What could be a better day out than a few freshly brewed free beers and a look around a brewery? At Ashahi Breweries in Nagoya Japan they are offering this great adventure. Tours are conducted in Japanese and also English. The tour is quiet an eye opener, with the brewery being one of the most modern around. The equipment is very high tech and the fermenting tanks are monstrous.  You get a really good understanding of how beer is produced and packaged over about 90 minutes, before ending up at the best bit the tasting room for a few free samples and the odd seafood cracker- delicious.  You can stay a little longer and have lunch and pay for a few extra beers if you wish. If you are really nice to the friendly customer relations people they might even send an extra free on your way if things are not very busy.Now probably the best time to visit is a certain Sunday in the middle of May when the brewery puts on a Customer Thanks Day. You couldn’t imagine how popular this is with free beer and food on the beautifully manicured gardens. A few people have that good a time, they fall into the ornamental pond with the carp- probably the Aussies or Kiwis!The easiest way to get to the brewery by train from Nagoya station:  Take the JR Chuo line from Nagoya Station to JR Shin-Moriyama. The tickets cost about 650 yen one way and the journey takes about 15 minutes. Then walk to the brewery takes about another 5 -10.For more information, opening times and whether bookings are being taken visit the Asahi website or give them a call;  http://www.asahibeer.co.jp/english/companye/brewery.html

318 Nishikawahara-machi, Moriyama-ku, Nagoya, Aichi 463-0089
TEL 052-792-8966  FAX 052-792-8967