Pats Pints

If you have become cynical about the craft beer scene in the US, you might Kyoto refreshing. Its a place where wheat beers rule and Belgian-styles are still cool. Here's is the first of three stories about beer and temples in Kyoto. patspints.com/2025/12/17/kyo…

I want express my gratitude to Hiroshi and the entire @kageyamalab for organizing the ISSSC conference in Shimane. Not only was the science truly thought provoking, it was a great opportunity to see old friends and make new ones, all while visiting a fascinating part of Japan.

@kageyamalab It was a truly memorable meeting. Thanks for all your hard work!

ISSSC-2025 has come to a close. With over 250 participants — plus the eight million gods said to gather in Shimane at this time — it could not have been a better meeting. Thank you so much to everyone involved, especially the organising team for their exceptional work!

A wonderful seminar visit to the Universty of Nagoya (thanks Daigo) gave me an opportunity to visit Hikone Castle on the shores of Lake Biwa, one of the few castles in Japan in its original state. As a bonus the train took me through Sekigahara, an important site in Japan history

Today's Japan update is a link to another post in my Japan Beer Travels series. This one centers on Osaka, which may well have the best craft beer scene in Japan. Would you agree with that statement? patspints.com/2025/11/24/jap…

For me Godzilla is one of Japan's best exports, so it was a blast to watch one of the free nightly projection shows at the Tokyo Metropolitan Government Building.

Today's Japan update is link to a Pat's Pints post recapping a day exploring Tokyo and the craft beer scene there. Along the we we'll encounter a brewpub that serves only lamb, a tart carrot ale, and a English pub in a crowded Japanese market. patspints.com/2025/11/11/jap…

@JasonB1217 Unfortunately my grasp of the Japanese language is almost nil, maybe 20 words. While that's limiting in some ways its not a major impediment to getting around. Google translate is super helpful, almost all public transport has English translations, English menus are pretty common

@PatsPints Beautiful pics. Just curious, do you have any sort of grasp on the language? If not, can you get by with English? Japan is in my bucket list and I’m planning on visiting in a few years. Interested in what your experience is.

Fall foliage is a big deal in Japan, and arguably no place more so than Kyoto. In many places the best is yet to come, but when I visited the Daigo-ji complex at the foot of the mountains SE of Kyoto last week the display was pretty impressive.

I've accumulated a wealth of photos during my Kyoto sabbatical, so I'm going to start sharing a photo of the day. Here's To-ji Temple. We visited during the autumn nighttime illuminations. The 3D mandala with statues representing the entire Bhuddist pantheon is impressive

I haven't posted on this platform in quite a while, but I'm in the middle of a wonderful sabbatical in Japan. Its inspired me to write some new material for the Pat's Pints blog. Here's the first installation - patspints.com/2025/11/08/tho…

@ChrisRWiebe Embarrassing, sad, delusional, and more. It feels like I live in a different country than I did a month ago.

@JasonKhoury1 @ASU_SMS Thanks so much for the invitation and wonderful hospitality! I enjoyed my visit very much.

@rdrons Miguel was both a towering figure and an approachable friend and mentor to many of us in the field of solid state chemistry. He will be dearly missed, but I'm thankful that he maintained his health and intellect to the end.

Absolutely horrific to learn that Miguel Alario Franco, a leading solid-state chemist from Spain, suddenly passed away yesterday. We enjoyed his presence during the last GRC only a month ago, and we will miss him, his famous humor and spectacular jokes. RIP

@FryPetit Miguel was an amazing advocate for and supporter of solid state chemistry, and for many of us a dear friend. I'm grateful to have spent time with him at the GRC last month, but future meetings won't be the same without him.

How sad to hear of Miguel's passing

A photo of the Woodward group academic tree from the just concluded Solid State Chemistry GRC. As always, it was a phenomenal conference. I'm very proud of the amazing science these individuals are doing, including a great talk from @FryPetit

@Vero_Augustyn @No_Holz It was great seeing both of you. I fully concur about Noah.

Check out the latest ATB episode, a light hearted episode that examines beers featuring unusual ingredients in a gameshow format. Play along with @DanEatonBiz1st , Madeleine and Chris and see if you can tell what's real and what's fake. patspints.com/2024/06/07/all…

@URNTRBL @mark_cbus Yes, I've seen him with a Wooly Pig bottle in hand. Great brewery!

@PatsPints just catching up on your last episode, has @mark_cbus seen #WoolyPigFarms bottled beer? The bottle shape he likes