Yamaguchi Beer 宇宙への挑戦

“It had always been my dream to sell our beer in the Tokyo market. But it felt like the proverbial pie in the sky–about as likely to happen as our sending beer to outer space. Just getting our beer sold in Shimonoseki seemed like we’d succeeded in shipping it to another country.” Hirofumi Nakagawa, president…

San Francisco Beer Week 2018

San Francisco, the city of fog (locals know him as “Karl the Fog”). The city of progressive politics. Of start-ups. Of counter-culture. Of music (Santana, Grateful Dead, etc). Of gay rights and gay culture. Of eclectic architecture. Of cable cars. The Golden Gate Bridge. World-class cuisine. Sailboating. Museums… San Francisco is a city of beer,…

Nobody said it would… Be Easy

“Rasse-ra, rasse-ra!” shouts Be Easy founder Gareth Burns into the mic. “Rasse rasse rasse-ra!” yell back the throngs of festival goers hopping in rhythm in tow behind the float. Aomori’s Nebuta Festival is in full swing and Burns isn’t content to be a spectator, or even a simple participant. He joins in the procession of…

TDM 1874

The curiously named TDM1874 opened its doors on December 2nd, 2016 in the outskirts of Yokohama. A brewpub with a bit of a twist, it’s also a specialty liquor shop with an extensive selection of wine, sake, and other libations. For lovers of fine drink, that’s just short of heaven. The all-in-one concept is the…

Modern Times: Celebrating Quirkiness

Modern Times defines a new kind of funky cool. By the entrance to “Lomaland Fermentorium”, its mainstay brewery and tasting room in Point Loma, San Diego, are two old bathtubs with legs, like something from an early 20th century home or hotel. They are being cleverly repurposed as planters for cacti, jade plants and other…