Beer festival
This last weekend Danielle and I, and a troupe of others (including some of the usual suspects), went to osaka for the Great Japan Beer Festival. Over a hundred beers, REAL BEERS, that we devoted an afternoon to tasting, and enjoying.
The festival is pretty much exactly as you might expect it to be. We were in the Osaka dome, (home to the Hanshin Tigers!). All along one corridor there was tap upon tap. As you entered you exchanged your ticket for a glass that held 55ml of beer. You went from line to line tap to tap trying beer. There was also a couple of stands slinging various snacks. Snacks of the variety that sound very good when drunk. (mmm shepherd pie and bacon steaks…) Early on there was some discussion about trying all the beers, was it possible? 55×100 =5500 so… 5 and a half liters of beer! doesn’t sound like too much right? Some were determined to try. Like our friend angus. See how happy beer makes him.
We worked our way through several taps, but barely an hour in, several taps were already, uh, tapped out. So no one ever got the chance to try them all. Regardless a good time was had by all. I tried many great beers that wet my appetite for more. Unfortunately, it is hard to find most of the beers we tried. I guess most of them like to be marketed as a kitschy souvenir and will never make it into the liqueur mountain near us. So alas this is a once a year happening. I for one, can’t wait for next year.
