Shack Attack

DH and Nate and The Quest for the Holy Ale

If you're not reading Good Beer and Country Boys, you should be.

Greetings! You have found Good Beer and Country Boys, a blog created about the first by the latter. Two native Kentuckians chronicle their search for great beer in The Land of the Rising Sun!

It needs no more explaining- two down-home Kentuckyans scour Japan for the finest in alcoholic wheat beverages. From insider brewery reports

DH, Miyuki, and myself spent all of last saturday helping brew at the Hansharo Brewery. We didn't actually make Hansharo Beer, we helped brew up a new creation from Rainbow Brewing. Lacking a brewing facility all their own, the Rainbow contract brew at Hansharo on certain saturdays. As of now Rainbow Brewing only markets Dusk Ale, a ruby colored amber ale stacked with malty goodness. Our homebrewer friend, Kawano-san, is the head brewer for the Rainbow operation. Besides the contract brewed Dusk Ale, he homebrews a mean coconut porter and yuzu ale. Little known fact, the current seasonal chocolate stout at Hansharo Brewing is one of Kawano-san's recipes. No offense to Hansharo, but it was blowing there regular line-up out of the water!

We showed up at 9 am to start work by dumping bags of crushed grain into the cooker. Hansharo Beer has a 1000 liter system, but Kawano-san was only making a 700 liter batch. On hand in the brewery that day was Hansharo's brewer Watanabe-san (blue fleece), Yokohama's new brewer Gojo-san (cute green overalls), Hansharo's heir to the throne Hide-san (double peace signs), Kawano-san (Yokohama 08 shirt), the Good Beer Country Boys ('I got my thumbs up' DH) and Miyuki. It was a regular brewing party!

to hard-hitting investigative journalism,

Obviously you are passionate about Japan and the Japanese. When did you first become passionate about beer?

Ever since I began drinking some in my late teens I always loved beer. When I was young and in college I drank copious amounts of industrial beer (Old Milwaukee was a staple at my college). As I got older and the craft beer movement in the U.S. progressed, I began drinking better beer (Anchor was an early favorite). During graduate school in D.C. in the mid-90s, I fully woke up to the glories of characterful beer.

Good Beer and Country Boys is a site read mostly by English speaking foreigners in Japan. Most of the readers have at least a basic idea of what life in like here. That being said, when you were getting your start--did you ever take any flak for being an 'outsider'? If so, how did you shrug it off?

Being an "outsider" in Japan never much bothered me. In fact, I enjoy Japan more because I am not Japanese and therefore I don't have to deal with the same expectations and social constrictions that many Japanese face.

I've asked this question to others, and I will pose it again to you: You have a microbrewery in view of Mt. Fuji where you brew great beer with your wife. You are living the dream! What is your secret?

Loving what you do and doing it together with the people whom you like and respect the most are the real secrets. Courage in your convictions makes that possible.

We all know about the Japanese fondness for Super Dry and other beers......with less character--to put it politely. Knowing this, how do you create brews that are catered to the Japanese taste?

We cater to no ones taste other than our own. If I were in the U.S. or Europe or on Mars, I would be pursuing beer exactly as I am now. As soon as your finger is up in the air gaging the wind, you are lost.

To poetry,

To a sakura

It is hanami so we lay
Our tarps around your hallowed trunk.
Blossom friends and beer rise,
In this we are sunk.
So fleeting are your flowers
Beneath which we get crunk.
If your beauty last throughout the year
We shall always be drunk.

Good Beer and Country Boys delivers the goods. They make it crystal-clear what they're about, and never fail to be about just that. Hats off to you, DH and Nate, hats off.

Artisan Tofu

A tiny tofu and soymilk stand near Tsukiji market in Tokyo. This was the absolute best soy dairy I've ever had: soft, sweet, creamy, and slightly pungent. The magazine article behind the barrel sings this tofu artist's praises.

Steak, Ninja-Style

Steak is an unlikely feature in Japanese cuisine- thick, tangy, juicy, and charred, it doesn't quite fit into the otherwise light, salty, fishy, and soy flavors of Japanese food. Somehow, though, the Japanese have become the most expensive, sought-after steak artists in the world.

The Japanese beef industy started in Kobe, and now other regions have taken the lead in the production of wagyu, or "Japanese-style beef." The Japanese really like their meats fatty- not like bacon, but with the fat evenly distributed through the muscle in high quanities (the high fat content is what makes O-Toro the most expensive cut of maguro sushi). Wagyu is produced from cows on the younger side, pampered their whole lives with an all-beer diet and regular massages. TK. The meat comes out with incredible marbling, and melts the instant you put it in your mouth.

I got a chance to go to a famous local steakhouse near our house, Katayama, for my host sister's birthday this week. I had expected Japanese steak to be on the pricey side, but I had no idea they would take it this far. We had the cheapest cuts, リーン ("riin"), which means "grain-fed." Next up the scale was grass-fed, and then it was into the specialty wagyu imported from Mishima.They don't mess around- single orders of steak can climb up past $200. I had an omraisu set (click the picture at left to enlarge the menu),.

I ordered mine medium-rare, and it came on a sizzling platter with omeraisu (a thin omlette wrapped around rice), fries, and veggies. The cut was topped with a tiny pad of butter, and au jus came on the side.Before digging in, you pour some of the au jus on the platter, where it sizzles and steams. Make sure you hold your towel in front of your clothes to catch the splatter!

For the cheapest cut on the menu, the riin was damn good. I had it medium-rare, and they erred on the rare side, making for a wonderfully soft, juicy steak. It ran on the thick side, and while it couldn't quite top filet mignon for texture, it bested 90% of the cuts you find in the states. The sauce was good, too- lighter than worsteshire, with a little less vinegar and a little more tang. The flavor reminded me of a roast beef sandwich at Tommy's Joint in San Francisco, but the texture was all steak.

We kicked off the meal with Asahi, followed by a red wine that was a little light-bodied and dry for the meat. None of us knew any of the bottles on the menu, so we just went with the one two or three from the cheapest. Meh, I guess we've learned our lesson for next time.

It had been a long time since I had last had steak, and Katayama definitely took care of my craving. I love Japanese and fusion cuisine, but sometimes you just want western food done right, and this was the real deal. Despite the little Japanese touches, the flavor was steak to the core; no soy, sesame, nori, or mayonnaise to be found.

Thinking of getting some steak of your own? Katayama‘s homepage is here, and you can find a whole slew of happy google reviewers here.

Thanks to Rocking in Hakata for hosting this month's blog matsuri! Go check out the main page for all the other entries on foreign food in Japan.

A Low-Pressure Valentines Day

Valentines day Saturday was great. Why? Because I live in Japan, where all the pressure is on the girls. On February 14th, girls give chocolate to guys they like, and a month later, on "White Day," men are expected to return the favor. Besides my girlfriend, I got chocolate from my host mom and sisters, accompanied by a smiling "raigetsu tanoshimi da mon" ("looking forward to next month").

Miyuki getting ready for work in the morning. She still hasn't unpacked completely; she yanked those shoes out of one of the numerous stacked boxes behind her.

I picked Miyuki up from work in Omotesando, where she had me pretend I didn't know her so we wouldn't get in an awkward conversation with her hen na obasan (weird middle-aged woman) coworker.

Cute-Ass Dogs:

Italian food, in an Omote-Sando hideaway with great ambiance and !real pizza! As usual, international couples follow us everywhere; the obvious one is behind Miyuki's left arm, and there's a stealth gaijin at the bar.

The Pink Cow, Tokyo's only self-proclaimed ex-pat hangout. In the words of my girl, "Gaijin Bakari (nothing but foriegners)!"

And that's V-Day for ya. Up this week: photos from my neighborhood, getting ready for Thailand, and trying to do something about my growing belly. It's kind of odd- I've been a lot healthier in the last month or two than I was in the few months prior, but my body's looking less and less in shape. I wish they had a YMCA out in this backwaters suburb.

Other perspectives on Valentines Day in Japan:

Joseph Tame's Daily Mumble

Brianna's From Japan With Love

Seron's What Japan Thinks, featuring translated surveys of Japanese attitudes on everything under the sun.

I Love the Food Here...But I Miss Trader Joes

And this video reminds me why:

Totally taken in San Francisco...the parking lot with the line of cars outside is up by Geary and Masonic. Thanks, BoingBoing!