Anyway, I’d brought along my last bottle of Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon, Second Edition. It’s a retired beer (i.e. very rare) and highly rated Imperial Stout. My wish was to share it with whoever was there to mark the occasion, which happened to be a handful of mates of mine, the staff, and an innocent bystander who just happened to be standing close enough for me to offer a glass.

It was brilliant stuff, and a night to remember (and I do, most of it), and then I received the following e-mail two days later:

“Hello, my name is Adam and I was at Baird Nakameguro Taproom on Saturday. You very graciously let me sample your Nøgne Ø Dark Horizon. I thought you looked familiar and didn’t put it together that I had read your blog before. Anyway, thanks again for the beer and maybe I’ll see you again somewhere soon.”

Cheers, Adam. I certainly hope you do.

Now, one more Happy Birthday! Parties for Me™ and then time to get back to those posts!

Image © The Beer Geek

I’m just still caught up in post-Golden Week catch-up and ongoing birthday celebration mode.

So sit back and relax, have a beer, and stay tuned.

Cheers!

Absinthe Places is unmistakably the most comprehensive database of absinthe bars and stores online. Wherever you happen to be in the world, if you’re searching for green fairy joy, Absinthe Places is the place to go. Not only can you look up locations, but you can also submit any they don’t already have, so check it out now!

The website is operated by Michael Holzgruber in Vienna, Austria. In addition to his passion for absinthe, he’s also the drummer the rock-electronic band, Sofa Surfers, whose latest album is due out later this year (14 September). Why not check them out too? Very chill-out grooves.

For those of you interested in visiting Bar Tram and Bar Trench:

Bar Tram
東京都渋谷区恵比寿西 1-7-13 スイングビル2F
TEL：03-5489-5514

Bar Trench
東京都渋谷区恵比寿西 1-5-8
TEL：03-3780-5291

Here are a few images that didn’t get used at Absinthe Places due to size restrictions. Drink up.

Images © Tetsuya Yamamoto

There is, however, a social app that I find equally as operative as it is addictive: Untappd, the “…mobile web app that allows you to socially share the brew you’re currently enjoying, as well as where you’re enjoying it, with your friends!”

I’ve been a member since July last year, and in that time I’ve become familiar with more beers and breweries than I ever could have otherwise. And because Untappd enables homebrews to be uploaded to its database, I can proudly share my beers with people who genuinely care (or are at least drunk enough to feign interest ).

But what absolutely endeared me to the app was when a few months ago, Nevitt Reagan, who publishes the blog Beering in Mind, without the slightest provocation, sent me a bottle of beer from my Untappd Wish List: an Urthel Hibernus Quentum Belgian Tripel Ale. Cheers, mate!

Nevitt’s random act of kindness inspired me to take the bottle to Bashamichi Taproom and share it with staff, as the needs of the many outweigh the need of the few – or the one!

Anyway, getting back to Untappd, another reason why I dig the app so much is that the people who run it are uber-cool. Not only is their customer support is friendly and responsive, but the company’s co-founder and CEO, Tim Mather, is also a downright nice bloke. Cheers, all of you!

Leave a comment if you’d like to receive your own sticker (above)!

At almost ￥5,000 a ticket (￥6,300 including food), it’s easy to brush off the event and decry it overpriced (exactly what I did last year), but taking into account the absence of queues and the nearly 100 (mostly) quality beers on tap, provided you kept drinking, I’d say it was a well-spent afternoon.

A few of my favourite beers from the day: Chateau Kamiya’s German Pilsner, Brimmer Brewing’s Pale Ale, and an International Pale Ale from Bøgedal imported by Jena.

P.S. Thanks to Rei Murakami for working the table with me (and the Bøgedal), and to Marco McFarren for keeping us company after the event!

Nothing moves
nothing gives.

A leaking pipe in a crumbling wall.
A spoke contorted out of shape.
A skeleton of some dead umbrella,
flesh all withered, blown away.

All your words you’ve said before
all your stories have grown old.
Where once were reasons now just blame
where once was courage now lies shame.

Curse hope
and burn the fucking optimists
you bit your lip until it bled, cut your tongue in two.
They laughed at everything you did
mocked your wounds, teased your scars
poked at you
poked at you
poked at you…

…until your buttons busted
broke your remote self-control.

When you’ve nothing else to hide
when you’re nothing more to see
decals peeled
motor stripped
chassis’ chrome has greyed.

Junkyard life
obsolete
useless vacuum tube.

Circulation standstill
short-circuited for good.
Systems shutdown – malfunction
all your secrets blew their fuses
now you’re in the dark, and through…

now you’re in the dark, and through.

So

simple

to break things
impossible

to repair

…Blame

maintains the lost control
fine lines

cracked in
truth and dares.

Who’s responsible?

Who cares?

When nothing’s left
was never there.

And plenty of people. Plenty too many, in fact.

Event organizers, take note. You don’t line up beer taps on opposite sides of an enclosed room and then let hundreds of people in to queue. It really causes problems for those who happen to be caught in the middle – especially when you keep letting hundreds and hundreds of people in. I thought last year’s Real Ale Festival was a nightmare; this was a complete horror show.

I consider myself lucky because I was one of the first to enter (I’d queued up an hour earlier than the 11:00 A.M. start). The first half hour was a beer drinker’s dream, walking with beer in hand, talking and looking around. But by noon the place had turned into an inebriated throng, with so many carelessly manoeuvring past – and into – each other. It was impossible to hear anything except the puncturing sound of a(nother) glass crashing to the floor.

The several improvements made to the event I felt were unfortunately overshadowed by its many failings, and I can’t say I’m looking forward to next year’s. But then I seriously doubt the organizers would care whether or not I showed up, plenty enough others to bolster ticket sales.

Bar Tram has been open since 2003; Bar Trench, 2009. They are both run by Takuya Itoh and Rogerio Igarashi Vaz, two highly devoted absinthe aficionados whose mission it is to educate and illuminate others about “la fée verte” (the green fairy).

Not only do they boast an astonishing selection of absinthes from over ten countries around the world, but they also serve their drinks true to tradition, complete with absinthe fountains, spoons, and other paraphernalia.

Whether you’re an absinthe lover or just itching adventurous for a new experience, I suggest you visit either or both. Bar Tram (pictured below) has tables and seating. Bar Trench is counter-only, but also has shelf space above the bar where live music is sometimes on the menu.

Or consider this: I’m organizing an “absinthe night” for some time in May. If you’re interested, leave a comment and I’ll give you the details. Truth be told, I’ve been drinking absinthe longer than I’ve been drinking beer, and so will definitely be hanging out in Ebisu more often.

Bar Tram
東京都渋谷区恵比寿西 1-7-13 スイングビル2F
TEL：03-5489-5514

Bar Trench
東京都渋谷区恵比寿西 1-5-8
TEL：03-3780-5291

The Ghost of Theo Clubs, by the way, is a tribute to my Theo Clubs R.I.Porter, a Brown Porter which won a bronze award in last year’s WanCup2 Homebrewing Competition. Only time will tell whether or not it was just a lucky fluke, so until then, keep on brewing!