Vista Brewing Zenith

Posted on by Evan

I purchased Zenith an Oak Aged Petit Saison from Vista Brewing in Driftwood, Texas (http://www.vistabrewingtx.com). This beer is 5.3 ABV and is a collaboration with True Anomaly Brewing in Houston, TX (http://www.trueanomalybrewing.com). This beer uses grisette with a touch of flaked oats, aged for six months in French oak barrels until it reaches its peak. The house cultures come from True Anomaly. I bought this beer will tour the brewery not long ago.

Zenith pours gold straw color with a two finger white head. The aroma is light, funky, fruity, and light on sweetness. The flavor is funk, fruity, (mostly green grape and apples). It does have some light semisweet flavor and is a bit dry, without being too dry. This has a light feeling in the mouth. Then it has a soft funk fruit dry finish. The aftertaste is not sweet as the initial taste, but it is light on fruity with some funky apple. This is a good beer. I give this a B. It is lighter than I was expecting and light on ABV. I would recommend it if you are at Vista Brewing. You can find this beer and other Vista beer at Spec’s (https://specsonline.com) or reach out to the Vista Brewery.

Now Vista Brewing itself is mostly outdoor with a huge acreage of land where the food is farm to table, the tap room and brew house are indoors.

The tour I had was with the same crowed, well almost, from my Belgian beer tour. This tour was with the owner Kent Killough. During the tour be had samples of some of the beer that will be hitting the tap room soon. At the end of the tour we had a nice outdoor dinner. Which was delicious.

We did have a flight of three beers during dinner. They were good. Over all the atmosphere at Vista Brewing was great as were the beer and the people. I highly recommend going there if you in Driftwood, Texas. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Suntory The Premium Malt’s

Posted on by Evan

In the United States, we only have Whiskey from Suntory, and we never see any other products they make. One such product is The Premium Malt’s an all-malt beer from Suntory. This is a 5.5% Pilsner from Suntory Beer Limited in Minato-Ku, Tokyo, Japan. I had this with my first meal on Japan Airlines. This beer pours a deep gold that is almost copper. The aroma is very malty and has a malt sweetness. The taste is big on the malt flavor. It is a bold malt bomb, with nice smoothness. It tastes like it is one hundred percent malt. This has a medium feel to the mouth. Then it has a malted finish with a sweet malted aftertaste. This pure malt beer is good but loses some of its tasty flavors as it warms. I give this a B-. You need to have this one cold, and yes you should try The Premium Malt’s if you see it. It is good if you are into bold malt-flavored beers, and it goes well with Ramen and other savory Japanese foods. Please stay safe, be kind to each other and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sapporo Brewing Company Premium Yebisu

Posted on by Evan

Premium Yebisu is brewed by Sapporo Brewing Company in Japan. I first had this beer at the Tokyo airport on tap, in a self-pouring multiple-beer machine. You can choose from a few different beers on one tap machine. Then I had it on the plane from Tokyo to JFK in NYC.

This is a 5% ABV malt or Dortmunderc Lager. As far as I know, this beer is only available in Japan; I have not seen it anywhere. It pours deeper gold with a bright two-finger white head. The aroma is sweet from the malts used and a bit bitter. The taste is a little malted with some bitterness. There is less sweetness hitting your taste buds than you get from the aroma. The mouthfeel is light. Then it has a malty bittersweet finish. The aftertaste is pretty bland and unforgettable. I did enjoy this Premium Yebisu, but I think there are better beers, and I give it a high C+. It is good on its own, especially on tap, and slightly better with Japanese foods. If you ever see Premium Yabisu, then I recommend tying it. It is just a maltier version of Sapporo beer. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sapporo Brewing Ginza Lion Beer Hall

Posted on by Evan

In the heart of Ginza Tokyo, Japan is the Sapporo Brewing Lion Beer Hall, located in a building with Nissans, which is worth checking out beforehand. The Lion is upstairs from all the Nissan cars. During lunch, I went with Edelpils, a German-style Pilsner beer. This beer uses Czech Zatsu hops, malted barley, and no adjuncts.

I also ordered the sausage plater with three sausages sauerkraut. Ordering food and drinks was easy once you found the English button on the tablet, then you selected what you wanted and then pressed order, and after a few minutes, it arrived. The Edelpils beer is crisp and refreshing with a light hop note. The sausage platter was delicious. I ordered a second beer, which was a hybrid beer a mix of Premium Yebisu and and Sapporo Reserve Beer. I have had Yebisu twice since then. A review of it will be up soon.

This beer was malty with a light richness. It was good but a little heavier than Edelpis beer. I then ordered a dessert, a strawberry sundae. That was good, as the strawberries in Japan are much better and more delicious than here in the U.S. When you are done you take the card with the table number on it up to the bar and that is how you pay for the meal. This place was similar to what you might find in a traditional German beer hall but with a Japanese touch. I highly recommend The Sapporo Lion Beer Hall. It is a cool and delicious place to visit. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Far Yeast Brewing Hop Frontier Juicy IPA

Posted on by Evan

I still have beers to review from Asia, and this one is Far Yeast Brewing Hop Frontier Juicy IPA. It is 6.3% ABV and comes from Kosuge, Yamanashi, Japan. I had this at the Punch Room at the Tokyo Giza Edition Hotel. This IPA pours gold with a two-finger white head. The aroma is crisp with citrus hop-forward bitterness. The flavor is mild, tropical, hoppy, and floral. This has a medium feel. The finish is mild bitter hops with a citrus flavor. The aftertaste is similar to the finish with bitter citrus. This is good, but I think it needs more body. I’d say Hop Frontier is just an A-… It lacks a bit of body to help the flavors to shine. I would, however, recommend this if you are in the neighborhood. It is worth drinking. Please stay safe be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Yo-Ho Brewing Company Suiyobi no Neko Belgian Style White Ale

Posted on by Evan

This white ale, Suiyoubi no Neko, translates to “Wednesday Cat” in English. It is brewed by Yo-Ho Brewing Company and has a 5% ABV. The meaning of “Wednesday Cat” is to help you get through the mid-week slump. This beer was purchased from the nearby Lawson convenience store. This White Ale pours golden with a bright white two-finger head. The aroma is sweet with citrus and orange peel. It has cloves and banana notes with spice from the coriander. The flavor is pretty similar to the aroma. It is sweet with orange peels and bananas. There is spice from coriander and clove. This has a medium feel to the mouth. This ale finishes with a spice banana and clove. The aftertaste is a little spiced banana. This is good but I think there are better white ale out there. This Suiyoubi no Neko is a B+. This is good and I recommend this ale. If you are in Japan and see this drink it and you will not be disappointed. It is a good representation of a white ale with a nice overall flavor. I would have this again. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Sankt Gallen Brewery & The Tokyo Edition Golden Fox Ale

Posted on by Evan

This beer from Sankt Gallen Brewery, Golden Fox, was in the mini bar at the Tokyo Edition in Tokyo, Japan. This beer is 4.5% ABV. I could not find much information about this beer, but the brewery is in Atsugi, Kanagawa, Japan. This beer is a golden ale. Golden Fox pours gold with a two-finger pillowy white head. The aroma is sweet but not too sweet. There is a bit of an apple scent on the nose. The flavor is semi-sweet and a little fruity. This beer has a mild flavor overall. It has a light mouthfeel. Then, this beer has a mild, sweet finish and not much of an aftertaste. This is not a bad beer. I found it slightly boring, so I gave it a C. There was nothing to brag about, nor would I rush out to drink it. It is only in Japan, so finding it would be hard. Please stay safe, be kind to each other,, and remember to enjoy responsibly!

Yo-Ho Brewing company Boku Beer Kimi Beer Saison

Posted on by Evan

I went into a Japanese convenience store called Lawson in Tokyo to see if they had beer or craft beer. I saw a yellow can with a frog on it. I picked up Yo-Ho Brewing Company Boku Beer Kimi Beer, a saison beer with 4.5% ABV brewed in Saku-shi, Nagano, Japan. This mico brewer has been in business since 1996. This Saison pours gold with a bubbly one-finger white head. The aroma is light funk with some light fruits and some grass. The taste is lightly funky and fruity with a slight dry-hoppy grassy flavor. This has a lighter feel to the mouth. This beer finish is light and slightly fruity. The aftertaste is funky a bit with some lemon and grass. That does not linger long. This is lighter than a normal Saison, that may be because this beer is 4.5% ABV. This beer is a B-. If the ABV was higher, then I grade it higher. If you are even in Japan, I recommend Boku Beer Kimi Beer Saison. It was refreshing and light. Please stay safe, be kind to each other, and remember to enjoy responsibly! Cheers!

Satusuma Shuzo Satusuma Black

Posted on by Evan

I was on a guided tour through Kagoshima Japan and we went to a garden where silk was made, and in the gift shop among so many bottles of Sake I found Satusuma Black. This is a stout made from sweet potatoes and comes in at 4.5% ABV, which is low for a stout. This beer is produced by a local company that makes sake from sweet potatoes as well as two other low ABV sweet potato beer. This beer poured thin deep black with a one finger tan head. The aroma is sweet and light and somehow strong at the same time. The flavor is in the lighter side for a stout. It has a bit of sweetness intertwined with some bitterness. This stout has a medium feel in the mouth. The finish is semisweet with a little heat. Then is has an aftertaste of sweet potato for a second then fades into a bittersweet cocoa. This is more of an interesting beer than a good beer. I this Satusuma Black is a C. The fact that this beer is interesting helps but the flavor is average but I was able to finish this, because the flavor grew on me as I drank more. I don’t know if I could recommend this, not because it’s terrible, but because it might be real difficult to obtain. But if you do come across this Satusuma Black try it! Cheers!