Japan Winter Holiday 2017 Part 11 - Asahi Beer Factory Tour Sapporo

On our fifth day in Japan, after breakfast and coffee we continued with our day with a visit to Asahi Beer factory. I saw on their website that they give you an actual tour of their factory, instead of just displays and history like the Museum of Ebisu Beer in Tokyo we had visited a couple of years back. The Asahi Beer Factory tour had already caught my attention on my very first visit to Japan in 2013, but we didn't get around to it even though there was one located just a day trip away from Tokyo.

Note: Don't confuse this Asahi Beer Factory (in Sapporo) with Sapporo Beer Museum (museum with displays but not a factory) or with Sapporo Factory (this one is actually a mall).

We followed Google Maps directions to get to Asahi Beer Factory. Here is a sample route from Odori Park.

In the subway station

Still entertained with the snowball maker

Subway platform

From Nangonanachome Station, we walked towards the factory. The street was very quiet. Miss Kiki kept herself busy with her snowball maker.

And we arrived! If you had followed the right path, you wouldn't miss the factory. It was huge! This one in the picture is actually a restaurant. The factory was located behind the restaurant. Go around the building to get to the factory.

Right at the entrance there was a photo spot. This is one reason Japan is so fascinating. They made an effort to create a photo spot for visitors almost everywhere, and they even put the date on it! Maybe you remembered, our Sake Brewery Factory tour also had something similar.

We went to the reception area and they asked us if we had reservations. We didn't, but they had spots for us in a group scheduled a little later. This group was a Japanese language tour, and they gave us two pre-recorded machines similar to the ones we used in the Doraemon Museum.

First, we were ushered to a theatre. The tour guide greeted our group and they played us a video about Asahi Beer Factory. All of these were in Japanese and was not in the pre-recorded device. I only understood a small fraction of it.

After the movie, we followed the tour guide throughout the building. Our first stop was the raw material station. They had information on what ingredients they needed to make beer, and they had samples there that we could eat, touch, and smell.

The station with explanations and samples

Barley on the table to touch, and in the shaker to eat.

Explaining the two-row and six-row barley

Barleys to taste

Hops are also important in beer making. I've often heard the term 'barley and hops' but at this visit was the first time I've seen, touched, and smell real hops. They are very fragrant!

Hops

The inside of a hop

After experiencing the ingredients, we moved on to the Fermentation and Maturization process. We walked through a 'tank' and on the inside they had lights that illustrated the fermentation process. The guide also showed us their actual tanks that the factory had and gave us some numbers. My brain was too occupied with translating those numbers that even though I was able to translate it then, I don't remember them anymore! Hahahah....

Inside the 'tank'

Explanation of the fermentation process

Watching the bubbles

After we exited the maturation tank, we were shown their filtration system.

From there we went to the canning area, and on the walls they showed some art work about history of beer.

In the packaging/canning area they talked about the keg amongst other things. They had a short video that explained how the keg was filled until it was ready to use. They also showed videos of how they canned the beer, and how they stamped the expiration dates on the can at a very impressive speed. Unfortunately, because it was a weekend we weren't able to see the actual machine in operation.

Video about filling the keg

Can shaping process

Tasting beer as a job!

They didn't stop the tour at the making, canning, and boxing the beer; but they also explained how their waste is 100% recyclable/compostable. Zero percent waste. For a factory, that is quite amazing! They even have their own 'forest' where they planted trees and take care of using their leftovers and byproducts. Even their company uniform were made from recycled plastic.

At the end of our tour, we were guided to the cafeteria where a table with my name on it was set. Each of us adults were allowed 3 glasses of beer to try, and Miss Kiki were given various non-alcoholic drink choices in a cart. The catch is... that you have to be done within 20 minutes. It was no problem for the boys, of course, but for me..... well, too bad.

They provided snacks too

I thought that it was a great visit at the factory. We gained new knowledge and experienced new things. Even Miss Kiki somewhat had fun! Oh, did I mention that everything was FREE of charge?

It was getting a bit darker when we finished our tour. We spent a bit of time outside the door with the snow, and we walked back to the subway station to ride to our next destination.