![\"\"](\"http:\/\/japaninfoswap.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/05\/tokyo-beer-fest.jpg\")
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When I first arrived in Japan, I was somewhat disappointed by my\u00a0perception of limited\u00a0decent beer selections. It seemed that no matter where I went I could find nothing more on draft than the near identical brews of the \u2018big 3\u2019: Sapporo, Kirin and Asahi.<\/p>\n
While these can be refreshing and are fine for cooling you down on the hot summer evenings, I still craved more. However, I soon found a burgeoning microbrewery movement that, in the last six months in particular, has exploded with a new craft beer place opening seemingly every week.<\/p>\n
Yes, craft beer (typically beer that is made by small or \u2018micro\u2019 breweries independent of the large brewing chains) has taken off in Japan in a big way, and nowhere is this more evident than at the Great Japan Beer Festival. Hosted by the Japan Craft Beer Association (JCBA), the Great Japan Beer Festival (also known as Beerfes) is Japan\u2019s largest beer festival and has been going strong since its inaugural hosting in 1998.<\/p>\n
The festival consists of three sessions of\u00a0three and a half hours\u00a0each over two days, essentially working on a\u00a0nomihoudai, or\u00a0\u2018all-you-can-drink\u2019, basis. You will be given a tasting glass on entry along with a list of the available beers. You take this glass to one of the stands with a\u00a0beer you want to try, and you will be poured a small measure to taste, after which you can move on to as many stalls as you wish to sample.<\/p>\n
Being indoors, the Great Japan Beer Festival is a little more formal than the many Oktoberfests and beer festivals that frequent the city. However, whether you are new to craft beers, or are a long-time enthusiast, it is a great introduction to some of the best beers of\u00a0Japan\u00a0as well as\u00a0around the world.<\/p>\n
Where:\u00a0The Garden Hall at Yebisu Garden Place<\/a> in Tokyo 6\/3(Sat) 6\/4(Sun) Price: Advance 4,800 JPY, at\u00a0door 5,200 JPY By Mark Guthrie<\/p>\n Photo: flickr.com “BeerFes \u6771\u4eac 2014 – 13<\/a>” by cyberwonk<\/a>\u00a0(CC BY-SA 2.0)<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" When I first arrived in Japan, I was somewhat disappointed by my\u00a0perception of limited\u00a0decent beer selections. It seemed that no matter where I went I could find nothing more on draft than the near identical brews of the \u2018big 3\u2019: Sapporo, Kirin and Asahi. While these can be refreshing and are fine for cooling you […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":2161,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[65,68,94,37],"tags":[69,84,152,77,47,158,45,153],"class_list":["post-2160","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-events","category-festivals","category-food-and-dining","category-tokyo-2","tag-event","tag-june","tag-kanagawa-prefecture","tag-may","tag-tokyo-city-2","tag-tokyo-festivals","tag-tokyo-metropolis-2","tag-yokohama-city"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/13"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2160"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":51072,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2160\/revisions\/51072"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2161"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2160"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2160"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hrcjapan.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2160"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
\nWhen:\u00a0June 3\u00a0and 4, 2017<\/p>\n
\nAfternoon session 11:30 – 15:00 (Last call 14:45)
\nEvening session 16:00 – 19:30 (Last call 19:15)<\/p>\n
\nSunday session 13:00 – 16:30 (Last call 16:15)<\/p>\n
\nWebsite:\u00a0 www.beerfes.jp\/index_beerfes_tyo_e.html<\/a><\/p>\n