fbpx
    • Spring
      • video

        Finding the Flow from Kansai to Kochi

        Shikoku’s many mountains, valleys and proximity to the ocean has made it a hidden gem for rafting, kayaking and canyoning enthusiasts willing to take a step or two further from the Golden Route of Kyoto and Osaka.

        Solace and Giant Salamanders in Akiota

        Just beyond Hiroshima City is a tranquil outdoor destination home to some of Japan's last remaining oosanshouo, the elusive giant salamander.
        Kyoto Oni Trail Outdoor Japanvideo

        The Oni Trail: Hiking Coastal Kyoto

        The mystical oni is prevalent in Japanese children’s stories, usually as a way to scare kids straight. Adventure Travel Kyoto is shedding a new light on this folklore and developing a new hiking route in the countryside of Kyoto.

        Spring Skiing in Japan 2022

        It may be spring in Japan but you can still ski in select ski resorts open all the way to Golden Week.
    • Summer
    • Autumn
      • Pow Bar Founder Megumi Scott

        Beyond the Brand: Pow Bar

        An interview with Megumi Scott, the founder of Niseko brand Pow Bar.
        Churamura Okinawa Sea Turtle Marine Conservation

        Churamura: Footprints in the Sand

        Churamura, an NPO in Okinawa, work to conserve marine life and protect endangered sea turtles in Japan's southernmost prefecture.
        Kawazu

        Fall in Love with Kawazu

        Enjoy waterfall hikes and hot springs, beautiful beaches and delicious seafood in Kawazu on the western coast of Izu Peninsula.
    • Winter
    • Near Tokyo
    • Near Kyoto
      • video

        Finding the Flow from Kansai to Kochi

        Shikoku’s many mountains, valleys and proximity to the ocean has made it a hidden gem for rafting, kayaking and canyoning enthusiasts willing to take a step or two further from the Golden Route of Kyoto and Osaka.
    • All Regions
    • Article Map
    • Ocean and Beach
    • River and Lake
    • Mountain and Land
    • Sky
    • Snow and Ice
    • Travel
    • Food and Drinks
    • Races and Events

Beervana: From Mt. Fuji to Mt. Hood

In the last few years, craft brewers and craft beer enthusiasts alike have become fans of collaborations in which brewers from two or more breweries work together to create one-of-a-kind beers. This column has previously discussed how Japanese craft brewers have worked with innovative brewers from the U.S., Australia and New Zealand to brew creative transpacific offerings. 

This April, a festival in Portland, Oregon will feature what must be the most ambitious collection of such collaborations to date. The Fuji to Hood Festival (named after these regions’ iconic mountains) will include eleven collaborative brews (ten beers and one cider) made by Japanese brewers visiting Portland. 

While advance details on the beers offered are not yet available, these collaborations feature excellent brewers teaming up from both sides of the Pacific, including Y. Market Brewing Kitchen (Nagoya) at Cascade Brewing, Far Yeast Brewing Company (Tokyo) at Breakside Brewery, Kyoto Brewing at Upright, and Ise Kadoya at the festival’s host, the small, IPA-oriented Culmination Brewing

In one of the most intertwined collaborations, Son of the Smith, a fairly new cidery in Ōmachi, Nagano that proudly cites how it was inspired by Oregon’s cideries, is collaborating with Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider, who make a dry cider called Magnificent Seven (7%) that uses seven varieties of Japan-originated apples grown by a Japanese-American farmer, fermented with a strain of sake yeast derived from Aomori Prefecture.

This festival in Portland—a city known as “Beervana” for having the most breweries per capita in the world—will also feature other aspects of Japanese cuisine and culture. Oregon’s sake brewery SakéOne will pour samples of their award-winning wares, and local restaurants will serve Japanese food, including ramen and sushi. Befitting Culmination Brewing’s commitment to environmental sustainability, the festival will feature Bamboo Sushi, a Portland restaurant that is the world’s first certified sustainable sushi restaurant. Moreover, there will be taiko performances as well as decorative Japanese arts. Hopefully this inaugural festival will become an annual tradition, as it is a great way to encourage East-West beer tourism to the Pacific Northwest’s Beervana. 

[novo-map id=2 individual=”yes”]

Outdoor Japan logo tree

Related

Leave a reply

Please enter your comment!
Please enter your name here

Latest posts

Categories