Tomoyo (our designated driver), Minako and Greg arriving at the beer factory. Greg is pondering how the beer will taste fresh from the factory.
All the beer factories that Asahi has. They have 9 beer factories, 2 whiskey factories and one soft drink factory...or was it 2? I can't remember about the soft drink factory, but at least I remembered the important part!
One of the factories is...or was in Fukushima. I wonder if it is still there?
Let the tour begin!
Here is the beer fermenting and maturation tanks. They have enough beer in one tank that if you were to drink one beer a day it would take 300,000 days to empty the tank.....of course, the beer would have gone bad before you could finish it but still, 300,000 days.
The lobby of the factory. The wall was decorated with how beer used to be made!
Amazing!
Unfortunately, this is the most of the inside of the factory that I can show you. They don't allow pictures to be taken inside the factory. I think they want people to go to their factories to get people to buy more Asahi beer!
Okay, the tour offically ended so I was able to resume taking pictures!
Did you know that it takes 2 months for the beer to mature? The beer that was in those tanks when I visited will be available in August!
Just in case you were wondering if people could fit in between those humongous tanks....yes, you can and then some.
Let's let the professionals pour us a glass of beer, shall we? Thank you ladies! It was the best beer that I have EVER tasted!
Just in case you don't have your own professional beer pourer here is a how to on pouring beer into your glass the PROPER way. Have you been pouring your beer correctly?
Someone's grandma going for seconds. Go grandma! Yes, the beer is so good that even your grandmother will want a second glass.
I must thank our guide for taking our picture along with the rest of our tour group. We only had 25 minutes to drink or beers or to go for refills. I had to focus on drinking so I didn't go home just having had one beer. Yes, I managed to drink 2 versus Greg's 3 and a half?
Beer snacks! Who knew that ottoto went so well with beer? Plus, smoked cheese. Us girls didn't eat any, but Greg on the other hand.....
Ate the entire stock on our table! I think he was hungry..
Thank you Tomoyo for driving! She couldn't drink beer, but she was able to enjoy a Mitsui Cider which is Asahi made!
Tomoyo's pass showing that she is NOT allowed to drink. Appartently, if you came to the tour on a bicycle you are not allowed to drink either. Only in Japan are they so responsible.
Greg trying to get to his next glass of beer before our time is up. Me....already buzzed and only halfway through my first glass.
Greg savoring the awesome beer that he was able to drink. Me feeling great from my beers. Minako....apparently was sleepy from her beers, haha!
Some souvenirs that I bought at the gift shop! I also bought a Asahi Brewries Limited glass, but it just has their label and has that saying on it in a regular beer glass. I figured once you have seen a beer glass you have seen them all....unless it is really unusual. But, the postcards were amazing!
I bought a pack and they are of Asahi's beer ads from back in the day! They are awesome and I am in love with them!
All of these came in one pack for 300 yen! Yay! Can you tell that I really love postcards? I tend to collect them, especially if they are artistic like these.
If you like Asahi beer and factory tours I highly recommend that you go to an Asahi brewery! It is very interesting and you learn some interesting facts. Did you know that the beer is cold when it is finally ready to be packed into the cans? I thought it was warm, but that is only when it is in it's fermentation stage. Who knew? Well, maybe you did.
The tour is FREE and it lasts for about 40 minutes and then you have 25 minutes to drink as much Asahi beer as you would like for, again, FREE!! Who can resist that? Just make sure that you make a reservation ahead of time! Here is a link:
Unfortunately, they only have a Japanese website, but if you can speak Japanese or know someone who is Japanese you can call and make the reservation! The phone I believe is in huge numbers on the mainpage.
Happy beer drinking!
Actually, that was my father's dream of going a tour on his favorite beer's factory, hahaha. I definitely like how they put up a tour inside that factory because we can easily learn the basic of beer brewing and how they advertise through the ages.
ReplyDeleteIt really was an educational tour....about beer. But, there were some families that brought their kids along. Of course, the kids drank Mitsui cider, not beer. It was interesting to hear how long it actually takes before you can drink the beer.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the comment and for reading my post!