers. I love wheat beers and I kow this beer very well. However, something was off with this one. Maybe it was the first one (there are still not many customers in this place - it's still very new) from teh tap or the gas was wrong but it defintely tasted a little od. Not enough to warrant a complaint, but something wasn't right. Still, it was nice. Normally I would give a 7.5 for this beauty but this one merited a lower score, as it tasted off, for unkown reasons.
5.5/10

Bass Pale Ale:Just to complete the nostalgia, I decided to have a Bass, to compare with the Pedigree. No comparison. This Bass too, was a little off. Tasted strange. But not so bad.
6/10.
I have no idea why all the beers I treid that I knew from experience actually didn't quite taste how I imagined them to. The Urquell too. Still, only the Franziskaner and Bass were off by an easily perceptable margin. The other beers tasted ok. Also, they were poured very well and with the utmost care. Service is very important in this country and I usually have zero complaints, regards to quality in that regard.

When they get their al night liscence, this place should be an interesting place to while away the wee hours wiht a few freinds or jsut by your lonesome.
Although keep in mind the sneaky small print on the menu. There is a 500yen cover charge, per person, after midnight!Grrrr!!!!

Overall impression:
BLENDMEISTER 7.5/10
Amazing variety, so should have something for everyone. Hopefully it will get a bit busier as more people become aware of it and hope-upon-hopefully they will decide to have a happy hour(s)!!!