I hoisted a special beer tonight – the Hitachino Commemorative Ale, sometimes called Celebration Ale. It’s the New Year’s offering from little Kiuchi Brewery in Ibaraki, Japan. If that place sounds familiar it’s because you’ve probably heard it in the news this last week – it’s a Prefecture in Northern […] Read more
A nice gustatory tradition is the Trader Joe’s Vintage beers, a part of the holiday beer craze that’s taken off in popularity over the last 20 years or so. TJ’s has these beers made for them by Unibroue, the Quebec brewery responsible for a rather excellent line of Belgian-styled ales, […] Read more
I love Belgian beer. Witbiers, Trappist quads, saisons, Flemish brown ales… Belgium is to beer what Japan is to animation. While there are many Trappist “style” beers out there, only six monasteries actually qualify for the designation. One of them is Trappistes Rochefort, and like most of the Trappist breweries […] Read more
We return to the shelves of Trader Joe’s, this time for LiA’s first beer review – Mission St. Hefeweizen. It retails for a paltry $1.99 for a 22 oz. bottle. Like many of TJ’s “house beers” such as their excellent Holiday Beer (Unibroue) this is contract brewed – in this […] Read more