Neil Duckett

The good guys down at The Tokyo University of Agriculture have come up with a way of combining your daily intake of calcium and also getting a beer in while you’re at it.

Bilk is a low-malt beer made by the TUA in their industrial faculty using fresh milk from Nakashibetsu Cho that is an eminent dairy farming zone from Abashiri City, Hokkaido. Bilk is said to have the flavour of the milk faintly drift into the beer giving it a mellow taste and a sweet smell.

I’m yet to grace Hokkaido with my presence but i’m sure a trip up north won’t be far away and when i do i’ll be sure to get hold of a few of these in person and report first hand on what Bilk really does taste like. 

Hokkaidō (北海道,  literally “North Sea Circuit”, Ainu: Ainu Mosir) or Hokkaido, formerly known as Ezo, Yezo, Yeso, or Yesso, is Japan’s second largest island and the largest, northernmost of its 47 prefectural-level subdivisions. The Tsugaru Strait separates Hokkaidō from Honshū, although the two islands are connected by the underwater Seikan Tunnel. The largest city on Hokkaidō is its capital, Sapporo, which is also its only ordinance-designated city. 

Among the other lines they stock up that way, you can find Ryuhyo Draft a new Happoshu made using water from melted ice floes and pigment from local seaweed which gives it the blue colouring. If that’s not enough you can try a Hotate Draft which is made from scallop. I think i’ll just stick with my usual Sapporo Draft.

You can view a complete range of the beers they sell or buy online here and thanks to Lee for letting me in on these interesting brewskis.