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First beer of the night is firestone walkers interpretation of an English style bitter. Primary fermented in oak barrels this beer picks up a lot of characteristics from the barrel leading to a smooth vanilla note on both the nose and aftertaste. The hops are muted, using noble varieties. A deep caramel flavor and crisp mouthfeel make it an excellent representation of the style and an overall great brew.
A rare treat that is lip smacking good!
Drinking a great beer, 8.5%. San Diego Beer Week!
Had a Guinness earlier, now it's a Boddingtons.
My second day on this trip. I had lunch at the Grand Central Oyster Bar in the Atre section of the Shinagawa Train Station in Tokyo. This seafood plate had the fried oysters on the left, scallops in the middle and some grilled fish on the right. I was hungry, but this isn't very much food. The fish portion is barely over an inch wide. I'm not a fan of fried oysters, but the fresh ones were over $5 each, which is too much for me, even if the company is paying for it. The grilled fish was good, but the portion size was ridiculously small. The scallops were rubbery and had no texture of a real scallop. I think they were fake. This plate costs over $15. Did I mention that Tokyo is very expensive?
Another appetizer from 82 Ale House. This is the duck. It was 350 Yen.
Breakfast buffet at the Top of the Shinagawa Prince Hotel. Keeping it light, and that's not a beer in that glass in the back.
Here's a Japanese breakfast from a buffet. I'm staying at the Shinagawa Prince Hotel and I have breakfasts included every day. I get to choose from any 5 of their restaurants. This wasn't very tasty. Clockwise, from the salmon on the left: 6 type rice mix, miso soup, udon noodles, pickled seaweed?, and I forgot what the white ball, I didn't like it.
Here's a Sashimi plate that I had for lunch in the Shinjuku area of Tokyo. The restaurant's name was Tofu-Ya. It included crab claw, shrimp, maguro (tuna), salmon, salmon eggs, squid, mackeral, white fish, and some pink loose stuff. It also came with a bowl of miso soup with some fish in it. I'm drinking an Asahi draft. Though it didn't quite match the picture, it was pretty good.
Had a Guinness earlier, now it's a Boddingtons.
A wonderful double IPA during the San Diego Beer Week at the Blind Lady Ale House.
Pliny the Elder is brewed by Russian River Brewing, Santa Rosa, California.
Their story on the name, who it is and about the beer:
Pliny the Elder was a Roman naturalist, scholar, historian, traveler, officer, and writer. Although not considered his most important work, Pliny and his contemporaries created the botanical name for hops, "Lupus salictarius", meaning wolf among scrubs." Hops at that time grew wild among willows, much like a wolf in the forest. Later the current botanical name, Humulus lupulus, was adopted. Pliny died in 79 AD while observing the eruption of Mount Vesuvius. He was immortalized by his nephew, Pliny the Younger, who continued his uncle's legacy by documenting much of what he observed during the eruption of Mount Vesuvius.
8.0%ABV, 1.071 O.G
Gold Medal, 2006 World Beer Cup (Double IPA Category)Bronze Medal, 2004 GABF (Double IPA Category)
Happy B-Day to Frank L too!
Hot Manzanillo Tea, shot of Captain Morgans and a shot of Jim Beam. I'm not sick now...feeling good!
At O'Briens with my brother Dave. A hoppy lager with a slight sour Belgian beer taste. 4 stars
I decided to write a new blog post versus updating my original beers in japan post.
Wrapping up a great evening in Tokyo. Thanks for reading my blog. I have a great time writing it!
This Kirin Draft in a can was my first in Japan. I bought it from a vending machine inside Osaka Kansei Airport. Tasted like your average American lager. They use rice as one of their main grains too. 3 stars
Asahi Black, a great find at the first Japanese restaurant. A typical Osaka eatery serving Okonomiyaki. It's a mixture of eggs, a batter, vegetables, cheese, and shrimp or something similar. A cross between an omelette and a pancake. This is a typical grill-it-yourself place, where the waitress/cook comes to your table with the raw ingredients of your order, mixes it up in front of you and places it on the grill in the middle of the table. It starts cooking and you take care of it, flipping it until it's done. Fun, good food, and good beer, both the food and beer - 4 stars.
A Kirin draft served at the Osaka Hilton. I love the Japanese crackers. The pink ones were shrimp flavored.
This Suntory Premium Malt cost about 10% more than the regular beers at the AM/PM store next to the hotel. There wasn't a lot of difference in taste, maybe just a bit more malt taste. There's a lot of 7-11 stores in Japan too.
On the bullet train from Osaka to Tokyo, I bought this beer at the station. The big cans are 500ml. It's a good size and stays cold on the train ride. Asahi "Super" Dry has a crisp lager taste. Easy and average - 3 stars.
The beverage cart girl was passing by my seat. I picked up this Sapporo. Average tasting lager - 3 stars.
The cart comes back again, this time it's a Kirin Beer. It says "Brewed for Good Times". You can see my adventure hat and Canon camera. Most of these beer shots are with my iPhone.
Yebisu, The Hop was another lager with bit more hops. I'll give them an extra star for trying - 4 stars.
While in Tokyo, I found another store with a bigger beer selection. Here's a Tokyo Black, it's a porter style. Very black, rich taste, delicious - 5 stars.
The picture is a little blurry, but I'm sure you can tell we are having a good time. Clockwise from me, Yoshiko, Miyuki, and Kawamura-san from our Yokohama office.
Kampai!
Extra black color, velvety taste, sweet malty, plum flavors with a hoppy tart finish. Delicious!!
O'Brien's Pub in San Diego specializes the local brewery's best beers, plus west coast breweries, and Belgium style beers, with an over 200 bottle selection. One of the best beer bars in one of the countries best beer cities, San Diego.
An El Salvadoran beer that tastes pretty plain.
Ooh, ike a light beer, yuk!
Padres winning 3-1, 9th inning, Peavy pitching.
Light citrus taste, light golden color, hoppy tart bite, clean aftertaste.
At Hamilton's in San Diego.
Traditionally cloudy, unfiltered, very Belgium like. Citrusy.
Post your comments, please.
Dark chocolate in both aroma and first taste. A hoppy nose and balanced malt makes for a delicious beer. Hooley's Irish Pub, La Mesa. Just opened.
A delicious beer at my newest favorite bar, Press Box in Rancho San Diego!
Pitch black color with a small creamy head. Smells is malt and alcohol. Smooth malty sweetness with a notable whiskey aftertaste.
Woo Hoo!
Big time party in the neighborhood. My best friend Greg brought a keg of Oceanside Ale Work's Pale Ale.
That's Greg in the Charger jersey. Greg's a grill master. I have what's left of a rib. I'm wearing one of my favorite t-shirts, Stone Brewery's Oaked Arrogant Bastard.
There were only 3 serious beer drinkers at the party, Greg, myself, and my brother Dave.
We did our best to empty the keg.
I had left my 3 liter bottle of Oaked Arrogant Bastard at my friends house from the last party. It needs a refill!
Last beer!
Stone IPA at Seau's Restaurant in the Mission Valley area of San Diego. I'm with my cousin and nephew.
Finishing off a great tasting Stone Brewing's Stone India Pale Ale. A 99 rating at RateBeer.com.
This brand new restaurant/bar has just been built and open since New Years. It hasn't had it's grand opening yet. This place is right around the corner from my house, overlooking Cottonwood Golf Course. It's very upscale, super nice inside and has a terrific bar and patio overlooking the golf course. My brother and I also had a bowl of their hearty vegetable soup and a calamari appetizer. Both were delicious. I'm coming back!
One of my favorite beer bars in San Diego is O'Brien's Pub in the Kearny Mesa neighborhood.
This is close to my work, and on an occasional lunch time, you will find me there. Above is a picture of Russian River Brewery's Pliny the Elder. A delicious double IPA with a funny name. RateBeer.com has it listed with a 100 rating!
O'Brien's proclaims itself the "Hoppiest Place on Earth". It always has the best beers on tap and bottle.
Corvacier?
Ummm, good!
Another great beer at my favorite beer bar in San Diego. This beer had an initial malt sweetness. There was no strong alcohol taste, though at 9% it was served in a 10 oz goblet. Totally smooth, like the Dead Guy Ale I love. 5 stars! Are my ears getting hot?
Deep golden color, strong hop aroma, balanced malt taste with a crisp hoppy bitterness finish. 4 stars
On New Year's Eve, my brother and I visited the new Firehouse Brewery near Quallcomm Stadium in San Diego. This brewery was started by firefighters who perfected their hobby in between saving lives. I like their Pale Ale and they have a good lineup.
Award winning!
Stone Brewey - Self Righteous!
An excellent festive beer!
Fresh IPA! & great food!
Awesome beer bar found!
All this in my ice chest!...empty now
Mmmmm...delicious!
Bar hopping!
I M Sirius!! Very much so. A very rich beer with a tangy malt taste.
OG 1.072
IBU 40.63
Alc 7.0
Lagunitas Censored formally known as The Kronik.
I accidently put it in both beer and car shopping categories, but it kind of fits as it's one of my latest refreshments while I car shop on the Net.
It's got a rich dark copper hue, a sweet malt aroma and a nice balanced hop taste to make it a winner!
Try some today!
My favorite local irish pub.
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