Nomikurabe @ Oedo Beer Festival at Machida. Pours light golden , straw colored I guess. Almost transparent. Nose has light hops, hint of bitterness, otherwise quit bready. Quite balanced and very drinkable. Drinks easy, nothing special but just an easy-drinking and clean pilsner.

On tap at GJBF Osaka 2015. Blond 4.5% crystal clear with a big fruity wine like aroma. Medium bodied with a soft mouthfeel. Tasty bready fruity flavor but maybe a touch metallic.

On tap at GJBF Osaka 2015. Kind of odd that they have two such similar beers... A clear amber brown/golden amber with a malty sweet caramel flavor. Medium-light bodied with a dry finish. Crackery malts, caramel and a bit metallic like many of their beers. Maybe I should have added this as an amber even though the name says Golden...

日向夏 - Fruit Beer Hyuganatsu 4.5% pours a crystal clear light gold with a rich fruity nose. Med-light bodied. The taste is a bit artificial but rich. OK.

----- Craft Beer Picnic 2017------

They were putting in a new brewhouse when I visited them and they recently won a bunch of prizes so I figured I give them another go. A fairly clear gold color and it's got a bright citrus zest and ginger aroma. The light body matches the aroma with an effervescent citrus and ginger flavor. Light and easy to drink. The new version bumped up the score from 3.2 to 3.5 and it looks like these guys have gotten their shit together, all that big shochu money probably helps (the tiny craft beer brewery is behind a massive shochu brewery the size of like 1-2 football fields!).

On tap at GJBF Osaka 2015. Stout dark brown chocolate banana bread aroma, decent Chocolate flavor but a bit metallic as well.

Tap at BeerFes Osaka 2018. Definitely wins the award for most improved beer in history. Nice crackery malt, good balanced hops, herbal, crisp. Not perfect or exemplary, but a good enough pilsner. Tap at Keyaki Spring 2015: 3/2/3/2/6=1.6. Nose of lemon and piss. Vile band aid, rotten fruit. Thin and gross. Certainly not a lager, and probably not a beer.

Bottle from the brewery. Pours orange-amber with a low, fine head. Clear. Aroma is nutty amber malts, with dark bread, light caramel, and notes of peaches and orange. Rich, nutty malt flavor but not overly sweet. Lightly spicy, peppery hops in the finish with mild bitterness makes it finish dry. Not heavy, crisp. Nice amber lager. A completely different beer from that crap I had 4 years ago. Tap at Keyaki Spring 2015 = 2.0. I think they called this a lager, but it obviously wasn’t one. Weird plastic band aid nose, syrupy sweet, caramel tofee. Sweet and foully medicinal.

light brown color. Japanese Black sugar, black licorice, slightly salty nose. The mouth is very malty, with salty black licorice, good depth, but flavors wouldn’t broadly appeal to people. Light bodied. A bit off balance and too sweet, but not bad.