Guest Post: Celebrating with Mannheim Steamroller

One Woman is thrilled to post this review of the Sierra Nevada Celebration Fresh Hop Ale by Some Dude, the extraordinary percussionist who plays with the two piano two percussion quartet Yarn/Wire, The Wet Ink Ensemble, Zs, and Drummers Corpse, among many others.

A snowed-in log cabin, chimney smoking in a deep forest mountain valley. Poinsettia leaves adorn the table and some of the autumn's hops harvest lay in pine baskets under the woodshop's bench. Peat and Moss, the black lab brother-sister companions of many a winter warm themselves by the fire. Trimmed in deep red, the Celebration Ale's bottle puts me in a state of mind/taste before the first sip. Celebration Ale is a special ale for the holidays that features the first hops of the growing season. Made with whole cone American hops, it’s an IPA full of complex flavors and aromas.

The beer pours a deep golden red. (The Christmas tree in the corner of the room looks especially nice when viewed through this amber liquid). The head is thin but active, similar to the highly hopped IPAs of summer, fish eyeballs and all. The smell of this beer is typical of an IPA: yeasty with faint citrus notes. The taste however, differs from other IPAs. It’s hoppy, but not overwhelming, and nicely balanced. There’s a certain 'barkiness' to this brew. Whether real or imagined, this subtle woody flavor is a treat that makes Sierra Nevada's seasonal a beer for the winter and a recommended beverage for any celebration.

Musical Pairing: Mannheim Steamroller plays “Coventry Carol.” Of course, one of my all-time favorite holiday albums, I think this short version pairs nicely with the Celebration Ale. The subtle shifts in instrumentation and texture as the carol progresses (a movement from classical and steel strings to who knows what kind of dulcimer and harp back to guitars again) mirror the beer's progression from yeasty/citrusy nose to the woody mouthfeel and return to the hop's faint bitter aftertaste. I strongly recommend continuing on in the Mannheim Steamroller tracking to experience their version of “Good Kind Wenceslas.”

P.S. Could the ridiculous comment on the Coventry Carol page be from none other than home-of-American-hops-born and Tomahawk frontman polymath Mike Patton?

a question: beer in LA?

one woman, flying without moving, is finding herself once again in los angeles with the question: where do angels go for beers?

recommendations, por favor!

bonus pic: there's a brewdog tokyo - intergalactic fantastic oak aged stout - that's 18.2% ABV chillin' in the fridge. wtf???? stay tuned.

It's not what you think it is: Mikkeller Ris A La M'ale

A beer table with Mikkeller Ris A La M'ale

A beer brewed with almonds and cherries.
It's sweet? - no.
Sour? - nope.

One Woman thinks that Mikkeller Ris A La M'ale is a beer to be appreciated in the quieter moments in life.  Pink, soft, and round in the mouth. It's subtle. So subtle that you almost have to love it first in order to appreciate it. It smells ever so slightly of almonds and muddled cherries, but really just memories of those flavors. Barely carbonated, and not very fragrant the most noticeable feature of this beer is its murky sepia toned reddish pink color. Just a touch of berried vanilla sweetness that could be confused with tartness, a suggestion of yeasty malt, a couple of vanilla seeds and a tiny pinch of allspice. Somehow, it makes you forget that you're drinking, even at 8% ABV.


Musical pairing - Morton Feldman, Piano Four Hands (1958). Crudely put, Morton Feldman's music is quiet, easy to dismiss, and hard to like. And yet, it has the ability to resonate in the moment and linger in your mind in the form of pretty fragments of memories.

Alternatives: Caffeinated on the Road - Kyoto Edition

On the way back from a trip to Osaka, One Woman stopped in the lovely town of Kyoto to admire the changing leaves, the grand temples, and the delicious treats of the old capitol. But most memorably, the trip involved six caffeinated mugs of deliciousness. The day revisited:

8:00 AM -- Cups 1 and 2: Lipton at grandma's
As grandpa says... "what do you mean what kind of tea??? just give me the lipton"

12:38 PM -- Cup 2: Inoda Coffee
A historic coffee house in Kyoto established in 1940, the front looks like another little shop in the old merchants' town, but the inside opens up to a huge, Viennese style coffee room, with people sitting around enjoying their Sunday afternoon coffee and cakes. As for the coffee, it's delicious. They're most famed for the "Arabian" coffee that they serve with milk and sugar in it already, but I opt for the Columbia--Mellow dark chocolate, chestnut, red wine, all this good stuff in a lovely medium body. I'm overcome by a cozy feeling of sunniness.

3:40 PM -- Cup 3: Usu-cha at Kyo-Hayashiya
Skip lunch, do tea. Not exactly your zen-inspired tea ceremony vibe at the Kyo-Hayashiya, but this shop has been serving tea and sweets to merchants and travelers since 1753. Usu-cha is a form of matcha, the bright green powdered leaves used not only to make tea but also to flavor all kinds of sweets from yokan to ice cream. The usu-cha arrives on a wooden tray with a little bowl of zenzai (sweet red bean and mochi soup), and a cup of hoji-cha. The vivid colored tea is frothy, and beautiful to the eye. It's served in a great big bowl of a cup. I take a quick few bites of the zenzai and dive in to the world inside the green bowl. It's fragrant, zippy, grassy, and has an aromatic bite that melds so nicely with the sweet red beans.

3:43 PM -- Cup 4: Hoji-cha
Since the usu-cha basically needs to be consumed all at once (it's kind of like a tea-shooter) the hoji-cha that arrived on the tray is a welcome compliment to the rest of the zenzai. Reddish brown, and medium dark in color, hoji-cha is a mellow, warm tea that's conducive to sipping slowly, and enjoying the warm toasty notes of the perfect roast. It's a delightful contrast to the intensity of the usu-cha experience, and goes with the sweets in a totally different way: whereas the sweets bring out the flavors of the usu-cha, the hoji-cha serves to enhance the earthiness of the red bean flavor.

4:45 Cup 5: Maeda Coffee
Nearing Kyoto station, I want to avoid camping out at the ubiquitous 'buck while waiting for the shinkansen train. Last coffee stop in Kyoto was Maeda coffee near Kyoto station, a classic 1970's mom and pop coffee shop with a few chains around central Kyoto. The coffee's strong and dark, served in a cozy thick ceramic mug. Nice deep earth, not mind-blowing, but then again, it's the sixth cup. (At this point, One Woman thinks she needs a beer.)

*          *          *

But the question remains, where does one find "Kyoto iced coffee" -- that dank stuff that they serve at at fancy coffee places in the US??? Mystified, One Woman did some research. What is "Kyoto" iced coffee, and does it actually exist in Kyoto?

Answer: Search all you want, but actually, it's *Made in USA* ...a recent invention by the one and only James Freeman of Blue Bottle, who was inspired by a trip to Kyoto!!! OMG!--so, is this, like, the coffee version of the "french fry" and "french toast"??? A big thanks to Mr. Freeman for generously responding to my query.



Musical pairing: "Giant Steps" (1959/1960) by John Coltrane (also the name of the lively Blue Bottle brew in my cup right now) in honor of the Trane, travels, and caffeinated discovery. Giant Steps is an early composition by Tenor player John Coltrane. It's a blazing fast bebop classic that, like any good coffee, leaves you in a slightly altered state of mind... such a good track.


Facebook readers -- please visit ladyandthebeer@blogspot.com for links to media and the full brews-and-music experience! 

Beauty and the Beer: A Hopeful Osaka Fashion Report

Heading off into the vast suburban wilderness on the outskirts of Osaka, One Woman spotted the most awesome of beer-themed shirts on the Osaka monorail. The cardigan: a GENIUS appropriation of Guinness imagery!

From 'Guinness 1759' to 'Hopeful-ness 1789'? I'm hopeful. (Click on image to enlarge) 

Notice her Guinness foam-colored bag too. Simply amazing!!

In keeping with the spirit of bizarre appropriations of hope, the musical pairing of the day takes us from Guyana to London to South Africa, and then back to UK. Eddy Grant's "Gimme Hope, Jo'anna" is a song that reggae-calypso-popstar Eddy Grant wrote in response to apartheid in South Africa in 1988. Later on, Yop, a yogurt drink sold by Yoplait (primarily in the UK and parts of continental Europe adapted the song for its remarkably weird commercial:

All this gets me feeling that "hope" is such a weird state of being. It's not exactly an emotion, and much less committed than prayer. There's not much conviction in hope, and statistically, it's horribly irresponsible. The Ancient Greeks considered it a great evil. But it's also the stuff of dreams, the possible future, prolonged pain, the last chance... Oscar Wilde: "We are all in the gutter, but some of us are looking at the stars."

minipost: "two bucks for a beer"

i love the breakfast beer.
as for lunch...

http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2010/11/10/gotta-watch-deer-in-a-bar-stylish-riot-gear

Breakfast in Shibuya: Guinness at On the Corner No. 8 Bear Pond, plus Bottling Technology

Breakfast and beer. Not just any beer, but Guinness!

One Woman was very, very happy to encounter breakfast and Guinness at 10 pm on a Friday night, after a strictly okay concert of pieces by the most famous musician with the least number of pieces people have actually heard.

The breakfast venue: On the Corner No. 8 Bear Pond is a cute café near Shibuya station with a really weird name. Don't ask. I have no idea.

The meal: Power Breakfast. Two eggs fried to perfection, mashed potatoes with melted cheddar cheese, sautéed spinach, roasted chick peas, baked tomato, house sausage, bacon, and a golden slice of generously buttered homemade toast.

The beer: Guinness Extra Stout.
Let me just tell you why the Guinness is such a lovely breakfast bear  beer. Dark roasted grains give the beer its color and as well as a hint of coffee aromas. Guinness has a wonderfully dense, dark, color with just the tinniest hint of a reddish hue. Basically, it's so powerful that a little bite of charred sausages isn't going to overpower it. In terms of taste, unlike whiskey, it's not the high alcohol that cuts through all the gooey breakfast smoke and grease, but the slight acidity of citrus. A whiff of lemon peel and mandarine orange does the job so well. There's also a subtly sweet base of light molasses and marmalade. And then there's a gentle scent of crisp hops that balances all of it out. It's like it was made for breakfast.

Guinness is a beer that serving style affects quite a bit. The can is a marvel of beverage bottling technology and it contains that awesome nitrogen-filled white ball. This device, called the widget, gives Guinness from cans get that thick cappuccino foam.

The widget exposed! (Image from wikipedia)

The cans with widgets hit the markets in the late 1980s. Tap is time consuming but wonderful (love watching the bartender slowly, slowly, filling the glass, watching the top settle). But some experts argue that the nitrogen injecting taps that have been around since 1961 take away from the real flavor a historically true Guinness. I'm sure Guinness on cask is quite dreamy, but what are my chances of finding that 6000 miles away from Dublin?? That leaves the plain old bottle a perfectly respectable candidate.



Musical Pairing: In my post-Cage hours, it's somewhat tempting to pair my breakfast with Cage, but Cartridge Music doesn't exactly make me feel like digging into my heap of breakfast power. So my tribute is to On the Corner No. 8 Bear Pond. Song: Miles Davis, "On the Corner / New York Girl / Thinkin' One Thing and Doin' Another / Vote for Miles" on On the Corner (1972). It's a much forgotten album from his controversial fusion experiments in the 1970s, but it's pretty funky: delicious grooves, sunny side up, sizzling and all.

Bonus Nutritional Information and Diet Tip: There's a commonly held misconception that Guinness is a really heavy beer, but the only thing weighty about it is the dense color. Other than that, at around 6%, the amount of alcohol in this Irish dry stout is about the same as your average American pale ale (Sierra Nevada), and the calories too--around 160 kcal per 12 ounce bottle. Compare that to something like a Dogfish Head IPA at 294 calories a bottle! Drink Guinness, dieters!

let's go! nippon craft beer festival 2010

tokyo-dwellers--how about a little craft before all hallow's eve? here's a great opportunity to check out a bunch of domestic and imported microbrews while you shield your bodies from typhoon #14 (aka "chaba")!

weather map from mainichi.jp/

Kuro: A Beer for the Socratic Examination of Life

The rule about pairing is that you can match, go the opposite way, or go for something weird. Or, do whatever. This is true for fashion too. Just ask style icon, Chloe Sevigny:  

"Chloe Sevigny for Opening Ceremony, Resort 2011"

Dress with socks and sandals? Hell yes: 

Barnsley, Dome/Pacific Coast News

Also true for food and beer pairings, as well as for beer and music pairings. Green Flash Hop Head Red with a sesame red bean bun (just sayin'...)?

With that preamble, I'm going to go ahead and pair Suntory Premium Malts <黒> with Herma by the composer Iannis Xenakis. 

Herma, by Iannis Xenakis (1961), first page. 'Dedicated to Yuji Takahashi'

The Story

In the summer of 1961, a young 22-year old pianist named Takahashi Yuji commissioned a piece from his friend Iannis Xenakis for 50,000 yen during Xenakis' visit to Japan (in 2010, 50,000 yen is 612 USD). "Herma" is an ancient Greek term that refers to a foundation, or a stringing together. Xenakis was interested in Aristotelean principles of logic, and tried applying ideas of mathematical logic as a compositional method to determine what sounds he would use. The piece set a precedent for the compositions based on rigorous mathematical principles that Xenakis would become famous for in the 1960s. When Herma was completed, pianists insisted that it was humanly impossible to play. For its premiere in 1962, Takahashi played it with a degree of perfection that stunned Xenakis. He also played it entirely from memory. "Well, that's really the only way you can play it," says Takahashi in his soft-spoken but freakishly intense way in this youtube video. Here's the link to the piece without the commentary, but do yourself a favor and find a decent recording. But the best story about Takahashi's performance of this piece is the one about how, during a Paris performance, he sliced his finger on the keyboard sending blood and *a nail* flying into space. And so, the story goes, that this was Takahashi's way of paying respect to Xenakis' devotion to the Socratic dictum, "the unexamined life is not worth living."

Back to the business of pairings. I'm going to say it was Takahashi that inspired this pairing of a tangy, charcoal infused, dark honey flavored black beer called the Suntory Premium Malts <黒> with the unfathomably freaky beast that is the child of set theory. But in performance, Takahashi demonstrates that there's so much more to it as well, like movement, listening, and an obsessive commitment to formations. There's beauty that rears its head out of all of this. In this space of confusion and the joy that comes from it, One Woman finds inspiration to make weird pairings. 

minipost: bad beer

sometimes there are bad things, and sometimes there are good things--words from my mother.
sometimes there is good beer; and then there is bad beer.

to enjoy good beer, one must understand bad beer.

remember me? -- no thank you! (photo from the huffington post)

the top ten, according to ratebeer.com:

...bad weekend in college that involved one or more of these? maybe you don't remember. maybe that's a good thing. here's the huffington post's version with lovely pics, and ratebeer's original post for the full list with 50 of 'the worst beers in the world.' how many of the top 50 have you had?

*for the record... one woman is shamelessly fond of the tv + coors light (#26) experience.  

Baked Empanadas with Ebisu za Black

Feeling pretty jubilant after the Chilean miners rescue operation, One Woman was gripped by a sudden desire to make empanadas for the fam to celebrate the mision cumplida. These babies are seriously, *so good.* This baked empanada recipe courtesy of the fabulous Chef Dré. Check her website here to enjoy them for yourself! Really. Enjoyed all over the world with infinite variation, empanadas are the classic comfort food. Buttery, toasty, warm, soft, and cuddly.


The beer: Ebisu za black--found in mom's fridge. Technically, it's a dark lager, but it's got a little metallic tang to it that brings it a bit towards the red ale category in terms of flavor. If you look at if closely, it's got a bit of a reddish tint too. Since the dark caramel malt used is already deep in color from the beginning, the actual roast isn't as dark as it looks. A bit of bitterness doesn't overpower other elements, and it has a nice balance with the grassy hop and burnt sugar flavors. Nothing too complex here; perhaps not the first thing I would have paired with the empanadas, but the color has impact, and the taste can hold up against the bold flavors of the empanada filling: tuna with a slow-cooked onion, garlic, tomato, red pepper, and paprika base mixed with little cubes of egg and potato, and herbs. Yum. 

The musical pairing: While we're going for a bit of unusual combos here, I'm goingin the out-direction with the Mary Halvorson Quintet. Like the empanada, this music is a lot of things, and it's tasty: a bit of indie rock, a bit of Anthony Braxton, a bit of Sun Ra, a bit of Ethiopiques, and disastrously Mary with sweet delay pedals to mess with your food comma'd brain. Click the link to hear "Sea Seizures (No. 19)" from her new album, Saturn Sings.

Alternatives: "Give her another highball"

When Susan Alexander (played by the lovely Dorothy Comingdore) and Thompson order highballs in Citizen Kane (dir. Orson Welles, 1941), it pretty much seems like the coolest drink ever.

A drunk and lovelorn Susan after one too many highballs

The highball, for cocktail non-connaisseuses like One Woman, is basically, a mixed drink made with whiskey, and soda in its most basic form. Other additions and substitutions like lemon peel or ginger ale are also options.

Cut ahead 69 years... far, far, away from Kane's Xanadu: Tokyo, Japan 2010. With domestic whiskey sales dragging, the large beverage corporation Suntory (one of the top 4 beer corporations in Japan) suddenly releases a huge national campaign to promote the sales of whiskey in 2009. The Suntory campaign markets whiskey not in pure form or even on the rocks, but as the much more tempered, easy-going highball. The most visible and tangible artifacts of this aggressive campaign are posters and TV commercials featuring the pale-faced heian-cool flawless-skinned beer-gulping beauty named Koyuki, paired with vintage imagery hearkening to the good old Showa-era days. And it's _everywhere_.

Koyuki will teach you the ancient art of highball mixing--please, be gentle; don't stir too much

In any case, the highball--whether mixed, on tap, or in a can--has been highly visible everywhere in Tokyo recently. It was only a matter of time before One Woman had to try it.

Taste Test:
There's somewhat of a gap between the visuals and the taste. Suntory's highballs come in large beer mugs emblazoned with the company's kakubin whiskey logo. Serve in a super-chilled glass with lots of ice.

The suntory kakubin highball is served in a special kaku-mug (kaku means corner in Japanese). 

Notice  the angular tortoise shell-like wedges on the glass.

In the end, the kakubin highball is basically, a splash of plain whiskey with lots of fizzy ice water. Besides, Suntory's large mugs can't compare to those dainty goblets that Susan Alexander drinks out of (though, I'm told that a 'highball glass' is a tumbler--closer in kind to a mug than a goblet). Still, the highball was a nice pre-dinner cocktail; a fine alternative to the usual beer that often precedes any izakaya-dining occasion. Suntory's recommended lower end blended whiskey, "kakubin," which sells for around ¥2000/bottle, does the job well. Soft, mellow, sweet, with just a wisp of caramelized dark sugar, it doesn't have much vanilla or smoke character that you might desire from a fine bourbon or scotch. But sometimes that's not necessary. Kakubin whiskey is the type of whiskey that takes a backseat to the occasion, letting you enjoy the moment without diverting your critical attention from the food or the wonderful company.

Musical pairing: "How High the Moon"--the soundtrack of my imagined highball drinking experience circa 1940: pinnacle of the big band era, golden age of Hollywood. A smokey-eyed Helen Forrest with the Benny Goodman Orchestra on stage at some private penthouse ball, an amber autumn moon reflected by the glass crown on the Chrysler building. Music by Morgan Lewis; lyrics by Nancy Hamilton.

the down-low on tj beer, aguas de março, or planning your reception (news feed)

what's your reception style? 
a) fun 
b) vintage 
c) whimsical
d) trader joe's? 

if you answered d), this list is a must-read. next time you reach for that six pack of "simpler times,"  consider this list compiled by josh noel of the chicago tribune who not only  gracious tried all the tj-brand beers, but rated them for us too! for the record, there's nothing wrong with "ick" beer, and some of the simplest times can be the funnest times. still, thank you, josh; and thank you, tj's for the good times. thanks to this one guy's dad for sharing the video. here's the crucial list:

The good ♥♥♥♥

Stockyard Oatmeal Stout: Crisp backbone melds with smoke and chocolate in this winner

Black Toad Dark Ale: Pleasantly roasty; one taster's favorite

Mission St. Hefeweizen: I'd drink this at home

Trader Jose Dark: Surprisingly good; would pair well with Mexican food

Bohemian Lager: A crisp, easy drinker

Mountain Creek Classic Lager: The only canned beer to rank high; perfect for fishing

The OK♥♥♥

Mission St. Pale Ale: Solid, but spend a few more bucks for a great pale

Mission St. India Pale Ale: Ditto

Trader Jose Light: A clean, summer party-worthy beer

Mission St. Brown Ale: Enough coffee and mocha save it

Mission St. Blonde Ale: Boring, but drinkable

The Less OK♥♥

Frugal Joe's Ordinary Beer: Uninteresting and inoffensive

Dunkelweizen: The epitome of "meh"

Bavarian Style Hefeweizen: Far inferior to the Mission St. hefe

Vienna Style Lager: Might be OK served very, very cold

Trader Jose: More flavor than Jose Light; not a compliment

The ick

Hofbrau Bock: Syrupy, sweet and unpleasant

Simpler Times Pilsner: Like the three below it, it's canned

Simpler Times Lager: Too malty

Name Tag Lager: Terrible

La Playa: Even worse

♥

click here to read josh noel's full article! 

bonus: if you love the song--aguas de março--like i do, check out elis regina and tom jobim's version from 1974 here.
so. beautiful.

Cooking with Lambic: Shepherd's Pie, 'Grandma' style

Shepherd's pie is one of those wonderful foods, like miso soup, where everyone has their own recipe, so they're all 'authentic,' and more importantly, it's delicious! And what a perfect meal for this suddenly chilly autumnal day in Tokyo.

Some tasty friends ready to go into the cozy baked dish

The Belle-Vue Kriek made the perfect accompaniment to the making and baking of One Woman's shepherd's pie. Whiffs of morello cherry, mulled boysenberry, dried apricot, and late summer forest make this kriek an extremely mellowed-out member of the lambic family. It has a dusty raspberry color with a frothy strawberry-mousse colored head. Tasting like it looks, there's a muted sweetness alongside a welcome little nip of bitterness. I think it would make a perfect beer for a victorian-themed afternoon party featuring homemade wild-berry scones paired with kriek. Maybe even bring out the crochet needles.

However, for this particular evening, the kriek was the secret ingredient to One Woman's shepherd's pie. Actually, it's adapted from the website, Cooking for Engineers (adapted from the Joy of Cooking, plus awesome pics by Michael Chu) check it out if you love to cook following charts like this, or just be inspired by the amazing organized brains behind the site:

For One Woman's version, the crucial thing is to add lambic during the beef-broth step. Can you taste it? Not really... Does the beer make a difference? Not sure...

But will it you happy? You bet! Ha.

Musical accompaniment: Grieg, Op. 43-1 "Sommerfugl," aka, butterfly. Sommerfüegli?! What a funky and lovely way to depict a butterfly--kind of like grandma's ash-pink lace creation: full of wisdom, inspiration and wit that you'd never notice unless you looked really closely. In this sweet little youtube version, you can hear the finger-traces of Grieg himself, forever etched into a piano roll. Somehow the thought of movement and gesture preserved in the form a physical piano roll for posterity is much more visceral and freaky than hearing an old record of someone who is no longer alive...

minipost: strange brew -- tactical nuclear penguin

this one has something for beer and penguin fanatics.

Ebisu Beer and Enchantment in a Can

Encased in a golden can, with the ever jolly Ebisu-sama grinning at you; snap the lid slightly, and out comes a little whisp of sweet, bubbly, gently aged malt. I can hardly contain my excitement as I pour its contents out into a chilled glass, the amber tinted gold frothing softly at the top. For a lager, it has boldly toasted malt, and tangy hops. The malty flavor is so subtle, but at the same time, it's a celebration of the golden grain. The best part is that you get all this joy for a mere 20 more yen (about 23 cents) then your generic Sapporo. If there ever was an embodiment of commodity-induced enchantment, Ebisu beer is it. 

"when twilight dims the skies above..."

And so, for all the budget-conscious souls out there, Ebisu offers the promise of bliss, the little luxury that won't break the bank. In short, it's "perfect." And if there ever was any hint of cynicism in One Woman, Ebisu still is a delicious beer. So there you have it. Commodity enchantment becomes the authentic experience of delight. 

Musical pairing: Frank Sinatra singing "Brazil." Originally a tune by Ary Barroso (1939), the song appeared in many different manifestations in Terry Gilliam's 1985 film, Brazil.  Can you eject yourself from the ministry of [miss]information? Listen and believe. Or, like the folks at another beverage company say... Thirst asks nothing more. It's the real thing. Things go better with coke. Look for the real thing.* 


*[Coca-Cola slogans from 1938, 1970, 1965, and 1984]

minipost: america is no. 1

...in worst mass produced crap beer, according to a survey by Doug Lansky in his Titanic Awards. his accompanying image: 

minipost: tori-b

beer, chicken, and 1980s pop. this small building in sangenjaya has it all.

note the awesome beer-colored paper lanterns--close up: 

Series: Lager Love (part 5) - Size Matters

Yesterday was officially the last day for summer holidays for Japanese school children. But it certainly doesn't feel that way here in sweltering Tokyo with absolutely sweltering record high temperatures. Yuck! Still, One Woman has found her way to the world wide web, returning from the blissful days of summer. For the next three months, I'll be keeping you posted on beer in Japan. For today, it's back to the series, Lager Love.

The scenario:
It's hot, I'm jet lagged, but I really, really want a beer. There are two things going against me though. If I drink, I'll get uncomfortably hot, and immediately pass out (because I can only handle 2 sips of beer when I'm jet lagged).

The solution:
Enter, the super mini beer! Kirin Ichibanshibori~
Like many things in Japan, it is very cute. Oh, how I love these little dainty tins. Thank you dad, for welcoming me home with a cute tin of well-chilled Kirin. There is but one sip of the cool little golden droplets made from the first batch wort of the kirin 'draft' (=unpasteurized) in this tiny can, but the first part is the best part anyway! Compared to the other big beers of Japan, the Kirin Ichibanshibori is slightly darker in color, and has a toastier malt flavor than your average German-style light malt. But the most beautiful thing about this beer is the joy that it provides in its fleeting moment in your hands. Really, it's just long enough for the sound of bells of joy to ring and fade away...

It is so taste.

Musical pairing: Listen to Michael Jackson's bell-like voice in 'Human Nature' accompanied by various tiny synth bell-like effects. Glorious! (Happy Birthday MJ!) And for the adventurous, here's Miles Davis' version on that 1985 album where Miles is dressed sort of, um.. MJ style. I love the wind chimes. But is it really okay to use them 9 times in a single 4:36 track?!

And that's it for the series, Lager Love.

Alternatives: On Top of the World but No Thanks to $7 Lite Beer

Sometimes a girl has to say 'no' to $7 lite beer. Even at the Getty Museum. So, on this edition of Lady and the Beer, One Woman presents to you, the $7 glass of mystery red wine courtesy of the Paul J. Getty Foundation. The wine was actually nice. Medium bodied, dark plum, and floral but not too sweet--I couldn't have asked for a better match for sipping out of a clear party cup, watching the sun set over the gorgeous gardens of the Getty with the Bomba Estéreo rockin' it on the stage above.

The Getty has a sweet series of free summer concerts called Saturdays Off the 405 (they should call it Saturdays Off the 405 if you can get on it in the first place.... omg! that freeway is so horrendously HORRENDOUSLY crowded--my bike commute to the Getty is 15-25 minutes. The drive was 1.5 hours. OMG.) One Woman was lucky enough to hitch a ride with the super couple, soon-to-be-wed A. and T. (congrats!!!!!!) to catch  Bomba Estéreo: 'Afro Colombian cumbia and champeta rhythms are deftly layered under surf guitar, keyboards, and bass beats.' It's a great combo of styles; so groovy, but still lighthearted at the same time. Check out their 2009 hit "Fuego" on their album, Blow Up (Nacional). Totally my summer jam.

Bar Food LA: The Neighborhood Bar

One Woman, one pair of shoes, one bike, and many, many buses have been busy rambling along the streets of Los Angeles. And, yes! it is possible to get around in this town without a car, and much less miserable than sitting in traffic for hours. In fact, I'm starting to believe that the reason I've fallen in love with this town is because being car free means avoiding all the things that piss people off about LA: freeways, parking, and traffic. (For those who have been following... yes, I did get a license; no I did not get rid of my fear of driving; no, I didn't acquire the will to possess an automobile either).

So, on the bus one day, I spotted Bar Food on Wilshire. Anywhere with sidewalk patio seating has an immediate charm in my mind, and so Bar Food drew me in. The Bar has the quaintness, the casual attitude, the cheap happy hour specials, and the open-to-all vibe of a friendly neighborhood bar. It also has the decor of a hip Thai Restaurant (kind of like the ones in the East Village or Williamsburg). Perhaps the particular neighborhood bordering Santa Monica and Brentwood has something to do with that, but I'm not sure.

But so what? One Woman loves that Bar Food has three house brews for $3.50 during happy hour (I'm told Firestone makes them--your choice of Amber, Pale, and Blond)! The pale ale that I had was very drinkable--beach bum tan color, typically pale ale hoppy green aroma, and a tiny bit of a smokey roasted poblano flavor--nice! As for food, besides the $0 hot dog, other low-cost happy bar bites will melt your thrifty heart too.  Finally, the sidewalk seating--little wooden patio furniture looks out onto quiznos, bagels, and sushi nestled between shiny new office buildings, and rush hour traffic zooms on by along on a busy street that opens up to a surprisingly big sky. And palm trees emerging from concrete. Of course.

If all that seems a little bizarre, there's also something comforting about this desert of the real, because you know it's only real if you think it is... or because you know it isn't. Yes, those are real fake boobs on the lady who just walked out of a cab wearing a tiny bikini and incredibly tall stiletto heels. 

Musical pairing: Michael Jackson, "Billie Jean" - so full of contradiction, allure, intrigue, and beauty (do you even care if it's not real?). 

An afternoon stroll

Series: Lager Love (part 4)--Awaken your Inner Superhero with Super "Dry"

With the release of Asahi Super Dry in 1987, an intense battle was waged between Asahi and Kirin beer companies. Seeing the popularity of Asahi, other major Big Four breweries also started making their own "dry" beers, only to reaffirm Asahi's success as the standard setting best "dry." Asahi cemented its victory as it overtook Kirin in sales, where kirin had previously dominated. Since then, Asahi Super Dry has been the number one best selling beer in Japan.

The sticker just lettin' you know it's No. 1...

 "Dry" is actually a type of lager, but one where the fermentation process has gone to near completion. This means that the beer is less sweet because the yeasts have eaten up all the sugars, and also lighter in taste, though slightly higher in alcohol. It's also less hopped (both in terms of flavor and aroma) during the brewing process. You might say, bland!! But that is so NOT the point of the dry. Let me try to explain.

Picture this: It's a really hot day, you've been walking around in the sun in your leather shoes and business suit all day. It's a scorcher. Life is tough. Your boss is a jerk. You're just a hardworking dude/chick. But at 6 p.m., you're finally at your favorite izakaya with a good friend. You are so hot. You order two nama--the super dry, please--clink glasses, and gulp it down so fast because you're convinced it's the best thing ever. You experience a sense of ecstasy as the beer gushes down your throat. Dry is a sensation, a feeling of replenishment, a rejuvenation that is so fresh that it's sublime. The superhero inside you emerges. Your cellphone rings. You are Angelina Jolie. You are Hugh Jackman.

Dry is an experience, not a drink.

Okay, so that is what the marketing is about. If you're not sure what this feels like: check out Asahi's visual approximation and you'll get more of the idea. Also, see Hugh Jackman on a mission here. Catch him if you can!

Not even breaking a sweat

Musical pairing: Johnny Rivers, "Secret Agent Man." Baby, you're so dry it's smooth. 
(N.B.: The reason that this Japanglish term "dry" doesn't work in American English is the reason that Bud Dry did not make it in the US)

Anyway, Super Dry is for the superhero slumbering deep inside us all.

Series - Lager Love (part 3): Relax Time in the Raw

The family.

Kawasaki, Japan.  Asahi's Jyukusen is one of Asahi's smaller-scale "premium" brews--like the Ebisu is to Sapporo. "Relax Time" is the slogan imprinted on its classy sepia toned label. Popping open the lid, I'm welcomed by that sexy whiff of hop, visible, if only for a moment, as a whisp of vapor escaping into outer space. The Jyukusen, like most Big Four lagers, is strong on European/German style hops, very aromatic without tasting too hop-heavy. Flavor wise, it's light but nicely balanced. Perhaps the biggest surprise is that despite it's "premium" label pomp, it's actually an adjunct beer (in addition to barley, it includes rice and 'starch' on the list of ingredients). But dare I say--it's quite a delicious adjunct beer. Not that it has huge flavor, or super robust body, but it smells lovely and fresh, and importantly, there's no weird sharpness or tangyness that tends to manifest in many adjunct beers. In the case of the Jyukusen, it seems like the adjuncts are actually there to craft this clean, yet slowly and elegantly matured beer. It's actually hard to come by a beer that is so light in flavor, yet so nicely balanced. The bitterness is on the bold side, but other than that, it's very non-obtrusive, yet subtle. It should make an excellent pairing with some crispy, salted grilled fish like mackerel or red snapper.

Anyway, if you want to pair a beer with Japanese food, maybe it's not so terrible to have a beer that has a bit of rice in it. One Woman loves Big Four beers with any form of rice cracker snackie.

But there's more to love about this beer--it's nama. Unlike American mass produced beers, the vast majority of the Big Four beers in Japan are sold unpasteurized whether it's in bottles, cans, or kegs (in the US, generally, only kegs are widely unpasteurized. US microbreweries do sell unpasteurized beers). In Japan, these unpasteurized beers are labeled "nama" (which means raw, or alive) or "draft" (a bit confusing, since, in English, draft refers to beer (usually unpasteurized) that's served from a keg.



Musical pairing: Asahi, in Japanese, means "sun rise." To complement that, here's husband and wife duo Les Paul and Mary Ford's with "The World is Waiting for the Sunrise" ... in case you were in need of the ultimate musical lightness and effervescence in black and white. (Extra--two things I love about this video: the old school Listerine ad at the beginning, and the illustration of Les Paul's guitar which looks like a ukulele! Mahalo.)

Above, the Asahi Beer Hall designed by French architect Phillipe Starck