Reviews & info on some beers, bars & pubs in Japan (mainly Tokyo/Yokohama area) - with an extra large serving of nonsensical jibbbbah jabbah thrown in:

Thursday 15 April 2010

Beer in Japan iphone app new and improved!

Yep. He's gone and done it again.

Mr.BeerinJapan has added a few more bars to his very useful and if you are new to Japan or don't-know-where-you-can-find-good-craft-beer necessary app for the iphone/ipod touch.

Download the app from itunes:
He's added listings for bars in the Yokohama area and even added info on one of the best beer stores in Japan, Tanakaya.
Included are very useful maps and info on opening times, atmosphere of the bar and overall quality of establishment. He also includes some helpful advice as well as special offers available to users of his application.
It really is a good application and it just gets better.
He is adding more and more bars to it.
One plus with this is that once you have downloaded the app, you don't necessarily need to be on-line to use it. You have access to info, phone numbers, maps, everything. Perfect for those without Japanese i-phones (visitors to Japan) and those with an ipod touch and have no access to wifi.
I myself have been to all the bars and more but even I have a use for this app as I sometimes forget a phone number or occasionally get lost (more like most of the time!).
I have used the app to get to the Cat & Cask pub in time for the ozenoyukidoke IPA event. I used it to find the Craft Beer Bar (a notoriously difficult place to find!).
I can even use the app to get 300yen off an order of food at the Aldgate (saves printing out the coupon of the Aldgate's website!)

Here are a few sneak preview shots from the updated version (out very soon!):

Main page:
Tokyo selection (includes Tanakaya):
Yokohama selection (as far as Fujisawa):
As an example, Craft Beer Bar:
Lists an off-line map you can use as well as the google maps online equivalent. Phone number & website at one easy touch of the screen.
Useful to have.
Recommended.

Check it out.
If you are coming to Japan, I recommend downloading it, for the maps and coupons alone, if not for the contacts, reviews and ideas for other bars.
I get nothing from recommending this app to you guys. It's just my personal recommendation.

p.s. if you are headed to Tokyo/Yokohama, be sure to let I or Mr.BeerinJapan know - we'll try and hook up for a pint!

Wednesday 14 April 2010

DH (Kentucky's finest)


Bourbon barrel aged - bottle matured.

Quite something else.

This is not a beer I'm talking about.
It's a person.

Well, more than a person, this guy has become a man legend -a megend.

Quite an achievement in such a short time over here.
Within a few years he has touched the hearts of many.
All who have met him have bore witness to his strength of character and purity of heart.
He is as honest as they come and one of the kindest, nicest man I've ever had the fortune to have met.

He is leaving soon. Tomorrow, in fact. Leaving to return to his homeland of Kentucky.
He will be missed.

For those who have never met him, they feel as if they have, just by reading his words on the very well known and widely read Good Beer and Country Boys blog.
He blogged about beer, about life, about almost anything.
It was always interesting, enjoyable and highly entertaining.

The only thing better than reading his wonderful accounts of life & beer was meeting the man himself.
I first had the privilege of doing that in Tokyo (think it was at the Bier de Garde beer festival, or was it in Bulldog?), then again & again & again in Numazu, at the Baird fishmarket Taproom.
DH makes no secret of his love of Baird Beer and everything Bryan and the team stands for.
He also makes no secret of his enjoyment of one particular brew - Angry Boy Brown ale.

I'm pretty sure that just his words alone encouraged many a drinker (myself among them) to order a pint of Angry Boy, just to try and experience the sheer joy that DH expressed in his online accounts.

He has been and I hope will continue to be an ambassador for beer, to those new to craft beer and to those already well versed in it's innumerable pleasures.

DH, dude, it was a pleasure to have met you and it's an honor and a privilege to consider you as my friend.
p.s. you can post the cheque to the following address...

Here are just a few pics of the man himself:
(I'll post more when I find them)







The new adventure awaits...