Sake is Japan’s most famous alcoholic beverage, although technically this Japanese word simply means ‘alcohol’ and is used to refer to all varieties of the liquid. Within Japan you’ll most commonly hear ‘nihonshu’ and ‘shochu’ used to describe the two main types of traditional alcohol. However, nowadays it’s actually beer that’s the go-to drink in Japan, and while the big corporations still account for most of it, locally-brewed craft beer has seen a surge in popularity in recent years. And it’s not just for hipsters anymore.
Beer in Japan
There are four major brewers in Japan: Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory. The beers these companies produce are mostly light lagers that, while easy to drink, seem rather weak and tasteless to anyone who has been raised on more bitter or malty varieties. Until 1994 the government had a strict lower limit on the amount of beer a brewery had to produce in order to get a license.
Since then the limit has been lowered dramatically allowing for smaller breweries to enter the market, and a thriving craft beer scene has sprung up in Japan in recent years with 270 microbreweries operating in 2012. Young people in particular are enjoying savouring new and more flavorful beers at specialist bars and events in place of the standard nama (draught) beer served at most eateries.
The Event
The Great Japan Beer Festival has been held every year since 1998 in four of Japan’s major cities: Tokyo, Osaka, Yokohama, and Nagoya. In 2012 there were approximately 20,000 visitors to the event overall.
The Venue
The Yokohama Beer Festival 2014 was held on Saturday and Sunday (13 and 14 September) in the hall at the Ōsanbashi International Passenger Terminal, a beautiful and chic location with an outdoor area perfect for enjoying your beer in the late summer sun.
The Beer
Entry cost 4,600 yen (US$43) which got you an official beer glass that you then took around to the different stalls set up by the breweries to receive samples of their beer. In total there were 76 breweries showing off their wares from all across Japan, from up in Hokkaido right the way down to Kagoshima. There were also some international brewers from the US, UK, Belgium, Spain, and even Palestine. The event brochure informs me that there are 105 styles of beer as classified by the Japan Beer Association, and there truly was something for everyone (so long as you like the general concept of beer…), from dark ales to fruity lagers.
Check out the photo dump below for a glimpse at the atmosphere and to see the brewers themselves carefully pouring their special beverages and looking delighted to see people enjoying them. You can find more information on Japan’s craft beer scene from the Japan Craft Beer Association.
What are your favourite craft beers, from Japan or elsewhere? Let us know in the comments section below!
Source: The Craft Beer Association
Photos © RocketNews24