the beers of FUTENMA: Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesn

I was happy to see all of the Oktoberfest beers at the PX, its a special time of year and I'm a little sad that I'm not in the States to take advantage of all of the American seasonal brews. But the PX keeps a fantastic stock of German beers, so there is little reason to be sad. I picked up the Paulaner Oktoberfest Wiesn, which came as a large mug with a one liter beer can inside, among others that I will be reviewing later. Paulaner is another Munich brewery, started in 1634 by friars of the order of Saint Francis of Paola who ran it until 1799 when that cloister of friars came to an end. The brewery was temporarily a prison but was bought by a local brewer who resumed operations and the brewery continues to this day.

It is a massive can, and a massive mug as well. I like the Oktoberfest picture on it, I think I'm going to make it my desktop background. Both the can and the mug have the Paulaner seal on them, proudly declaring that it is from Munchen (Munich). The can gives a description of how it's brewed once a year for Oktoberfest and is the best seller. It goes one to describe the beer as having a deep golden color, balanced taste, pleasant hopp fragrance (they spell it with one p, I prefer the two p spelling, but that's just me), and is full bodied. It's a 1 Quart, 1.82 fl oz can (1 liter for you commies), and 6% alcohol by volume, which Is good for a beer this large. It is also brewed in accordance with the purity law of 1512, but what German beer isn't? Time to pop this sucker open.

I can only describe the nose from the can as malty, very malty. The straight can is not conclusive to pouring, which ended with allot of frothy head and a small amount of beer on the floor.

They are correct in saying it has a deep golden color, it has lots of live inside the mug as well. While inspecting the nose, I smell a little malt, but not a great deal of hops, maybe that's just the head. It has a fruity, malted flavor with mild hopps and a cereal finish. Mouthfeel is a little warming, with a lower full body. It is very mellow, with some of the lowest acidity that I've had in a while, which is good, because this giant thing would give me heartburn if that wasn't the case. I'm about half way through the mug, and over time I've started to notice the alcohol taste. It's not a heavy alcohol taste, which is probably why it took me so much to notice, but it is there. I feel like this beer could use more hopps, The malted cerial flavors are great and all, but a little more hopps would do this beer good.

Listening to allot of Ska, the internet is mostly out so I'm stuck with mostly buck-o-nine. They're weird in the fact that they are Irish Ska Punk, Like if the Dropkick Murphys never gave up ska. I really wish Dropkick kept up with a little of the Ska influence. Once you've had the Ska, regular punk doesn't do it for you any more, which is why I don't understand the backtrack. Did they just have it because everybody else in Punk in the mid to late 90's was, or did they really take inspiration from that Jamaican magic? I don't know, but I miss it. At least both genres (Ska and Irish Punk) have had staying power, you don't really hear them on the backwoods Pop/hiphop/country stations you find in the South right now, but thanks to the internet they can reach a new generation without that medium. I probably should not have mentioned country, as that makes me want to go into a giant rant on how much I HATE modern country (I should say pop country, there is some good modern country), but the internet connection is slow, so I cannot listen to those golden oldies while I do it, so we will save that rage for another day.

This beer was good, it wasn't all that and a box of crackers like it claimed, but it was good. I'm debating on whether I should move on to some of the Japanese craft brews I have, finish the last Trappist, or move on to the Rogues, which I know will be good. That's a subject for another day, for now, I need to talk up the lady I'm with. I had a good time, I like this beer as a friend, I know it will find the right guy for it someday, but I am not him. If you are that kind of guy, I would suggest trying it out, it is a well made beer with that ample supply you can really get into. What can I say, fatties are more fun. I give this beer my blurry seal of approval.

The beers of Futenma: Sapporo

I'm back after a three week stint in Korea where I could only drink for about 5 days due to operational concerns. However, I was able to go out in town and try Hite, which is practically the only major South Korean beer having 55% of the beer market share. It's a good pale lager, but I don't have one in front of me so I can't give you a review. What I can give you a review of is SAPPORO, which is probably my favorite major Japanese beer (I'll get into Japans growing micro brew scene another day). The brewery was founded in 1876 by the Hokkaido Development Commission during Japans rapid modernization. Seibei Nakagawa became it's first brewmaster after studying brewing in Germans and almost immediately created their flagship lager which was named for the town in which it is produced. Ten years later, in 1886, the company was privatized and became the Sapporo beer company. They merged with Osaka brewery to form Di-Nippon in 1906 and monopolized the beer market until the end of WWII. After the war the companies split up, Osaka became Asahi and Sapporo became Nippon breweries. In 1956 they resumed production of Sapporo lager and eight years later changed their name to Sapporo breweries. They started Sapporo USA in 1984 and started a brewery in La Crosse, Wisconsin. I've had the Sapporo in America, it's a good beer, but it has a bit of a different finish than the Sapporo in Japan. Alright, enough talk, lets pop the top.

and my heathen frosted mug

From the can, it has a malted, yeasty nose. After pouring it in the super traditional Orion mug, it has a light foamy head with large beads, it is however, not long lasting. It has a golden color and respectable life within the mug. It has a more cereal nose from the mug, but maintains a touch of yeastyness. Mouthfeel is light medium body with low acidity. It has a smooth apple finish, but I can't seem to find the words for it's flavor. Malt cereal I suppose. It is a little hoppy, but it's not particularly noticeable. Having had this beer many times before, I cannot tell you what conditions give this beer a creamy finish and aftertaste. I'm going to let the beer warm and see if that doesn't do it.

I know I've commented on Radio Moscow before, but I'm listening to their 2009 album Brain Cycles and I'm loving every minute of it. It has much more of a blues rock sound that Magical Dirt, but it still stays stoner rock. But in other news, I was stuck in Oita, Japan for a couple of days and found one of the best pieces of Engrish I have ever seen, and I was able to purchase it so here it is...

I think they meant the bird of prey

for posterity

Back to the beer, it's gained a little bit of creaminess, but not a great deal. If anything, the cereal is more pronounced. I've finished it, as far as macro brews go, Sapporo is alright by me. It's an enjoyable and high quality beer. I give it my blurry seal of approval

the beers of Futenma: Grand Kirin Galaxy Hop session IPA

You don't get a lot of IPA's in Japan, but they are starting to catch on. I think I actually had this last time I was here, but I don't remember allot about it. I actually found this after I went on a beer run to the AEON grocery store, It was in the convenience store across from camp Foster. Now that I'm reviewing interesting beers instead of just drinking them and trying to tell interested parties about them with a foggy memory from 2 1/2 years ago, I can now tell Y'all what this tastes like with some accuracy.

The bottle is interesting, it is shorter and fatter than the bottles you usually associate with a brewery as large a Kirin and more akin to those found in craft brews, which is what I think they were going for. It has something you don't usually see outside of drinks made in the Pacific, a pull tab crimp cap. The label has a nice starry night scene, with Kirin's Unicorn running in the background. According to the bottle it is 4.5% alcohol, which is very low for an IPA. Let's pop this sucker open and see how it heads.

 I pull the tab on the crimp cap and can't believe how wide the mouth of this bottle is. From the bottle it has an orange/grapefruit nose. I don't expect the nose to change, as the bottle is so wide, but lets pour it in the super traditional Orion mug and see. That's quite a bit of head, I wonder how long it will last. It has a golden amber color, nose is the same from the bottle. On fist sip, its very citrusy and has a very barley finish. Odd really, two extremes like that, especially such strong barley flavor out of an IPA. Mouthfeel is rather acidic, you can't really hold it's medium body in you're mouth for too long. As far as the citrus flavor goes, it's definitely grapefruit.

So, Hilgar keeps going after me about frosting the super traditional Orion mug. I just want y'all to know, It takes me a while to do these reviews, short as they are, and by the time I'm finished it has warmed up. The frozen mug keeps it from getting warm almost immediately (it's hot in Okinawa).
I'm listening to classic gospel right now, One of my favorite genres of Christian music. To put it on a scale, It shares my top spot with folk hymns, which is on the opposite end of the spectrum from contemporary Christian/Jesus baby/inspirational. I realize those last three are not all necessarily the same style of music, but as far as I'm concerned, they can all just go away. I would like to list Casting Crowns as the only redeeming band for contemporary Christian, and thus I will be referring to them stylistically as Casting Crowns and not as contemporary Christian. Just as God lifts us out of the pit of our own sin, we need to lift Casting Crowns out of the pit of contemporary Christian. To explain why such sub-par music persists, allow me to present my starved market theory, which I imagine you've already figured out from the name. There is a market for modern Christian music, but not a great deal of musicians with any writing skill willing to fill it. It is so starved sub par secular musicians can (and do) enter it and make a killing.
I'm out of this one. It's a good, interesting IPA. If you are ever in Japan, I suggest picking it up. I give this my blurry seal of approval.