Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Back in Japan (February 2014)...Beer Tasting at Hakkaisan Brewery in Niigata

Hakkaisan's craft beer and Mochibuta pork sausage pizza

On our last day in Niigata, we took a local train from Nagaoka to Itsukamachi in Minami Uonuma.

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The area is surrounded by mountains covered in snow. From the station, we headed to our first destination, which is Hakkaisan Beer Brewery. Yes, the famous sake brewery also has a micro-beer-brewery operation. Their beer has a serious fan base among beer aficionados in Japan.

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We were very happy we finally got there. They make 3 kinds of artisan beer, so we wanted to try.

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T the brewery, they have a casual Italian restaurant with the wood fire oven. We enjoyed the fresh beer with local vegetable salad and pizza. Pizza was Niigata's mochibuta pork sausage. Wonderful.