DIY Beer Flight
The 2020 Kraft Bier Fest Kofu has been cancelled. Usually, my roughest day of the year is the day after the festival concludes, knowing I’ll have to wait 51 weeks for next year’s. I originally had the idea that, if the beer festival left you thirsting for terrific beers, I could provide a list of some restaurants and local supermarkets and liquor stores and what kind of variety they offer. With the festival being cancelled (or perhaps postponed to Fall, though I haven’t seen any proposed dates), you’re probably thirsting for a sampling of beers anyway. Thirsting really, really bad. So changed my mind to throwing and reporting on my own slapdash beer mini-festival.
Not this summer…
Of course, if you have the chance, you should try: Hops and Herbs and the Vault in Kofu Chuo to get Outsider beers; the Rink, in Kofu Marunouchi, has imports; Rock in Kiyosato for Yatsugatake Touchdown; or Sylvans in Kawaguchiko for Fujizakura Heights Beer. This is in no way an exhaustive list of restaurants or breweries.
Instead, I wanted to focus on store-bought beers, trying a variety while maintaining a bit more social distancing. So I invited G and B to spend an afternoon, having a DIY beer flight sourced from only one shop.
G suggested we drink somewhere outside. I would have loved to drink at Maizuru Castle or Yocchabare Park but . . . always an issue with the beer festival, the July heat was just too much, so we ended up staying in. B said he knew a place with a good selection, so he picked out and bought all our beers at 酒のディアーズ (Dears Liquor) in Asake.
Our Line-up
Beer Name - alc.% - Company1 - Cumulative Score ( /15)
Duopolis Oat Cream DDH IPA - 4.7 - Brew Dog - 9.72
Yellow Sky (Yuzu) Pale Ale - 5.5% - Y. Market (Nagoya) - 9.7
Ukiyona Shiranuhi Juicy IPA - 6.0% - Witch Craft Market (Uki, Kumamoto) - 5.53
Fusca Sour Blonde - 6.0% - Vertere (Tama, Tokyo) - 8.5
Utopia Mixed Fermentation Farmhouse Ale - 3.5% - Howe Sound - 7
Purple Sky Pale Ale - 5.5% - Y. Market (Nagoya) - 9.3
Raspberry Dry Hopped Sour - 5.5% - Collective Arts - 6.2
Pils Don’t Pay the Bills - 4.4% - Mikkeller SD - 10.4
Fruit Monster - 9.5% - West Coast (Shizuoka) - 6.84
Notes
1) If the beer is domestic, I noted its brewery’s location in parentheses. If no parentheses, it’s imported.
2) Duopolis not only tied for the 2nd highest cumulative score, it was the favorite beer of 2 of the 3 judges.
3) One judge really did not like Ukiyona but, not wanting to throw out something paid for, finished off his sample anyway. Still, it was the least liked of 2 of the 3 judges.
4) Today’s beer with the highest ABV (9.5%), the longest name (the full name appears to be The Hop Dude Likes Fruit Fruit Monster), and the most detailed description - Strawberry Milkshake IPA with Madagascar Vanilla Beans and Lactose. Though it didn’t score so well, it didn’t taste all that bad. As B put it, it delivered on its profile, which means it tasted like a strawberry milkshake IPA with Madagascar Vanilla Beans and Lactose.
I don’t know about the other guys’ judging methods but I tried to keep mine very simple. None of these beers have become a new favorite, so no 5s. I didn’t spit any out, so no 0s. Basically, I thought to myself, this one’s ok, I’ll get it again —> 4. This one’s ok but I probably won’t get it again —> 2.
More on Dears
Simply put, I’ve never been to a Yamanashi shop that has the selection that Dears does. I’ve not explored the liquor section but their beer selection is large and varied. There are US and Canadian craft beers and Japanese craft beers including Uchu, a brewery in Hokuto City. Unfortunately, it’s best visited by car - the closest station (Minami-Kofu Station) is a ten-minute walk away. But if you were only going to pick up a few cans you could easily go by bicycle from downtown Kofu. 〒400-0862 山梨県甲府市朝気 3丁目18-29 (3 Chome-18-29 Asake, Kofu, Yamanashi 400-0862)
Quiz
Our DIY beer flight had conversation and music and, to add a little bit of fun, I had B and G take a trivia quiz. I just used the QuizUp app to get some questions. Seven questions each in three categories - Beer, Japan, and the US (the three of us all being from the US). I also made a playlist of seven songs selected from music I’ve been listening to. G just edged B. I credit his recognition of Joan Jett for the victory. No prize was awarded.
Just a little follow-up - support local businesses, drink responsibly, practice social distancing. We had a bit of a hitch. We finished up around 3 PM on Monday. Several Daikou services claimed 24 hour service. Maybe hours have been changed or maybe it was the odd scheduling of our beer flight but when B contacted these services, they kept telling him call back later, call back later.