April 23rd is Craft Beer Day! Celebrate With Rice Style Craft Beer!

April 23rd is Craft Beer Day

4月23日精酿啤酒日

The Beer Day Selection Committee, led by the Craft Beer Association, which made the soil of the growing beer culture fertile and helped it sprout, invited the public to submit Beer Day Selection applications. At the opening ceremony of the International Beer Cup on October 8, 1999, it was announced that April 23 will be Craft Beer Day.

精酿啤酒协会领导下的啤酒日评选委员会，为啤酒文化的发展提供沃土，帮助啤酒行业发展，特邀请公众提交啤酒日评选申请。1999年10月8日的国际啤酒杯开幕式上，宣布了4月23日为精酿啤酒日。

On this day in 1516, the "Reinheitsgebot" or "German Beer Purity Law" came into force, and breweries in Germany traditionally celebrate the "Day of German Beer" (National beer day) on April 23. The applicant who suggested this date noted that this is a historical date when beer was first defined in the whole world. 

1516年的这一天，《啤酒纯净法》(Reinheitsgebot)或《德国啤酒纯度法》生效，德国的啤酒厂传统上在4月23日庆祝“德国啤酒日”(国家啤酒日)。提出这一日期的申请人指出，这是啤酒历史上在全世界首次确定这个日期。

Craft Beer Scene in Japan

日本精酿啤酒

The strength of the craft beer scene is truly remarkable when you realize that the Japanese craft beer industry didn’t exist 25 years ago. It was only in 1994 that the Japanese government softened the strict laws that governed the granting of brewing licenses. Before that, a brewery needed to be able to produce 2 million liters of beer each year to become licensed, which was achievable for industrial-sized breweries only. 

当你意识到日本在25年前还没有精酿啤酒行时，你就会发现日本精酿啤酒行业的实力是非常惊人的。直到1994年，日本政府才放宽了严格的酿造许可证颁发法律。在此之前，啤酒厂每年需要生产200万升啤酒才能获得许可，这仅适用于工业规模的啤酒厂。

The Echigo Brewery was the very first to open in Japan since the new law and they have been going strong in the world of beer ever since. The brewery is located in Niigata prefecture, which is the number one rice-growing prefecture in Japan and home to the famous Koshihikari rice, short grain rice regarded as the best quality and flavor in all of Japan. The brewery has high standards when selecting the Koshihikari rice to assure a superb flavor outcome.

越后酒造是自新法律实施以来第一家在日本开业的啤酒厂，从那时起他们就在啤酒界蓬勃发展。酒造位于日本第一大水稻种植县新泻县，是著名的越光米的故乡，这种短粒米有着全日本最好的品质和味道。酒造在选择越光米时具有很高的标准，以确保其极好的风味。

On this day we invite you to try Echigo Koshihikari Lager, a beer from the pioneers of Japanese Craft Beer. This rice-style lager with 5% alcohol is crisp and refreshing with smooth finish. It goes surprisingly very well with Japanese food such as sushi. It has a slightly acidic tang to the regular lager flavour, but it is not too overpowering.

在这个日子里，我们邀请您品尝越后越光啤酒，这是来子日本精酿啤酒的先驱的啤酒。这款米酒风格的拉格啤酒含有5%的酒精，口感清爽，回味顺滑。它与寿司等日本食物非常搭配。与普通的拉格啤酒相比，它有带有一点微酸，但不是太过浓烈那种哦。