Anyway, I'll share what I have neglected to post about for so long. A few months ago I tried several beers I picked up at the local import shop. (I'm pretty sure all of the employees at Yamaya know me).From left to right we have: Old Crafty Hen Vintage Style Ale, Mahou Negra, Leffe (I believe it was a Belgian style brown ale), Vedett a white ale, and Old Foghorn from Anchor brewery, barleywine style ale.
From what I recall, the Old Crafty Hen was pretty good. A rich flavor, something like 6% alcohol and tasted great at room temperature. I was not so impressed with Mahou Negra, it was a dark beer, something akin to a Guinness. I believe it was from Spain, decent flavor, just not my favorite. The Leffe was good from what I recall a bit pricey, something like 600 yen. Worth it though for a good drink. Vedett was tough for me. As some of my readers might know I'm not an avid wheat beer drinker. This was VERY wheaty. It was a struggle to finish, though one of my co-workers is quite fond of them. To each their own I suppose. But, it was "For Science!" So I decided to try one anyway. As for the last one Old Foghorn, I thought it was pretty good. It was slightly different from what I recall, (might need to try another bottle!) again though very pricey, around 500 yen. There were several others from Anchor Brewery which I might try in the future.
The two on the right were purchased at Lake Tazawako during one of my camp trips this summer. I recall the one with the yellow label not being anything special, it tasted just like a normal lager, kind of bland. The grey labeled bottle I do not directly recall. I remember it was better then the yellow one, in my opinion, sadly no specifics. Sorry!
On a funny side note, when I was home in Michigan over Christmas I went to a local grocery store to look for beer. I was surprised to see Sapporo one of Japan's large beer companies represented. A six pack of bottles cost something like 7 dollars. It's funny, because that is definitely cheaper then what it cost in Akita. The same pack would easily cost double that in yen, if not more. How it's cheaper? Not exactly sure, probably something to do with taxes and the price of brewing materials between the U.S. and Japan. It was an interesting find to be sure.
Anyway sorry for the ill informed belated post. Hopefully the beer tasting party will go well and I'll have some more stuff to share.
-Cheers!
