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BeerFes Yokohama 2014 in Kannai

by Rob
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There seems to be a beer festival of some kind happening every weekend in Japan, be it an Oktoberfest, a Belgian beer festival or a temple tasting fair. BeerFes Yokohama is one of the perennially popular events, featuring most of the big craft beer manufacturers in Japan and introducing some exciting newcomers. A three-day event held at Osanbashi pier in Kannai, this year’s outing brought over two hundred beers from more than ninety breweries. BeerTengoku went to experience this unstoppable force in the world of Japanese craft beer.

BeerFes_Yokohama_Deck

The commemorative glass on show.

2014 marks the twentieth anniversary of the Japanese Craft Beer Association and the first nine hundred attendees received a special commemorative aroma glass. The glass was supposed to enhance the tasting experience; however, it didn’t seem as if many people were savouring their beer. BeerFes Yokohama is no different to other beer festival. After a couple of drinks, people looked far happier drinking than smelling the beer. Who are we trying to kid? Drinking is the best part of beer.

BeerFes_Yokohama_Deck

Beautiful weather outside meant lots of light inside.

Osanbashi pier is not your usual place to hold a beer event. The hall is located right at the back of the pier and depending on the weather, can get extremely dark. With BeerFes Yokohama being held in September, the weather varies from clear blue skies that light up the room, or early typhoon rains plunging the event into darkness. On murkier days, Osanbashi pier is a dark, foreboding place that makes it difficult to see where you are or where you are going. The weather gods had clearly been nice on the day BeerTengoku went, fortunately. The light streamed in through the big bay windows overlooking Yokohama Bay. On top of this, the outside deck rapidly filled up with couples and groups of punters enjoying the fine weather and beers.

BeerFes_Yokohama_Layout

This was the quietest BeerFes Yokohama was. It got much busier!

BeerFes Yokohama is a straightforward event (unlike the Oofuna Beer Festival‘s buy-a-ticket-to-buy-tickets-to-buy-beer madness). Tickets cost ¥4,600 in advance or ¥5,000 on the day. Included in the price was the beer tasting glass and a four-hour nomihodai. You walk around going to different stalls, trying different beers that came in 50 ml sizes, or 25 ml for the stronger beers, rinse the glass and repeat until you fall over or finish all 200 or so beers. BeerFes Yokohama also provides a handy booklet with boxes to check so in your drunken stupor (which will happen) you have a handy reminder of what beers you have tried. The booklet also lists the special limited edition beers that have been produced for BeerFes Yokohama ensuring that you can wait in line for the chance to try that special IPA that may or may not have already run out.

BeerFes_Yokohama_List

There were just a few beers on tap this year. Click for an enlarged list.

BeerTengoku made some good effort on the beers, trying a total of 42. It was disappointing to see the overall style of beers on show leaning towards IPA, heavy stouts, and porters, though. While these beers certainly seem to be the most popular at the moment, the overabundance is a worrying sign. The other styles such as amber or pale ales were underrepresented and reflect their declining popularity as people look for big aromas and flavours.

BeerFes_Yokohama_Wind_Valley_Beer
Wind Valley Beer brought along a tasty Red ale that was a popular choice for many.
BeerFes_Yokohama_Hansharo
Hansharo brought along a sumptuous Yuritomo Porter that BeerTengoku may have consumer more than once. Or five times.
BeerFes_Yokohama_Aqula
Coming all the way down from Akita, Aqula beer were quiet but working hard.
BeerFes_Yokohama_Ise_Kadoya
Ise Kadoya were incredibly busy all day long, no doubt helped for Madoka, the head brewer, being around for a good Q & A session.
BeerFes_Yokohama_Matsue
Matsue Beer Hearn brought along an IPA.
BeerFes_Yokohama_Hyappa
From Aichi-ken, Hyappa brought some of their microbrews alone. The Al Capone was a particular highlight.

However, some bright spots from the BeerFes Yokohama event were the increasing amount of microbreweries on show at the event. Two very welcome newcomers were the foreigner-owned breweries, Hyappa Beer and Nihonkai Club. Hyappa brought along a tasty red ale, the Al Capone, that we tried a couple of times. Nihonkai brought four types of beers with them. It is also great that breweries take these events seriously and bring their senior staff to BeerFes Yokohama. Head brewers had yellow lanyards on and were on hand to talk about their beers and offer advice. Notable presences this year included Gojo-san from Yokohama Brewery, Bryan and Sayuri Baird from Baird Beer, and Scott Brimmer from Brimmer Brewing.

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The winner brewers with their medals and awards.

While BeerFes Yokohama is about drinking beer, it is also a serious international beer event. The Thursday before the event, beers were swilled, smelt, tasted, and judged then prizes were awarded. There was an award ceremony to hand out various medals to the winning beers on the first day of BeerFes Yokohama. However, it was missed by most of the crowd who were either too busy drinking or drunk to pay attention. There were projector screens around the room that did show the results of the beers but it was a shame really, as although some of the major breweries had brought some of their special beers, some of the lesser-known breweries that had won awards were receiving little attention from the crowd.

Overall, BeerFes Yokohama is a well-organised event that is worth going to. BeerTengoku recommends getting there early and knowing what beers you want to try as once they’re gone, they’re gone. Here’s hoping that next year’s BeerFes Yokohama has a wider range of beer types, some bar stalls outside, and is less of a melee to get beer.

BeerFes Yokohama Beer Gallery

 

BeerFes Yokohama Minoh Osaru IPA
Minoh Osaru IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Shiga Kogen Harvest Brew
Shiga Kogen Harvest Brew
BeerFes Yokohama Baird Beer Brewer's Nightmare IPA
Baird Beer Brewer's Nightmare IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Coedo Paradoxical IPA
Coedo Paradoxical IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Matsue Beer Hearn IPA
Matsue Beer Hearn IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Hyappa Beers Ale Capone Red Ale
Hyappa Beers Ale Capone Red Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Atsugi Beer Stout
Atsugi Beer Stout
BeerFes Yokohama Harvest Moon Apricot Ale
Harvest Moon Apricot Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Minami Shinshu Christmas Ale
Minami Shinshu Christmas Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Nihonkai Okunoto Legend
Nihonkai Okunoto Legend
BeerFes Yokohama Gotemba Kogen Lemongrass Gold Lager
Gotemba Kogen Lemongrass Gold Lager
BeerFes Yokohama TY Harbor Amber Ale
TY Harbor Amber Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Izu no Kuni Beer Stout
Izu no Kuni Beer Stout
BeerFes Yokohama Rokko 37 IPA
Rokko 37 IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Ise Kadoya Brewery Pale Ale
Ise Kadoya Brewery Pale Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Aqula Wild Rice Amber AleBeerFes Yokohama Aqula Wild Rice Amber Ale
Aqula Wild Rice Amber Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Yamaguchi Pale Ale
Yamaguchi Pale Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Hakone Beer Valencia Orange
Hakone Beer Valencia Orange
BeerFes Yokohama Wind Valley Red Ale
Wind Valley Red Ale
BeerFes Yokohama Kobushi IPA
Kobushi IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Michinoko Apple Beer
Michinoko Apple Beer
BeerFes Yokohama Minoh W-IPA
Minoh W-IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Kiuchi Brewery Hitachino Nest DaiDai IPA
Kiuchi Brewery Hitachino Nest DaiDai IPA
BeerFes Yokohama Hideki Belgian White
Hideki Belgian White

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