Declan Murphy wrote:

> Abashiri is the name of the brewer (and the brewery is presumably in
> Abashiri, unlike say Otaru Beer, where the brewery isn't in Otaru)

When the brewery opened several years ago it was very much in the 
central business hub of the thriving metropolis of Abashiri and had a 
restaurant attached.  It had a nearly fatal case of "Bierstube" complete 
with 130kg locally grown and corn fed serving wenches in drindl skirts 
and a headwaiter in lederhosen.  One of those ambiance things where you 
concentrate every fiber of your being into drinking the beer and eating 
the moriawase sauseji set with extreme gusto while keeping your eyes 
down.  The beer was pretty good, though ... which made up for a lot of 
other shortcomings.

CL