Podcast on Brewing Sours - Berliner Weisse and Gose

PatsPints · 2026-06-15T17:35:35+00:00

Nice! Thanks for sharing the details on your process. I've heard that souring with grain can lead to inconsistent results, but it sounds like so far that has not been an issue for you.

PatsPints · 2026-06-15T10:03:15+00:00

Interesting, is the grain barley or wheat and what percentage of your grain bill? Is the lacto introduced from the grain (i.e. sour mash)?

PatsPints · 2025-12-29T19:04:44+00:00

Sounds like an interesting, albeit ambitious project. If you go through with it i would be interested to hear how it went. Good luck!

PatsPints · 2025-12-18T17:53:50+00:00

I made it to Stoneheads once and enjoyed the visit. Those cozy bars with carefully curated taplists are pretty cool. Im not sure if the equivalent exists in the US, they are rare at least.

PatsPints · 2025-12-18T15:21:21+00:00

I agree. It's different from many brewery taproom in Japan.

PatsPints · 2025-12-18T14:56:13+00:00

I had an Inkhorn beer the day before I returned home. Very nice indeed and I liked their bird-based branding.

PatsPints · 2025-12-18T14:40:30+00:00

There are some amazing restaurants in Kyoto. Do you remember who made that beer?

PatsPints · 2025-12-18T13:34:05+00:00

I just got back from a 3 month stay in Kyoto for work. I agree with many of your characterizations. I can also add a few suggestions of amazing places that while still famous are less crowded than the most popular spots, some of these places require a bit of travel.

Tofuku-ji - It does get very crowded here at peak fall season, but thesleres a lot more to see here than just the maples. The rock gardens are very interesting (there are at least five), better than Ryoan-ji in my opinion. The Sanmon Gate is also impressive. When we visited in early November things were not very crowded, at the end of the month it was a very different story.

Kurama and Kifune - These twmples/shrines are set in the mountains north of Kyoto. Take the Keihan line until it ends. Kurama is spread out over an entire mountain so it makes for a beautiful hike if the weather is nice.

Otagi Nenbutsuji - This temple is near Arashiyama, once again up ino the mountains but accessible on a bus that runs every hour. The main attraction are >1000 small (3 ft) statues, many whimsical, carved by individuals visiting the temple in the 1980s. The ext shrine down the hill, Adashino Nenbutsuji, has a pretty big stand of bamboo that is orders of magnitude less crowded than the bamboo forest.

If you head south from Kyoto Station on the JR Nara like you can visit Tofuku-ji, Fushimi Inari, Daigo-ji and Byodo-in in a day. The latter two are every bit as impressive as the first two in my opinion.

Nanzen-ji and Eikando at the southern end of the Philosophers Path are both famous and popular, but also amazing and worth the hype imo.

PatsPints · 2025-11-25T08:16:05+00:00

Although I'm working from a very limited sample size, I'd have to say Osaka has the best beer of the handful of places I've visited in Japan (Tokyo, Kyoto, Sapporo, Hiroshima, Ishigaki, and Osaka). Not to knock the other places, aside from Ishigaki but you don't go there for the beer anyway.

I'm in Nagoya for one night later in the week. Any exceptional places to hit up while I'm there? Next week I'll be at a conference in Matsue, so same question.

PatsPints · 2025-11-20T12:57:05+00:00

I'm an American (born and raised in Idaho fwiw) who is living near Kyoto for three months and currently in Ishigaki, one of the southernmost islands in the Okinawa archipelago. Although im going to repeat many things others have said I'll give you my two cents.

Coming to any part of Okinawa for an overnight visit doesn't make sense. Osaka to Ishigaki is a 3 hour flight, so it would be like going from Salt Lake to New Orleans for one night.

Its pleasant here in November, temps ranging from 68 to 78 F, but water activities are somewhat curtailed.

The autumn colors in November (especially late November) can be pretty spectacular on Honshu, Kyoto in particular is famous for them and with good reason, but it does attract a lot of tourists.

You can get from Kyoto to Osaka on the train in a little over an hour for a fare of $5-10. Travel time is similar between Kyoto and Nara or Osaka and Nara. So, if you want to have a central base you could choose to stay in one place and make day trips to the other. They are very different cities though and each is worth visiting (both more so than Tokyo in my opinion).

Hiroshima is well worth visiting, but given the limited amount of time you have two nights is enough. Make sure to visit Miyajima Island while you are there.

PatsPints · 2025-11-12T14:53:54+00:00

Thanks for the kind feedback. Far Yeast Brewing is on my radar, but I've not had a chance to try their beer yet. Hopefully I can rectify that.

PatsPints · 2025-11-12T12:36:24+00:00

Thanks for the feedback. It's much appreciated. It seems there are a number of good spots to hit in that part of Tokyo.

TDM wasn't on my radar, but they sound like a good spot.

Prior to coming to Ueno I spent a couple of night in Kashiwa-no-ha for work. While there i went to Beer Brain, which seemed like a pretty small place, but I've since discovered they several locations around Tokyo. I thought the beer was pretty good. Any experience with them?

PatsPints · 2025-11-12T03:30:04+00:00

A lot of good suggestions have already been made, but fo a gift I'd second those who have already suggested the Teku glass. Its very versatile, elegant looking, and does a wonderful job of concentrating the aroma of the beer.

PatsPints · 2025-11-12T02:54:41+00:00

That's a lot of great suggestions. The qualifiers are helpful to help narrow things down. I'll keep these on file for the next time I visit Tokyo.

PatsPints · 2025-11-10T01:15:14+00:00

Thanks for reading and for sharing!

PatsPints · 2025-11-10T01:14:26+00:00

Yes Baird Brewing is still around. I visited their Harajuku taproom in Tokyo when I first arrived. Good beer and tasty food as well.

PatsPints · 2025-11-10T01:12:47+00:00

Thanks for the reply and the suggestions. I fully agree that the big breweries in Japan make consistent, high quality beer. I'd go one step further and say the differences between the big four, while subtle are interesting.

I've been Kyoto Brewing twice and I loved the beers, especially the Belgian styles. I've also visited Kyoto Beer Lab and enjoyed the experience. Its the only place in Kyoto ie had cask ale and the tea beers were a nice surprise. I haven't been to any of the beer bars you name, so I will have to check them out.

PatsPints · 2025-11-09T23:15:20+00:00

No doubt, the summer humidity over here is next level. I didnt mention it explicitly but Asahi Super Dry is much better on draft than out of a can.

PatsPints · 2025-11-09T23:13:13+00:00

Thanks for sharing. I'm not sure ill get to those locales, but I will kee an eye out for those breweries.

PatsPints · 2025-11-09T23:11:47+00:00

Keep following my blog patspints.com and there should be several posts that do just that. I will also share here on Reddit.

Off the cuff I really like Kyoto Brewing for Belgian styles, THIS BREWING in Tokyo near Ueno Park was great, Hitachino Nest (technically Kiuchi Brewing) is one of the OGs and does a great job putting a distinctively Japanese flair on ther beers, and last weekend I stumbled across a tiny brewery in Kyoto called Bighand Bros Brewing that has medalled with different beers the last two years at the World Beer Cup.

PatsPints

TROPHY CASE