On tap at the Hanshin Seed event, apparently this is a collaboration with Dotombori brewery. A muddy looking molasses brown pour with a beige head. Nice spicy weizen nose, mild malts. The mouthfeel is soft round & spritzy. Taste is spicy cloves, light caramel. An ugly beer that tastes ok but isn’t terribly dunkel like, more a muddy looking weizen.

Draught at Craft Beer Live 2014. Lemony wheat nose, esters, peaches. Solidly fruity flavor, tangy wheat, lemony tartness, rice. Nicely bitter finish. Refreshing and well made. Tap at the brewery, 2016: pale gold, much lighter in body as well as flavor than the regular weizen, and much less impressive. Nice and light, but a bit too thin. 7/3/6/3/13

Draught at Craft Beer Live 2014. Faint estery nose. Flavors of banana, orange, light caramel and chocolate. Rather strange esters with not that rich of a dunkel character. Ok.

Bottle from Meriken Shokudou (Meriken Cafe) 480 yen, drunk in my hotel & shared with my wife. This bottle has a special Kobe Tower label. This dark beer is most likely a Schwartz or stout & pours a deep black with a thick tan head. The aroma is roasted barley that kind of reminds me of breakfast cereal. Light bodied, somewhat watery with a zesty effervescent carbonation. The taste is pretty good, roasted cacao beans, toasted grains & graham biscuits. Actually quite nice, possibly a London style porter. A fuller body/mouthfeel would help but it’s quite good as is. It paired really well with a tiramisu.

on tap in a tasting set at the brewery. 2016 Schwarz A deep cola black with a beige head. A nice soft sweet chocolate aroma.the taste matches the aroma giving you roasty chocolate. Medium bodied with a dry finish. Better than I recall. And got boosted to 3.6

On tap at Craft Beer Live 2013. I actually had it from the Dotombori Beer booth since it is a collaboration beer between them and Akashi Beer. It had a nice amber color with a fantastic fluffy head. Grain, hay & malt aroma. It has a nice rich body, is malty with a clean bitter finish. It’s an above average lager.

Draught at Craft Beer Live 2012. Rather cloudy gold with a nice head. Pretty. Clean pils malt aroma, nice grassy hops. Good body, rich with yeast. Good pils flavor, not overly hoppy, but nice and well-made. A bit richer than the filtered version.

Draught at the brewery. Light caramel and stoen fruit nose, dry, earthy hops. Cloudy amber-orange. Flavor os peaches, some caramel, earthy hops. Pretty authentic though a bit bland.

Tap at the brewery, and then a sample from the tank. This is a completely different recipe from the past. Bright pastel yellow with orange and a tall, fine head. Nose of apricot, orange, cloves. Crisp and fruity. Fruit salad-like flavor, nice sweetness balanced with tartness, lots of citrus, plus nectarines and just a touch of banana. Excellent weizen. Bottle, 2010: 6/2/7/3/13=3.1. Dark color, cloudy to muddy, with a thin head. Rich malt and cereal aroma, light esters. Fruity. Rich malt flavor, bitterness quite evident. Light banana and clove, with some sour tang. Very bitter finish.

Bottle from the brewery, side by side with Kobe Beer and Meriken Beer, their other pilsners. Lemony hop nose, bready malt, some biscuits. Haziest of the three. Looks unfiltered even though I was told it is filtered. Sweet and malty, biscuity. Heaviest body from the yeast and definitely more Czech in style. Nice bitterness thought. Biggest flavor and body, most Czech, and best of the three. Draught at the 2009 Hyogo Oktoberfest. 7/3/7/3/15=3.5 Clean, clear, light colored pils. Very hoppy, with good cereal malts and great balance. Good, balanced sweetness, no off tastes, and a very bitter, crisp, finish. Dry and clean.

Draught at the 2009 Hyogo Oktoberfest. Cloudy, slightly muddy brown. Nose of caramel and chocolate. Same flavors dominate. Simplish but nice enough. Bitter finish with some fruit and a touch of sour. Nice chocolate, grain, and hop finish. Decent malt, decent hops; imperfect but good.