Yesterday, while roaming the streets of Nagoya, Lib asked a very important question…
“Can we find a spot that sells soft serve beer?”
Kara and I had no clue what she was talking about, but it sounded cool.
What was crazy was that Aim E. and PB, who live in Japan, didn’t know what she was talking about either.
“My friend told me about it,” Lib continued, “It’s beer with a frozen beer foam top, that you can eat like soft serve ice cream.”
And then it happened…
We started to walk into the subway station, when we saw a billboard…
And there it was…
An ad for “Frozen” Beer!
After a bunch of freaking out and high fiving, PB went into hardcore research mode.
Apparently, “Frozen” Beer is a concept by Kirin. It’s a seasonal treat for the summer, where certain locations will be serving Kirin beer with a frozen cap of foam that comes out of a soft serve machine. The idea is that the frozen foam top will keep the rest of the beer cold for a longer amount of time. As the foam melts, it just turns back into beer, so your drink does not get watered down.
PB found out that one of the locations for “Frozen” Beer was right next to where we were gonna have dinner.
Perfect!
For dinner, we met up with a few of PB’s friends at a place specializing in chicken wings…
Yup!
The chopsticks come with specific instructions for how to eat the wings.
The first order of business was to get some beverages…
Kara had a fresh Chu-Hi where she got to squeeze her own lemons and add them to the Shochu and Soda in her glass.
I got a Kinga Kogen Beer. It’s a hefeweizen style microbrew. Very crisp, with a good citrus kick.
Then came the food…
Kara isn’t much of a chicken wing type of girl, so she got some tuna.
Aim E. ordered some really tasty fries made from a savory type of root.
Here’s some cucumbers topped with miso. Miso is the pride of Nagoya.
In Japan, when you get chicken wings, they don’t serve the drummette. They only serve the wingette (what I call the forearm), and they leave the wing tip attached. I ordered the spicy. It’s a dry rub that is totally caked on.
Bones
After a dope dinner, we hit the streets to look for “Frozen” Beer…
The Streets
A Giant Upside Down Top
And then we saw it…
Frozen Garden! This must be the place.
Look at all the people! This must be the place.
After waiting in line for a good 20 minutes, we were let in to the Frozen Garden (A pop up store that only opened 12 days ago, and will be gone by the end of summer).
We each ordered a pint…
Oh man!
The first thing I did was take a bite out of the foam. In solid form, the foam has a nutty type of flavor, but as it melts in your mouth, all you taste is beer.
After a couple of bites, I started to just drink the beer.
It tasted like regular old Kirin Ichiban.
Very crisp.
Very cold.
Very Japanese.
After being stoked to the hella on that “Frozen Beer”, we hit the streets again to get our karaoke on…
The Streets
Then we found it…
Joy Joy Billiards and Karaoke
Karaoke in Japan is a bit different…
You don’t sing in front of a whole bunch of strangers. You rent a room with your friends by the hour. In the room, you’ve got a bunch of mics, so everybody is pretty much singing along.
While you’re there, most drinks are free…
Free Drinks
With enough Calpis Chu-Hi you can’t help but sing along…
Lady Gaga, anyone?
Stay Rad,
Jeff
Stay Rad 
June 25, 2012 at 7:38 pm |
So how much does it cost for a frozen beer? ( In dollars )
June 25, 2012 at 8:02 pm |
700 yen. It’s 80 yen to the dollar. Take 700 and divide it by 80. I think that’s like around $8.75.
Most beers are running between 400 and 500 yen ($5 – $6.25).
I guess the best way to look at Japan is that it’s airport prices for most things, and nightclub prices for the fancy or novelty stuff.
July 2, 2012 at 10:25 am |
So you will be starting a frozen beer shop when you get home then?
July 2, 2012 at 9:54 pm |
Not a bad business plan.
700 yen a glass is a rediculous mark-up.
July 2, 2012 at 9:37 pm |
I’ll accept a frozen beer…
Thanks,
D’Arnold
July 2, 2012 at 10:09 pm |
You would…