Do we have to bear this beer?

When it comes to beer, many countries feel some kind of national proudest when you start talking about their beer. In England, every body drinks Newcastle, in The Netherlands it’s Heineken, in Finland Lappin Kulta, in Belgium Hoegaarden, Guiness in Ireland, in USA Budweizer or Samuel Adams and in Japan Kirin or Asahi.

But my question is; why is Beer so connected with nationalism?

The first Kirin factory was actually started by a Scottish guy, Tomas Glover. “The Glover garden” is the beautiful garden and house of mr Glover and it’s situated on the mountain in Nagasaki. He was Scottish, but instead of importing good beer from Scotland, he started his own brewing factory here.

Why Mr Glover had to start his own brewery and make terrible Kirin beer instead of importing beer is a mystery to me. I guess it’s better to have a terrible beer than no beer at all?

But the good news is that you get adjusted to the taste and after two months it’s not that bad.

Another tragic beer is the Budweiser. There is a really funny Monthy Python episode when they compare American beer with water. I have to say that you can definitely compare Japanese beer with water. Or Japanese drinks with water, please put SOME alcohol in it at least.

A good thing on the other hand is that many countries don’t produce any whiskey at all, since it’s obviously pretty hard to make a good one. But not Japan.
“For relaxing times, make it Suntory time” is a classic line from “Lost in Translation”. I guess Monthy Python would make a really good joke out of that since Suntory whiskey is not a whiskey. What if Europeans would start making Sake instead of importing it? It would be terrible sake. Europeans don't know how to make sake, so import it. Japanese don't know how to make beer or whiskey, so import it!

I was going to go to a beer brewery today, but I figured out that it’s better to work on a Saturday instead of having bad beer.

And I just found out that my father was in a bus accident back in Sweden. My family and relatives haven’t told me anything. He is supposed to do fine and have fun with the nurses at the hospital. I can’t wait to have a nice Ardbeg whiskey with dad when I come home.