JasonKimball.org

I just bought an iPhone and wanted to test how well the WordPress app worked. It’s nice being able to post an update no matter where I am. I thought it would be fitting to make my first mobile post a beer one.

I have always enjoyed beer, especially drinking it! Who doesn’t, right? As I got older I started to develop a curiosity for brewing and thought that I could possibly brew my own beer but wasn’t quite sure where to start. Well, after seeing a deal on Woot for a Mr. Beer Premium Beer Kit for $19.99 I decided that I had to at least try it for that price. In fact, I bought three because I figured I could give them as gifts or sell them to some of my buddies.

According to the Mr. Beer website, the Premium Edition beer kit comes with everything you need to brew/bottle 1 batch of great tasting beer. Doing a quick search and you get reviews from people on both sides of the fence. On one side you have your beer snobs and on the other you have your newbies (like me). The simple fact is that since I purchased the kit about a month ago I have learned more about beer than I could have imagined. Also, many people (beer snobs included) have stated that this very introductory beer kit is capable of making some pretty good beer with some minor tweaks.

After waiting for a couple weeks for my kit to come in the mail, I finally made my first batch of beer. Included with the Premium Edition kit is the West Coast Pale Ale ingredients and instructions. I have followed the instructions and now have my first batch of beer fermenting. Of course it states that you can have beer in as little as fourteen days, but after reviewing a couple forums the basic process involves 2-2-2. This equates to two weeks in the fermentor, two weeks carbonating and two weeks conditioning. Of course, the more ingredients in your beer, the longer you should allow for fermentation and conditioning.

Surprisingly, there are plenty of websites out there for all your beer questions you may have regarding Mr. Beer or home brewing in general. Here are a couple that I found helpful:

• Mr. Beer Community
• Mr. Beer Fans
• Mr. Beer Yahoo Group
• Beeradvocate

I have actually decided to buy a second fermentor and several refill kits to include the Whispering Wheat Weizenbier, Sticky Wicket Oatmeal Stout, and Wicked Monk. It looks like I will have a new batch brewing for the next six months and I don’t see myself stopping anytime soon. Hopefully, after learning enough about the brewing process I can get a more advanced home brewing kit to step my game up.

Stay tuned for an update on my first batch made with Mr. Beer, West Coast Pale Ale.

My wife and I recently took a trip to Belgium and I returned home with some tasty beer. Here is a look at what I brought home with me.

I bought this beer because I have really been digging the wheat beers I have had recently. Not to mention that I thought the shape of the bottle was kind of interesting.

Here is a description of the beer according to the Meantime Brewing website:

A cloudy, golden-orange beer with a moderately dense white head displaying a mixed combination of banana, fruit, bubblegum, spice and zesty aromas and flavours, all created, in true Bavarian wheat beer style, by the use of a unique yeast strain that brings out the true character of the wheat malt used in the brew.

I thought the spice aroma was evident but I had troubles finding the banana and vanilla scents. It had a fruity aroma,  I found it to be more of a peach aroma rather than banana. I really enjoy the style, but I thought this was a little watery for my taste. Being brewed here in the United Kingdom I must say that they did a good job, just not as good as some of my favorite German style brews.

Serving Type: 330 ml bottle

ABV  (Alcohol By Volume): 5.0%

I was looking for a new beer to try the other day and just happened to catch a glimpse of a rather unique looking bottle. Being the curious fello that I am, I immediately snagged one off the shelf to read the name. To my surprise the bottle had a rather small label that said only the word “Lucky”. With a name like that, I had to try it out.

Lucky Beer is an Asian style lager made by the Lucky Drink Company and as far as I can tell is made in China. I have seen some other websites that state that this beer was made in Australia but I believe it was previously brewed in Australia and maybe outsourced to China. The luckydrinkco website states that it is made in China so I will go with that for now.

The unique design of the bottle is actually a seated laughing Buddha holding a large gold ingot above his head. According to their website Lucky beer is

A fusion of rice flakes, malted barley and Qingdao hops, Lucky Beer has a light aroma of hops with nuances of honey and malt; the precursor to a clean, silky, refreshing finish.

Overall I thought that Lucky Beer was kind of watery tasting but not bad. It isn’t one of my favorites but it isn’t terrible either. I think the cool bottle design is worth trying it out at least once.

Serving Type: 330 ml Bottle

ABV  (Alcohol By Volume): 4.8%

I am not a big fan of drinking cider and maybe that is because I generally do not come across it often back in the states. However, I have noticed that many of the pubs here in England offer at least one kind of cider on tap.

That got me thinking and because my beer store always carries Strongbow Cider, I decided that I would finally buy a four-pack of the 500ml cans and give it a shot.

Strongbow is a dry cider and at first glance appears to be apple juice when poured in a glass. To me it taste like a tangy/bubbly apple juice with a kick. Coming in 5.0% ABV this cider can really sneak up on you after having a few.

I can only drink about one or two of these before my taste buds have to take a break though. As I stated earlier, I am not a big cider fan, but I do enjoy the occasional glass.

So far, Strongbow turned out to be better than what I was expecting in a cider. I will be tasting a couple more ciders in the future, so stay tuned.

You may be wondering what photography and beer have in common. Well, the short answer is they are both things that I enjoy a lot. This got me thinking that maybe I should start taking photos of some of the beer I get to enjoy so I can have a personal record of the ones I like.

Let me start by stating that the only thing I know about beer is that I like it. So, please do not read my reviews and base your beer tasting experiences off them.  This is just a place for me to share what I think specific beers. Who knows, a couple of years from now I may actually know what I am talking about.

Shortly you will begin to see pictures and brief overviews of each new beer I taste. This entire idea/project all started because I recently discovered a Belgium beer that ended up being so delicious that I wanted to write about it here on my blog.

So…stay tuned!

Our last night in Tokyo we decided to check out a place I found while doing my recent photowalk in Ginza. The place I speak of is a pretty popular and famous destination that goes by the name of Sapporo Lion Beer Hall.

The Sapporo Lion Beer Hall located in Ginza is Japans first and oldest beer hall, built in 1899. Even more surprising is how this beer hall has managed to stay standing after the massive air raids by allied bombers during WWII. The fact that this place still exists is enough for me to check it out.

We arrived around 7 p.m. and it appeared that every table had someone occupying it. It was busy but we got right in and seated. The bottom floor has very tall vaulted ceilings and an almost Gothic styling that I enjoyed. Towards the back of this massive room was a mural that covered nearly half of the wall. I thought the mural really added a lot to the atmosphere and brought the restaurant together nicely.

Upstairs was a little less crowded but it still had crowds of  excited people enjoying a cold beer. After speaking with a waiter, the difference in the floors is the menu. Supposedly, the first and second floors have somewhat different menus. I didn’t get a chance to check out the bottom floor menu but I will take the waiters word for it.

As far as the food went, I had the beef stew and thought that is was surprisingly good. It could have been the two large boots of beer that accompanied my stew though. My wife had some fondue, but I don’t think someone can really mess up fondue.

Another great bonus was every boot of beer I ordered came with a little ticket that I had to open to reveal a prize. Apparently, I won both times and received four ¥500 off tickets which I gave to the party of people sitting next to us. It was our last night and we knew we wouldn’t be back , so I figured the nice people next to us would really appreciate a couple free beers on the gaijin couple.

As far as last nights go, we are pretty happy we stumbled upon the Sapporo Lion Beer Hall. The atmosphere, food, and especially the beer were all worth while.

Click to Enlarge

Here are all of the photos from the Sapporo Lion Beer Hall.

[Show as slideshow]