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A Craft Beer I Found In Japan

Video Review of Harvestmoon Schwarz

Roti's House in Tokyo Japan


I was fortunate enough to actually find some local craft beer in Japan at a placed called Roti’s House which houses the Harvestmoon brewery. This brewery is located in the Ikspairi resort right outside of the Disneyland Tokyo.

Directions to Roti’s House and Harvestmoon Brewery (These directions assume you have a JR Pass. If not, the subway can get you close, but you will have to walk a bit to get there and I can’t give you those directions.)
Tokyo exit to Disney Land

Exit and go right
How To Get To Harvestmoon Brewery in Tokyo, Japan

   1. Take the Tokyo Metro Line to Tokyo Station (Red M-17)
   2. Take the JR Keiyo Line to Miahama station
   3. Exit the station using the South Exit (Disneyland Resort)
   4. Keep left once entering the resort. You will pass a fountain on your left, some shops and an information desk on your right.
   5. Head up to the fourth floor using the escalator on your left.
   6. Once off the escalator, follow the wall on your left around a corner and you’ll be at Roti’s House and Harvestmoon brewery

Pretty easy huh? I thought so to.

General Information

Link to their site.

Location: 4th Floor, Tokyo Disney Land Ikspiari Resort

Hours: 11 am to 11 pm

Phone number is 047-305-5652

Review of Harvestmoon Schwarz

I didn’t really know what to expect after actually finding some craft beer in Japan. I suppose I had higher expectations based on the fact that it took me so long to find something within reach, but my heart also knew not to be to excited. I did a flight of all of Harvestmoon’s beers for 1,400 yen. Instead of telling you about all of them I decided to focus on their most recent award winner. The Schwarz won a gold medal at the International Beer Summit in Osaka, Japan.

Packaging

Beer Flight at Harvestmoon Brewery in Tokyo JapanI didn’t get this one in a bottle, though it was available for purchase so I can’t really review anything based on packaging.

Appearance

The beer was very dark with hints of ruby highlights dancing within the glass when looking up at the light. There was a nice 2 finger creamy, tannish head floating on the top of the brew.

Smell

A subtle aroma that consisted of a roasted, coffee malt with very little hop characteristic. I get a hint of an astringent aroma. It seemed to be very characteristic of all their beers, but was best hidden in this beer.

Taste

Sneak peek at Harvestmoon Brewery fermentersTastes a lot like it smells. A coffee, roasted flavor that is mixed with a little bit of caramel malt. There is very little hop bitterness. The notable bitterness seems to come from the roasted malts instead of the hops. It has very smooth taste, but it bites a little bit with astringency. Almost like a subtle “vomit burp”.

Mouthfeel

Crisp and clean with moderate carbonation. It is a very smooth drink. The Schwarz, along with all their beers, didn’t really change in mouth feel from Pilsner to Brown Ale.

Drinkability

The drinkability is pretty low in my opinion. The astringency that I find within the beer just keeps haunting me. It was nice for a change, but definitely not a session beer and if that astringency was more powerful it could be hard to drink.

Overall

The Schwarz was my favorite of all the beers that I tried of Harvestmoon’s. It was nice experiencing the flight of beers made locally in Japan, but the Schwarz, and all the other beers for that matter, didn’t impress me. For beer enthusiasts though, its worth trying. However, if I lived in Japan, I probably wouldn’t pick up 6 packs of any of these brews until the astringency was dealt with.

How about you?

Have you made it to this brewery? What did you think? Did you find this acid taste in the ones you tried?