Baird New Year’s Party
Howdy, Chris here.
With our different schedules and responsibilities, it’s very rare that all of the Baird Brewing employees have a chance to get together to enjoy a relaxing day of fun and beers — hell, it’s even unusual to get all the brewery staff together in one place for some beers and bowling! But such a day did happen right after new years when the staffs of Nakameguro, Harajuku and Bashamichi Taprooms hopped on down to Numazu to join the brewery staff for our 2012 Shin-nen-kai (new year’s party).
The Taproom staff took a bus in from Tokyo and arrived at the brewery at 11:00. Of course, the brewers had all been there since 8:00 doing our usual jobs, like keg cleaning, checking up on beers, labeling, preparing for the party, etc. Work was soon forgotten, however, as the bus took off to our first destination, a campground in Shuzenji, Ito City — which just happens to be the future site of our new brewery. It was the first time for most of us to see the property, and we were definitely not disappointed. Beautiful, breathtaking, awesome, fantastic, lovely; those were just a few of the comments.
We started out, as is customary in Japan, with an opening address by the Shacho/Boss, Brewmaster Bryan, his lovely sidekick Sayuri and GM John. Everyone, of course, listened in rapt attention, even though it was friggin’ cold and windy and many of us just wanted to get those kegs of beer tapped! (Of course we had kegs of beer!!!)
Bryan, John and Sayuri Addressing the Masses
Rapt Attention!
Rapt, I Tell Ya!
Well, a Few May Have Been Eyeing the Food Instead
As I said, the site is a gorgeous. The idea is to build the world’s most beautiful country brewery, not just a prefabricated warehouse/factory, with a Taproom and event hall above the brewery. The plans include a catwalk circling the brewery where customers and visitors can go on self-guided tours to see what’s going on down below. And since it was a campground in its former life, part of the property will be for . . . duh, camping. And did I mention it’s along the Kano River? Can fishing be far behind? And what about the out-of-business onsen/hot springs next door? Well, now we might be dreaming just a little bit . . . or are we?
Once Bryan explained the plans for the new brewery, we got down to the fun stuff — eating and drinking. We had brought a couple kegs with us — Brewmaster’s Nightmare Rye IPA and Carpenter’s Mikan Ale — plus a cooler filled with bottles. Numazu Fishmarket Taproom Manager Michiru had whipped up a bunch of goodies designed to keep us filled up and warm, and they did just that.
Various Fried Things
Curry Rice and Hot Soup
Our stomachs full, we filled our glasses and wandered around the property, down to the river, around to where the Baird Orchard and Gardens will be, over to the camping area — at the risk of belaboring the point, it really is an impressive piece of land.
Baird Brewing Beach along the Kano River
Future Site of Baird Brewing Orchard and Gardens
At this point, we were getting a bit cold, so we loaded into the bus and headed off to Gotemba Kogen to warm up in the onsen/hot springs. On the first leg of the bus ride, only I had the sense to grab a couple beers out of the cooler — I shared strategically with selected people nearby; before the second leg started, nearly everyone grabbed a bottle or two, so by the time we arrived at Gotemba Kogen, some of us (me!) were buzzing pretty good.
The Brewing Team
Serious Discussion?
Unfortunately no cameras were allowed inside the onsen/hot springs, so you’ll just have to wait for the Babes of Baird Brewing (and Beefcakes of Baird Beer) Calendar, coming hopefully later this year.
After arriving at Gotemba Kogen, we had a tour of the brewery — very nice. They do make some excellent beers there. Personally I think the Schwarzbier is one of the best of its kind in Japan, and the Pilsner is wonderful. Others enjoy the Weissen and Dunkelweissen. And still others are content with water, but none of them will ever work at Baird Brewing!
Spying on . . . um, I Mean Visiting the Gotemba Kogen Pub Brewery
Apprentice Hiromu Seems to Need Some Help Standing
Thanks for the Wonderful Tour
By this time, after hearing about how their beers are made, we were getting a bit thirsty. I found a tank that no one was watching — seemed like a good idea at the time.
Is this the Tap for Schwarzbier?
The rest of the evening was taken up with eating and drinking massive amounts of food and beers. Some of the more sane among us (including me, amazingly) took the early bus back to Numazu, and I managed to get to bed before 11:00.; But urged on by the Brewmaster, the younger guys stayed on. The brewery the next morning was a little quieter and slower-moving the next morning, needless to say.
It was a great day, especially wonderful to see the future brewery site after months of hearing about it. The new brewery is going to be absolutely magnificent, and it’s going to be an honor and privilege to brew there. Expect construction to start this summer, with a target opening of early 2013. We are looking forward to seeing you all there.
Cheers,
Chris
Posted: February 4, 2012 under Blog, In the Brewery.
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