Beer, Craft Beer, Japan, Travel Luke Watson Beer, Craft Beer, Japan, Travel Luke Watson

Yokohama Craft Beer

Craft Beer Bars and Tap Rooms in Yokohama - I had the pleasure of living and working in Yokohama and I loved it! Japan for a year and in this time I visited every craft beer place I could find and attended every craft beer festival and event I could find and had a blast doing so! So after a year of research I have compiled a list of the best craft beer bars and craft beer taprooms in Yokohama and events I attended (and then stumbled home from… or rather… stumbling to get that last train home! This list works from North to South…. did someone suggest a craft beer pub crawl??? Hell Yeah!

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Taiwan’s Best Craft Beer
Travel, Beer, Craft Beer Luke Watson Travel, Beer, Craft Beer Luke Watson

Taiwan’s Best Craft Beer

Taipei is arguably Asia best craft beer destination. I visited Taipei in February 2020 and had a wonderful time visiting the many drinking dens and sampling the local craft beers. Here’s some photos of my self directed craft beer tour of Taipei and a list of destinations.

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Old Mate Pale Ale
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Old Mate Pale Ale

Old Mate is a solid craft beer with a cool name and cool can design! This pale ale is easy to drink and has a has a citrusy hoppy presence. 5.0% ALC/VOL | Look Moon Dog’s cool range of beers - outstanding label designs and great names! 10/10 for the creative team at Moon Dog!

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Pirate Life Brewing IPA
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Pirate Life Brewing IPA

The Pirate Life Brewing IPA is a great craft beer! Deliciously hoppy with aromas of citrus and a really lovely drop. This lovely IPA’s can was designed to showcases the Gulf racing colours of powder blue and orange as championed by the Ford GT 40 at Lemans. 6.8% ABV.

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Weston St IPA
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Weston St IPA

The Weston St IPA is a delicious craft beer from Temple Brewing Co. Lovely hoppy and citrus aromas and a full bodied taste was most delicious! Rating ★★★★

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Young Henrys IPA
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Young Henrys IPA

The IPA by Young Henrys offers a hoppy aroma with generous flavours of citrus. This is a fresh, dry IPA that is easy to drink. Rating ★★★★ Young Henry’s Brewery was founded by Richard Adamson and Oscar McMahon in 2012 in an industrial warehouse space in Newtown, with a small brewing kit and loads of optimism. Young Henrys has the motto ‘serve the people’ and their aim is to brew beer the local community would enjoy and be proud to call their own. They have indeed grown since 2012 and now their ‘community’ goes far beyond the geographical, and has evolved to include like-minded folk throughout Australia. Young Henrys range is made up of well-balanced, easy-drinking beers.

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Hornet IPA
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Hornet IPA

Black Hops Brewing’s Hornet IPA. A sweetish, citrusy, stone fruity IPA with a nicely balanced hoppy bitterness. In 2015 Black Hops brewed the world’s first official Call of Duty beer, a Midnight Pale Ale. In 2016, they successfully raised $17,000 via a crowdfunding campaign to become the first Aussie brewery to launch via crowdfunding. Black Hops Brewing opened the doors (taproom and brewery) in Burleigh Heads in June 2016.

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Hawkers IPA
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Hawkers IPA

The Hawkers’ IPA India Pale Ale Craft Beer is great beer - bold, citrusy and delicious. Features an aroma of hops and sweet toffee/caramel. The Hawkers IPA is a well-structured IPA with sweet flavours up front, then comes the nice fruit and malt taste. Very nice!

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East Bar
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East Bar

Chiang Mai’s Craft Beer and Live Music East Bar เลขที่ Huaykaew Rd. Chiang Mai - On the busiest intersection in Chiang Mai, surround by the modern… is the rustic East Bar - a small wooden shack, surrounded by vacant land and decorated by red plastic stools, hand-made wooden tables and soft red lights. | Whale วาฬ Nomad Brewing Co. Collaboration with The Brewing Project Pale Ale | ABV 5.2% | 52 IBU | Rating ★★★★ || Drink Dank Gan Chit Beer IPA | 1 6% ABV | Rating ★★★★

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Flying Fist IPA
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Flying Fist IPA

IPA Flying Fist Craft Beer by Jing A Brewing Co.

Found a great little delicatessen on Kangding Road in Shanghai that served a range of craft beers and wines. It was at the end of a hot, long day - so I went for the beer! The Flying Fist American IPA captured my attention with its great name and label and I’m glad it did - it was great! Flying Fist IPA offered a crisp, dry-hopped burst of fruit fresh. This Jing-A beer is a very balanced IPA, very drinkable with a nice balance of sweetness and hop bitterness. A stand out Chinese IPA! I think I’ll have another one! Rating ★★★★

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Lost Coast Hazy IPA
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Lost Coast Hazy IPA

Lost Coast Hazy IPA | IPA - New England | 6.4% ABV | 38 IBU | Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe California, United States | Rating ★★★★

Found this tasty IPA at Beer Lady in Shanghai and enjoyed! The Hazy IPA is fruit, with a touch of bitterness. The Lost Coast offered a nice hazy IPA smooth, silky and refreshing and I’ll order another one!

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Revenant IPA
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Revenant IPA

Revenant IPA Graveyard Series Craft Beer

The Revenant IPA craft beer was first tried at BEER LADY in Shanghai and I really enjoyed it. I’m an IPA fan and the Revenant IPA ticks boxes with its full-bodied hop flavour and lively citrus aroma and taste. Rating ★★★★

REVENANT IPA | ABV 7.00% | IBUs: 59 | American IPA | Lost Coast Brewery and Cafe | California, United States | Rating ★★★★

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two birds ipa
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two birds ipa

Two Birds India Pale Ale Craft Beer

I found the tasty Two Birds IPA Craft Beer at Beer Lady in Shanghai and it was great. A fruity beer with some power added by the hops. Two Birds IPA is a hazy Pale Ale that was brewed with 2 types of oats to give a smooth, silky mouthfeel. For fans of West Coast IPAs the Two Birds will hit-the-spot. I rate this IPA ★★★★

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Flat Tire
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Flat Tire

I found PISTONHEAD FLAT TIRE in Shanghai at BEER LADY after work one day and it hit-the-spot. The can graphics and name are very well done - great design work! The beer has a small head and offers a hoppy West Coast IPA aroma. This is lighter and easier to drink than a dense IPA and a good all-rounder. I rate this beer ★★★

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Thai Beer
Craft Beer, Travel Luke Watson Craft Beer, Travel Luke Watson

Thai Beer

Thailand’s Best Beer? There’s a number of beers on offer in Thailand, and I’ve tested them all… here’s my advice…. stick with Singha and Leo. If you are a restaurant or 7-Eleven in Thailand and trying to decide which mainstream beer to choose… there are only a few choices and the majority are produced by Boonrawd Brewery. Boonrawd Brewery is so ubiquitous in Thailand that one ponders if this giant of a company may somehow have a impact on the very small and weak grass-roots, home-grown craft beer producers in Thailand. Compared with Vietnam…. where home-grown craft beer producers offer a great choice at a great price, Thailand doesn’t have much to offer and out-prices itself from being a viable option. So if you love craft-beer and in Thailand - you’ll be sad to hear that you may be forced to stare a refrigerator in a 7-Eleven or a restaurant and choose between Chang, Leo and Singha.

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Boxing Cat TKO India Pale Ale ★★★
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Boxing Cat TKO India Pale Ale ★★★

A nice beer from China's Boxing Cat Brewery that is hoppy, aromatic, floral and a little bitter. In China there's not a lot of quality craft beers, having said that, this is one of the best. Boxing Cat TKO IPA is medium in body with a flavour that comes from the three different hop varieties used during the brewing process.

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