Senri Ayumu Launches Craft Beer Series, Tasting Four Wakayama Beers

NIJISANJI — Senri Ayumu, a Nijisanji streamer, opened a new craft beer series on Wednesday and drank all four standard beers from Nagisa Beer, a brewery in Shirahama, Wakayama Prefecture. The series, titled “Ayuyu to Kakuchi no Beer Meguri” (a tour of beers from around Japan with Ayuyu), will feature one brewery per stream on an irregular schedule, Ayumu said.

Ayumu said the aim is to share each beer’s character as personal impressions rather than rankings, and held up a hand-drawn picture of the lineup. Before drinking, Ayumu told the story behind the brewery’s panda-label bottle, which was first released for Father’s Day as a thank-you to customers who sent encouragement during the pandemic and has been sold every year since. The brewery was founded in 1996 by someone who learned brewing in the United States, Ayumu said.

“I’d be happy if you came to like beer at your own pace, without forcing yourself.” — Senri Ayumu, advising people new to beer

Ayumu then worked through the set, which came from a six-bottle order Ayumu picked from the brewery’s lineup. The pale ale was refreshing with a good bitterness; the India pale ale had a deeper aroma and a lingering aftertaste, best suited to people who want a distinctive beer; the American wheat was the lightest and easiest to drink, which Ayumu recommended for those still getting used to beer. The mikan ale, made with Wakayama’s famous citrus, started like a beer and gradually turned to orange, which Ayumu compared to a beer cocktail and later to a dessert. Ayumu’s own favorite pick was the India pale ale, while the American wheat was the one Ayumu named as best for newcomers. Ayumu summed up the four as a “Nagisa Beer full course.”

Between tastings, Ayumu said the love of beer began with a first drink, as an adult, at a part-time job in a brewery’s restaurant. Seven Super Chats came in, and Ayumu thanked those viewers near the close.

Ayumu said the series will return, at least about once a month, with announcements to come, and invited viewers to post about the beers they try with the series hashtag.