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I apparently survived Sunday’s 9th Tokyo Real Ale Festival at the Sumida Riverside Hall in Azumabashi, Tokyo. It was a beautiful, sunny, blue sky afternoon and not half as cold as the Friday and Saturday before it. I went in feeling giddy and excited, as I’d been waiting for it since January; I still had vivid good memories of last October’s Nippon Craft Brew Festival.

So I was a little shocked and a lot confused when the first three beers I sampled were nothing short of, well, disappointing. The beer was served too cold, lacked any head or body, and none of them seemed to match their profiles listed on the tasting sheet.

And while the turnout was exceptional and great for the event, it was also far too crowded. Not much fun being shoved around by people trying to dodge people being shoved around. And more people means less beer, which is exactly what happened. By two o’clock, nearly half the beers were SOLD OUT, and I so I missed tasting several that I had come specifically to try.

In the end, I left with a ticket leftover – and thankful for the whisky booth. That’s not to say there wasn’t any good beer – there was, my favourites of the event: Hatachino Nest’s Yuzu Amber, Ise Kadoya’s IIPA, Sagami’s St. Valentine’s Porter, and Swan Lake’s Real Porter.

If anyone had a better experience, please share; I’m not one who likes to leave with a bad taste in my mouth.

Cheers to everyone I met and talked to. See you all at whatever comes next!