Beer Zen Issue #3 2013

N ZE

Inside: Beer Adventures Chicago Breweries Kansai Breweries Barrel-aged Beer

Winter | Issue #3 Facebook.com/beerzen FREE

What is craft beer to you?

“A craft is often compared to a skill, a vocation, a way of life. In that sense, I see craft beer as the end result of the efforts of the brewer to craft a quality product that reflects their ideas, philosophy and hard work - in a glass. Usually produced on a small scale and not necessarily targeted at the masses but rather for those who appreciate and seek out the sheer multitude of flavors, colours, styles, and strengths that exist in the world of craft beer. It encompasses beers throughout the world, it crosses borders, cultures, even time itself. It is indeed something special.”

- Chuwy , Tokyo

私にとってクラフトビールは 人生を全て賭けた ストレートなチャレンジです。 -Ai Tani, Osaka

Send your photos and answers to: beerzenjournal@gmail.com 3

BEER ZEN 4

One of America’ s most popular craft beers Imported by

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CONTENTS

TOC Letter from the Editor

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Kyushu Brewery 6 Saitama Brew 7 Bottles 8 Dig 9 Nashville 10 Wild/Sour Beers 11 Chicago Breweries 12 Barrel-aged Beer 16

Craft Brewery Safari Kansai 20

Beer. I like it. Another 22 Brew Lab 23

Reviews: beer, book, apps, shops 24

Beer Recipe 26

EDITOR’S NOTE It’s science! And it’s art! And it’s damn fine liquid fun. Craft beer is many things to many people. On some level though, craft beer is mystery, a question waiting to be answered. “Will this be the best beer ever?” Even if you are lucky enough to have a beer that answers that question with a resounding yes, you will still be off on an adventure in pursuit of the next beer that will be better than the one you just enjoyed. The most epic stout. The perfect IPA. The most amazing farmhouse ale. The list is endless and the journey continues.

Recently, I was fortunate enough to enjoy a weekend adventure in Tokyo/Yokohama and dive into the craft beer scene (big thanks to everyone we met, both new friends and an old and to all the shop staff we met for their kindness!) To see what was different from Osaka and what was the same was an excellent experience. I visited a number of smoke-free (WOW! We don’t have that in Osaka!) craft beer bars in search of good times and good beer. My short trip took me and my band of travelers to Antenna America where I started off the trip with a highly enjoyable Stone Arrogant Bastard (hello, old friend) and a North Coast Old Rasputin (along with awesome buffalo “Stone sauced” wings and amazing fish tacos from a Coronado brewing recipe). I also had the opportunity to speak with new friends (real people, not beer). At Baird Basamichi I enjoyed an old favorite, Suruga Bay Imperial IPA among the fine rustic scents rumbling through the shop that transported me out of the city, excited for the completion of the upcoming new brewery. The next day at Devil Craft Kanda I kicked off the evening with a Lagunitas IPA and a damn fine piece of za. At Popeye I settled into the evening with a Rogue Shakespeare Stout and listened to a friend explain the history of craft beer in Tokyo and Popeye’s place within it. And at ibrew in Shimbashi I ended the evening with a Beer Buddy IPA and again was fortunate enough to spend the evening with new friends from the scene in Tokyo, packed into this little shop, overflowing with atmosphere and ambiance (and reasonable prices!). Our final day in Tokyo took us to The Watering Hole (after a highly enjoyable burger and Burgers Base, just down the way) where I finished the trip with High Water Campfire Stout (what a name!), soaking in all the craft beer stickers and bottles on the walls as I spoke at length with new friends from within the Tokyo scene about their passion for craft beer and some of their new ventures. Then at Devil Craft Hamamatsu our little band of travelers toasted the trip with an old friend, Green Flash West Coast IPA and another piece of za as we looked around the shop and imagined the brewery that will soon be built on the premises there.

Each stop along the way I was able to speak with folks from the scene in Tokyo. While the surroundings were different, the passion was the same as Osaka and abroad, of course. Whether craft beer is seen as a science or an art or even a mystery, it was continually seen as a damn fine way to spend the evening with new friends and old. Liquid fun, indeed.

Please enjoy this third issue as we take a peak into a few craft beer breweries and bars around Japan and in the USA. It’s not beer porn, it’s beer zen.

POST MD Editor

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Beer In The Highlands Of Kyushu Ky u s h u m a y n o t h a v e t h e s a m e c r a f t b e e r s c e n e a s O s a k a o r To k y o b u t i t ’ s t h e r e i f y o u k n o w w h e r e t o l o o k

Photos by Savvy Bader savvybader@gmail.com

by Adam Douglas The Kuju Highlands in Taketa, Oita in central Kyushu are like nowhere else in Japan. The open, rolling grassland starts at the foot of Mt. Kuju, the tallest mountain on Kyushu, and meanders across the border to Kumamoto and the Aso Caldera. The same volcanic activity that created the Aso region continues to provide the whole area with fresh spring water, which gushes out of the ground and into the waiting jugs of tourists and locals alike.

This same spring water is used in Suisenkyo Beer, which is brewed and sold at Kuju Kogen Beer Village, a brewpub located in the heart of the highlands. The interior is pleasantly rustic, with lots of hard wood and hand-carved chairs. One side of the restaurant looks out onto the sloping hills of the highlands, while the other looks into the brewery itself and its many large tanks.

There are three beers on tap, a weizen, brown ale, and a stout, and all are worth a taste. Beer can be ordered in small, medium or large glasses. There is a selection of food available as well, mostly Japanese, although I did see steak on the menu.

I went with the sausage and otsum-

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ami platters and all the food was delicious.

Beer-wise, I started with the weizen. Although the brewery describes it as fruity and cloudy, I found it to be slightly dry, with less of the citrus notes I associate with weizen.

There was a slightly starchy aftertaste that I wasn’t thrilled with, but when I paired the beer with food it disappeared.

It was especially good with the sausage. This beer is best had with a meal. The brewery recommends Japanese food and I can’t see a reason to argue with that.

Next I tried the brown ale. Although I do occasionally enjoy an American-style hoppy ale, I’m not big on the British brown ales. This ca ra mel-colored beer was somewhat lacking in body, a complaint I have with most Japanese beers, but not distractingly so. The taste was on the smoky side and not hoppy at all. It was good with the sausage and, surprisingly, fried squid. I can imagine drinking this beer alongside a burger or a nice, big sandwich.

The stout was the big surprise of the day. Chocolate in color but smoky in taste, with a creamy caramel head, this 8% beer went down smooth. Both my friend and I agreed it was easy to drink, perhaps a little too easy given its relatively high alcohol content. Although it went well with the French fries in the otsumami platter, I’d say this is a beer best had on its own. My favorite of the three, hands down.

As there was still some food left, I ordered a medium glass of the weizen and drank it slowly, enjoying the view of the hills, which were partially obscured by misty rain clouds.

On the way out, I bought a bottle of the stout to take home and enjoy the next day but drank it as soon as I got in the door. How’s that for a recommendation?

The restaurant is closed to the public in the off-season from late November until early spring. Check the brewery’s website (kujyukogen-kk. co.jp) for more information. If you don’t plan on visiting Kyushu soon, you can order the beer online at suisenkyobeer.com.

Adam Douglas lives and teaches English in Taketa, Oita Prefecture. When he’s not writing about beer, he’s watching old Japanese movies or reading about ghosts and yokai.

Kobushi – Saitama’s hidden gem of a brewery! and long may it stay so!

by mark buckton As any half awake (real) beer fan knows, the last few years have seen a boom in decent Japan made crafties making their way onto the menu in an ever increasing number of bars and restaurants.

And, whilst a great deal of much deservedly praise is heaped on the brews pumped out by the likes of Nasu Kogen, Minoh, Coedo, and a handful of other trusty Japanese brewers, not to mention the likes of Brimmer and Baird, little mention is ever made of the really tiny brewers such as Hanyu Brewery.

Up in the extreme northeast corner of rural Saitama with Ibaraki and Gunma but a stone’s throw away, miles from any train station, accessible only by car, none of the major craft drinkers in-the-know in and around my own east Tokyo hangout – read: Devil Craft Kanda, Craft Beer Market, and Popeye - have ever heard of Hanyu, or the Kobushi range produced in it’s tiny glass fronted brew house.

Offered in draft at the small on-site restaurant in the extended grounds of Saitama Aquarium, or in bottle form to take home, Hanyu’s

compact but varied and ever changing IPA, Classic, Pilsner, Marzen and Belgian White, range offers a refreshing break from the (now too?) big boys of Yona Yona et al.

The Belgian White (5.5% alc) is a wonderfully aromatic brew, not too creamy as some can be, and when served in the restaurant next to the brewery comes sans head – something that does tend to take some getting through in Japan. The aftertaste is perfectly suited to quiet sessions alone contemplating the meaning of life rather Saturday night swill-fests with the lads.

Coming with a tad more head is the Bohemian-esque pilsner; large mugs of which would not look out of place on the thick wrists of a German waitress in Munich come Oktober.

Not too sharp, and with a slightly more ‘Czech’ finish than many Japanese pilsners out there this makes for a good quality beer to start off an afternoon session; as you might expect from a three time international beer competition winner, and a gold medal winner at the 2010 Japan / Asia Beer Cup. Sadly missing from the Kobushi Hana Beer line-up on my most recent visit was the German dark beer style Marzen which weighs in at 6% and the Classic - but this does of course provide a reason for a trip back. The reason given; my late arrival on a holiday weekend! So – my own fault!

Pick of the bunch of the trio I did get to sample was the IPA. Far from the monster hoppy mouth drying offerings with daft names seen on many of the imported American casks in Japan nowadays, the Kobushi IPA is IPA as the English make

it. Smooth, with a very pleasant and slight caramel meets cinnamon finish, this might even be a beer worth heading all this way from Tokyo for!

Very much so if you can load up the car with bottles - and veggies from the next-door farmer’s market - have ‘er indoors do the driving, and down more than a few yourself!

All are on tap for a very impressive 420 yen per glass. The bottles to take away – 480 yen. Go figure!

Oh, and food wise for those making the trip and feeling peckish, as I understand not all reading this are northern English and of the opinion that peanuts constitutes a meal when drinking; you can safely ignore the staples found all over Japan such as edamame boiled soybeans, and fried potatoes /chips when drinking at the brewery.

Do not, however, miss out on the chance to sample the local udon though.

Thinner than the ‘regular’ udon in most restaurants in the Kanto area, and coming hot or cold with freshly prepared tempura, somehow these make for the perfect accompaniment to Kobushi’s IPA and / or pilsner!

Never heard of or thought of trying that pairing before have you?

Give it a go! It works.

Note – the local station, Hanyu, does not appear too far on the map. ON THE MAP! Do not do what this writer did on his first visit and walk it. It takes 90 mins one way – a hard trek back when you’ve had a few and are carrying a dozen bottles!

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They’re just bottles, man!

by Ajen BIrmingham Beer is delivered in several forms- the keg, the glass, the growler, the can, and the bottle.

It is speculated that beer was first bottled over 400 years ago. It has since been the preferred way to enjoy beer outside of traditional drinking establishments.

Bottles are easy to pour, relatively affordable, and easy to obtain; and if a minimal amount of care is put into the handling and serving of bottled beer you’ll be rewarded with beers that will give you their top game.

Bottles come in several colors. The most common bottles we see today are dark brown. The dark hue is a bit antithetical to the visual appeal that a bottle of beer could provide if it were clear, but there is a practical reason brewers prefer this color over clear and green bottles.

When beer is exposed to ultraviolet and/or visible light (fluorescent lighting counts) it becomes what is called, ‘lightstruck’. This photochemical reaction is when the molecules that are responsible for bittering are broken down and some of them bind with sulfur atoms, resulting in the creation of a new molecule that imparts a ‘skunky’ smell.

The brown hue does provide protection from UV light and ‘skunking’, but not completely. Depending on the light source, a beer can be skunked in under a minute. The best way to prevent skunking is to limit the amount of exposure your beer has to light sources.

An interesting note- Miller uses a special bittering chemical that is impervious to skunking. Thus they are able to get away with using clear bottles. Isn’t science great?

There are different ways that brewers will bottle beer. Usually there are no markings on the bottle to indicate the method used but currently the most popular method used by macro brewers is post-bottling pasteurization. This is where beer is put in the bottle, sealed and sprayed with hot water (60°C) for two to three minutes.

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There are some breweries that choose to go down the pasteurization road but feel that standard pasteurization is too hard on beer so instead opt for ‘flash’ pasteurization. This is when a brewer will subject the beer to higher temperatures for a shorter period of time, after which the beer is put into sterile bottles.

Pasteurization has been an issue long debated. Some feel that it dulls the flavor of beer, but others say that it is so slight that it is almost imperceptible.

Those who opt out of pasteurization completely may choose cold filtration as another option. This is where, after fermentation has been completed, the beer is cooled, causing yeast and other particulars in the beer to glob together making filtration much more effective. This is the most common method used in the craft beer industry. Although an effective means of getting out particulate matter, it is possible to over filter your beer to the point where flavor starts to suffer, leaving you with a characterless beer.

Lastly, is ‘bottle-conditioned’ beer.

This is where brewers bottle beer with a viable yeast population in suspension and prime it with sugar and/or wort allowing it to undergo a second or third fermentation while in the bottle.

Most of these bottles have a fairly long shelf life.

While serving beer fresh is usually preferred, there are some beers that benefit from extended shelving. Pronounced flavors may soften, or less aggressive ones may be rounded out and emphasized.

When selecting beers for extended

maturation there are no rules, but there are a few things to keep in mind.

Beers that are 8% ABV or higher will generally hold up well throughout the aging process. Due to their traditionally higher alcohol content, Russian imperial stouts, eisbocks, barleywines and Belgian triples are all great candidates for cellaring.

This is pretty much true for most high gravity beers, but there are a few exceptions; one of which being IPAs. While IPAs generally are bigger beers, they shouldn’t sit for too long. The crisp, hoppy bitterness that the style is known for decays relatively fast; therefore mellowing the bitterness through aging would kind of go against the style.

IPAs should be consumed fresh. It’s the perfect beer if you are an impatient beer drinker!

Don’t rule out all beers under 8% though. Putting lambics, oude bruins or gueuzes to sleep can produce some really complex and kooky flavors. Although these beers tend to be under the 8% ABV mark, they use interesting yeast strains or have a malt profile that just gets better with time.

Whether in it for the long haul or short term, bottles should be stored upright.

This helps inhibit any off flavors from the cork or cap from getting into the beer.

If kept upright sediment collects neatly at the bottom allowing a clean pour. Also, if stored on its side, more of the beer is in contact with air in the bottle making it more prone to oxidation.

Laying a beer on its side won’t dam-

age it too much but if you plan on storing your beers for extended periods of time you should do your own research and weigh out the pros and cons of positioning on the side or upright. It’s a big topic of debate!

If storing for the intent of keeping freshness and maintaining original flavor, beer should be stored from 3 - 5°C. But if your goal is to age beer, the optimum temperature is about 12°C, give or take a few degrees.

The key thing about temperature is reducing fluctuations. Beer benefits from consistency. If your closet is 17°C consistently, it’s not a big deal. Remember that heat speeds up the maturation process.

If possible the humidity should be kept between 50% - 70%.

When opening a bottle, serving the beer at the same temperature as it was cellared at is going to give the best results. If a beer was kept in a refrigerator it should be allowed to warm up a bit before consumption.

Pour down the middle, not the side. I know it’s easy to pour that way but this allows the beer to aerate and gives it a nice tight, long lasting head.

If you are drinking an unfiltered beer, it is good to keep it at a diagonal leaning pitch, gradually bringing it to a horizontal plane as the beer decreases.

If returned to its upright position, any sediment that collected at the bottom during storage will be blended into the remaining beer giving inconsistent pours. If sharing a bottle with several people this can be an issue. Some people do enjoy the ‘dregs’ so I like to leave a bit of beer in the bottle or put it in a separate glass for the people who want to try it.

So to recap: • Keep bottles stored upright • Store bottles at 3 - 5°C, and if cellaring, at 12°C- consistently. Humidity at 50 – 75%.

• Avoid exposure to light • IPAs do not improve with age • +8% ABV beers cellar really well.

• Don’t be afraid to pour down the middle of the glass.

Basic bottle care is easy and will payback huge when it comes time to crack one open.

Enjoy!

Dig? by makiko nakata 私が働いている”京町堀クラフト ビア食堂 dig beer baR”は、もとは 倉庫だった物件を、目の前に公園が あるなどのロケーションに目をつけ た店主・西尾圭司が、中百舌鳥にある CRAFT BEER DINING enibru、The 2nd Vineに次ぐ３ 店舗の店として、今年７月22 日に西区京町堀にオープン させました。地下鉄四つ橋線 で肥後橋駅(梅田から1駅)か ら徒歩5分という好アクセス で、QbrickやBeerBellyなど 近隣のビアパブも徒歩圏内 に数件あるので、ハシゴを楽 しむこともできます。 インダストリアルデザインの要素 や木の持つ温かさをうまく取り入れた 店内は、外観からは想像できないほど 奥行きがあり、カウンター13席、テー ブル24席、スタンディングも含めると 約50席。店名には、 「クラフトビール の提供ノウハウをさらに掘り下げてい く」という意味が込められており、関 西初の２つの温度帯で樽を冷蔵保存 し、ビールごとに適温・抽出方法を替 えられるシステムを導入、造り手の思 いが込められた最高の状態の”ハンド メイドビール”を常に最高の状態で提 供しています。日替わりで常時16種類 が並ぶクラフトビールは、他ではなか なか出会えない銘柄なども。 ビール以外にも、日本産ワイン、日 本酒などにも力をいれており、ワイン に至っては生産者の顔の見えるものに 焦点をあてたラインナップになってい ます。 料理は特にジャンルにはこだわら ず、旬の素材や地のものを使い、ビー ルとのマリアージュを楽しんでもらえ るよう、常時40〜50種類の料理を揃 えており、価格も一品380円〜と、店 名に もあ るよ うに 気軽 な食 堂使 いに

も対応しています。 スタッフはアルバイト を含め5人。みんな楽しい 事が大 好きなメンバーな ので、11月にはdig初のオ リジナルイベントとして「 カジノナイト」を開催しました。プロの マジシャンのマジックショーもあった りと、お客様と一緒に楽しい時間を過 ごすことができました。今後もさまざ まなアーティストのワークショップや エキシビションの開催、ブルワーさん をご招待してのイベントなどを開催し ていこうと思っています。 「ビール屋」で働く人間に限らず、 どんな仕事でも最高の晴れ舞台で働 くことができるというのは、自慢でも ありプレッシャーでもあります。エニ ブリュと言えば、サービスの質の高さ には定評があり、関西のクラフトビー ルシーンにおいて欠くことのできない 名店。そんな店の店主が大阪市内に出 店するとなれば、ビアファンの間では 当然話題にもなりますし、期待値が上 がること必至です。飲食業での経験は アルバイト程度しかなかった自分にい ったい何ができるのか？と思ったりも しましたが、接客業に長く携わってい た経験が役に立つかも…と思ったの と、いろいろと思い悩むよりとにかく 自分のやれることをやろうと一念発起 し、楽しい仲間との店作りはとてもや りがいのある仕事です。クラフトビー ル歴はまだまだ浅く、もっともっと勉 強が必要な私ですが、digと共に成長 していけたらな、と思います。 最後に、私をクラフトビールの世界 に引きずりこんだ(笑)Ajen Birminghamと、この店に携わっている全ての 皆様に感謝！ありがとう！

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Nashville: Crafting More than Just Hit Songs

by Dan Frio Crap luck that we didn’t have more than one short night in Nashville. Our business in town didn’t finish until almost 10 pm on a weeknight. By then, we were lucky to find the Broadway Brewhouse with its 70 taps and a kitchen staff working late.

We washed down pulled pork sandwiches with hefs and pales from local brewers Yazoo and Jackalope.

It was bad enough that schedules forced us to leave the next morning, ruling out any taproom visits, but we’d also arrived in town a few days before the Nashville Beer Festival kicked off. And if we’d had time to hang around, we could’ve enjoyed a coveted snifter of RUFUS, the limited Yazoo/New Belgium sour collaboration only recently tapped at the brewery (it debuted at a Memphis beer festival months earlier).

When you think of Nashville, you probably don’t imagine craft beer.

Country music, the Grand Old Opry, sure. Whiskey, definitely. But strong ales and award-winning porters?

“People think of Nashville, they think it’s all cornbread, grits and Bud Light,” says local brewer Brandon Jones.

“But people don’t realize we have an incredible foodie scene here. We have some of the top restaurants in the country, and we have movie and music stars, athletes, that live here and have bumped up the standard of excellence. We have a lot of great farms and growing regions here. People are craving more flavor now.”

That’s how Jones explains the rap10

id rise in Nashville’s craft scene over the last few years, a growth spurt for which he’s had an inside view. Tennessee’s 2012 Homebrewer of the Year, Jones recently made the leap to semi-pro brewer and led Yazoo’s contribution for the RUFUS collaboration. Currently he oversees Yazoo’s sour and wild beer program, a craft within a craft, and blogs about his experiences at embracethefunk.com.

Craft beer existed in Nashville before 2010, of course. Blackstone Brewing Company opened in the mid-90’s and remains a cornerstone of the city’s brewers today. Its St. Charles Porter is a perennial medal winner with Great American Beer Festival and World Beer Cup judges. Yazoo opened less than a decade later.

But Jones says Nashville area craft brewing has hit its stride since the malaise of U.S. recession lifted.

New brewers have colorful names and interesting stories: Turtle Anarchy, Black Abbey, Fat Bottom, Mayday, Honky Tonk, Tennessee Brew Works and Cool Springs. Jackalope, meanwhile, was founded by a couple of ladies, one a former law student at nearby Vanderbilt University.

Even the state’s legislature recognizes the importance of craft brewing. Until this year, Tennessee’s beer tax, based on price, was the highest in the nation. A state brewer’s coalition successfully fought for a volume-based flat tax instead, with lawmakers acknowledging a need to

make the state more competitive in a growth industry.

One challenge remains, Jones says. Current state law defines beer higher than 6.2 percent alcohol content as high-gravity and taxes it like wine and liquor, as much as 25 percent. You won’t find high-gravity beers in the same chiller section at the bottle shop; they’ll be displayed with the wine and spirits.

You also won’t find potent brews like Yazoo’s “Sue,” a heavy smoked porter, served in a taproom that doesn’t have a liquor license. Brewers continue to make high-content beer for the love of it and for the buzz -literal and figurative -- but it’s expensive and they’re working with disincentive.

We end our evening in Music City at the Full Moon Saloon. The Joe Fick Trio is belting Johnny Cash and Merle Haggard classics, while we forget about impending wake-up calls over Yazoo Dos Perros, Fat Bottom Ruby Red, Miller High Life and Southern Comfort chasers. The Ruby is a nice, if unremarkable red ale, the Dos Perros an easy, malt-forward brown, and the High Life is better than you remember.

Too many beers we didn’t try though, too many places we didn’t visit, among them Flying Saucer, Bosco’s, and Corsair Artisan, a small-volume whiskey distiller with significant local brews in its restaurant. Beef, whiskey, barbecue and serious beer -- Nashville, we’re comin’ back.

What’s behind this Wild/ Sour Beer Craze?

by Warren wills As you may have noticed, Craft Beer, like many other phenomena, has evolved over time. We’ve seen the addition of more hops, the Pale Ale wave in the 80’s, the rise of the Hefeweizen, a reign of Ambers and most recently the IPA revolution. The latest focus for many American craft brewers has been on the classic Belgian practice of barrel-aging with wild yeasts and souring additives. So, how did all this start and what’s the difference between a sour and a wild beer?

During the time of the First Crusade (late 1000’s), in a region that had yet to be demarcated as Belgium, beer began to be brewed in French and Flemish monasteries or abbeys as a means to raise funds. These lower alcohol brews were seen as a safer way to consume water and thus were more practical than fun in their purpose. Over the next seven centuries, the abbey method evolved, honing artisanal methods that have become commonplace today.

These Abbey and Trappist beers, created using top-fermented ale yeasts, effectively offered a bolder and tastier alternative to the bottom-fermented lager yeasts used in Central and Eastern Europe. The main differences are that top-fermented yeasts work at a higher temperature and with the yeasts floating to the top, a thick rich head of foam is more evident. Where the sour or wild

style of beer comes in is a bit tricky.

These styles come from a method of spontaneous fermentation, subjecting the beer to open air, as opposed to a sealed, sterile environment (thank you Louis Pasteur).

The wild yeast Brettanomyces (Brett), most commonly found on the skins of fruit, has only been a known entity since 1904, but has been used for centuries by these Belgian monks in Lambics, Flemish Reds and Browns, and Saisons. Brett is known for adding a bready and funky addition to the beer, plus a mouthfeel that’s hard to describe. These yeasts can occur spontaneously, inoculated in oak barrels, physically “pitched” into the beer or added during the mash. Wild beer is a general definition for beers that go beyond the standard Saccharomyces style of yeast, instead using Brett yeast or Pediococcus or Lactobacillus bacterium.

Brett yeasts create acetic acids, whereas Pedio and Lacto create lactic acid, so all three generate a sour result and are termed as such, though many sour beers, using acid producing bacteria don’t use wild yeasts or open fermentation. It’s far more complicated than this simple explanation, for there are millions of results that could be derived from introducing these wild critters into the mix once you start talking about blending, aging, fruit, when the yeast is added, temperatures, etc.

As you’ll read in this month’s article on barrel-aging, there are some great brewers in California such as The Bruery and Firestone-Walk-

er that are making some amazing sour and/or wild styles, including a wide variety of spent alcohol barrels. You’re most often going to find these wild and sour styles in places where craft beer innovation are at a fever pitch, such in the Portland area at The Commons, Logsdon and DeGarde, and from brewmasters who have a wine background like those at Firestone-Walker and Crooked Stave Artisan Beer Project in Denver.

The growth of these wild and sour styles has been lucrative over the past few years and for good reason. American brewers have taken the brave step to embrace these old world styles and they continue to be positively received around the world. Sure, these styles aren’t for everybody and weren’t for me at first, but they grow on you and once you get a taste for them, they’re hard to put down.

Warren Wills is the creator and editor of hoppinessis.com

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In Search of the Perfect Beer: The Founding of Chicago’s Craft Beer Scene

by Brian Charest

T

hat the Chicago-area is producing some of the best beers around probably goes without saying. With brewers like Revolution, Half Acre, Pipeworks, Haymarket, Finch’s, Begyle, Goose Island and the nearby Three Floyds, Two Brothers, Lunar, Mickey Finn’s, Solemn Oath, and Wild Onion, there’s so much good beer coming out of the area now that it’s hard to keep track of it

goans have a hard time getting these brews), the story of how this craft beer scene got started in Chicago is less well known to outsiders.

Back in the early 90s when bands like Nirvana, the Butthole Surfers, and the Pixies were busy changing the way the world understood alternative music, a guy in Chicago named Ted Furman was busy trying to change the way people in the

all. And, while local beers like Zombie Dust and Bourbon County Stout have international reputations and are highly sought after (even Chica-

Midwest understood alternative beer.

Furman came on the scene in 1991, opening his Golden Prairie Brewery, when words like “Chicago” and “craft brewing” were an oxymoron. Furman’s journey from home-brewer to pro-brewer helped plant the seeds for much of the current brewing scene in Chicago.

I met Furman about eight years ago at Jake’s Pub, a local bar in the

12

“Ted is one of the founding fathers,” said Joyce. “He’s the Abe Lincoln of craft brewing in Chicago.”

Lakeview neighborhood managed by head bartender and beer buyer, Sean Joyce. Joyce, who made his mark working in Chicago at the famous Wax Trax record label and store in the late 80s and early 90s and then touring with bands like Ministry, Pigface, and the Revolting Cocks, introduced me to Furman as a local brewer and someone worth knowing. Joyce, an unofficial Chicago punk music historian and local beer expert, helped put Furman’s contribution to the brew scene in perspective.

“Ted is one of the founding fathers,” said Joyce. “He’s the Abe Lincoln of craft brewing in Chicago.”

Furman and Joyce have been friends since meeting at Jake’s more than a decade ago. Both of these guys have been participants in the evolving Chicago beer scene since its early days. They drink beer, talk about it, brew it, and generously share what they know with others. In other words, these are beer guys: the kind of bros you want to know, because they not only drink beer, but understand how it’s made and where the best stuff is coming from in the Midwest. In 1999, the two even made a

pilgrimage to Belgium and visited Westmalle Abbey together to try some of their favorite Belgian beers at the source. My advice: if you’re ever in Chicago, seek them out and listen to what they have to say about the local beer scene.

Furman, who is 54 with a shock of silver hair and a matching goatee, began brewing in his basement when he was 26-years-old.

Soon after beginning his home brewing experiment, he went searching for a job with a local brewery. The problem, said Furman, was that there weren’t any breweries to work for in the early 80s. Furman’s career really began when he got a job at Sieben’s restaurant in 1988. At the time, he was also going to school at the world-famous Chicago brew school, the Siebel Institute (both owned by the Siebel family). Also known as the largest brew school in the country, the Siebel Institute focuses on research and teaching and is still the place where serious brewers from around the world go to learn and develop their craft.

Furman credits the Siebel brothers with helping him get his start: they gave him a break on his tuition, since Furman was working for them in their brewpub.

Starting out as host at the restaurant, Furman finagled his way into the brewery in order to get closer to the process. After learning the ropes as an apprentice to the head brewer at Sieben’s, Furman moved on to start his own brewery.

Golden Prairie Brewery opened its doors at 1820 Webster Avenue in 1991 and launched its flagship Golden Prairie Ale, a hybrid beer, the recipe for which Furman had been perfecting for eight years—or what beer and whiskey writer Michael Jackson termed “alt” beer (alt meaning old in this case) after a visit to Furman’s brew13

ery in 1992.

F u r m a n ’s goal was to produce a beer that— much like a wine— would have a balanced flavor that would reflect the local region.

When he started his brewery, Furman was responsible for just about every aspect of the business, from brewing to hauling kegs to creating labels. It was a tough slog. “It was a different market back then,” he said. “Not a lot of people were doing this.” Despite the challenges, Furman continued to brew Golden Prairie Ale up until 2000 when he began working with Two Brothers Brewing in Warrenville, IL to produce Golden Prairie Ale on contract.

Despite the demise of his brewery, Furman remains enthusiastic and practical about the beer scene. His ideas, however, tend to stray from the popular and fashionable. “I started out with the idea that I wanted to brew the perfect beer,” said Furman.

“What I mean is that I wanted to brew a balanced beer that had great flavors.” Furman laments what he considers the overuse of hops in a now hop-centric craft beer world. “I think it reminds some guys of hitting their bongs,” said Furman. “I prefer the barley wines and barrel-aged beers coming out now. I like balance and subtlety.”

For Furman, too many brewers focus on super hoppy beers at the expense of other flavors; these brewers aren’t maximizing the potential of malt to be part of a beer’s flavor profile. Many of the malts used by brewers today are modified before they 14

reach the brewery (i.e., they come as malt extract). Of course, buying malt in extract form makes brewing easier and faster. Despite these advantages, Furman prefers working with the grains and experimenting with malting. “When you overuse hops you can hide the flaws in a beer,” said Furman. “Malt conversions can add an amazing body to beer,” he notes.

“Things like caramel really come forward.”

But Furman isn’t just some sort of old-school traditionalist. He was one of the first to use maple syrup in a beer, brewing a Maple Stout at Golden Prairie and taking a few weeks to age his ales before kegging them. “I tried to brew to a taste rather than a style.” Some experimentation is good, but gimmickry rubs him the wrong way. Furman doesn’t go in for beer hype. He was particularly critical of what he considered the marketing-first approach of a lot of new craft breweries. “Who the fuck would call their brewery ‘Clown Shoes?’” he asked. “Have some self-respect.”

When you’re on a quest to brew the perfect beer, you don’t take kindly to folks peddling image over substance. “How many more ‘Dog’ beers do we need?”

Furman wondere d .

While critical of some of the newer breweries and their focus on what’s popular at the moment, Furman is excited, yet cautious, about the ever-expanding craft beer market. “Some great beers aren’t going to make it, and some beers that really don’t deserve it are going to survive,” he said. “In the next ten years, though, I think you’ll see some weeding out.” Right now, though, Furman sees no end in sight. “The market seems able to support every new brewery that opens, whether they know what they’re doing or not,” he noted. “When I started, it was like

pulling teeth to sell a fucking keg.”

Though the market has changed since Furman got into craft brewing, his influence continues to help shape the Chicago beer scene. As one of the first craft brewers in Chicago, Furman’s legacy stretches well beyond the beers he brewed at Golden Prairie. He taught and mentored some of the most successful brewers in the area.

Josh Deth, from Revolution Brewing, got his first job working with Furman when Deth was “a scrawny teenager who just wanted to learn about beer,” said Furman. Nick Floyd, co-owner of Three Floyds in Munster, Indiana, also got his first brewing gig working for Furman.

“Lots of guys that worked for me went over and started working for Goose Island. I think I was the only one who didn’t,” Furman said. “In fact, many of the guys that worked for me went on to be more successful than I ever was.” Another local brewer who was mentored by Furman is Greg Brown from Micky Finn’s. “I guess that means I was a good teacher, or mentor, or something,” said Furman, smiling.

Furman, who now splits his time between his job brewing at Lunar Brewing just outside Chicago in Villa Park, IL and distilling liquor at Quincy Street Distillery in Chicago, is still in the game, though. “What comes around, goes around,” said Furman.

“I think there’s going to be a resurgence of complex beers that strike the right balance.”

Whether or not the perfect beer exists today is probably beside the point. But, the fact that after all these years brewers like Furman are still pushing themselves to brew a better beer is, in my opinion, awesome.

Why? Because it means that, no matter where you are, the next great beer might be brewing right down the street.

Brian Charest teaches literature, writing, and education courses at the University of Illinois at Chicago and DePaul University when not enjoying craft beer.

Mickey Finn’s 412 N. Milwaukee Ave., Libertyville, IL 60048 mickeyfinnsbrewery.com Greg Brown, head brewmaster, got his start with Furman.

This is the first brewpub in Lake County and has been open since 1994.

Lunar Brewing 54 E St Charles Rd #11 Villa Park, IL 60181 beermenus.com/places/2162-lunar-brewing-com

Furman’s Friends

Furman currently works at Lunar Brewing, working to expand the tap list at this local craft brewery. Recommended by locals for its great beer and knowledgeable staff.

Three Floyds 9750 Indiana Parkway Munster, IN 46321 www.3floyds.com

Goose Island 1800 N Clybourn Ave Chicago, IL gooseisland.com

Located in Munster, Indiana, Three Floyds has a cultlike following in the Midwest and beyond. Nick Floyd, co-owner of the brewery, worked for Furman years ago.

With its death metal themed beers (e.g., Permanent Funeral, Toxic Revolution, Dark Lord) and a brewpub to match, Three Floyds is well worth the short drive from Chicago. Known mainly for APAs like Zombie Dust and Alpha King, it seems they have yet to brew a run-of-themill beer. It’s not normal!

Home of the internationally famous Bourbon County Stout, Goose Island still garners respect from beer geeks, despite the fact it was bought out by AB InBev in 2011.

Revolution Brewing 2323 N Milwaukee Ave Chicago, IL 60647 revbrew.com

World renowned brew-school, located in Chicago, where Furman got his start. The institute has a storied history.

The Sieble Institute website notes the following: Dr. John Ewald Siebel founded the Zymotechnic Institute in 1868.

He was born on September 17, 1845, near Wermelskirchen in the district of Dusseldorf, Germany. He studied physics and chemistry and earned his doctorate at the University of Berlin before moving to Chicago 1866. In 1868 he opened John E. Siebel’s Chemical Laboratory which soon developed into a research station and school for the brewing sciences. Translation: anyone who’s anyone in brewing goes to this school.

Founder Josh Deth got his start working for Furman.

Launched on the strength of its flagship beer, Anti-Hero IPA, Revolution continues to evolve. Through collaboration with breweries like Firestone Walker in Paso Robles, CA, and a recent barrel-aged beer program, Revolution has managed to stay ahead of many other local breweries. Current barrel-aged beers include Deth’s Tar, a barrel-aged Russian Imperial Stout, and Very Mad Cow Milk Stout, a bourbon-barrel-aged milk stout.

Siebel Institute of Technology World Brewing Academy 900 N North Branch Street, Suite 1N Chicago, Illinois, 60642 siebelinstitute.com

Two Brothers 30W315 Calumet Ave W, Warrenville, IL 60555 twobrosbrew.com Founded in 1996 by brothers Jim and James Ebel, the brewery bought the recipe for and brewed Furman’s Golden Prairie Ale. 15

The Art of Aging GracefullyBarrel-aged Brewing: The Bruery Firestone Walker

I

by post md

n recent years, Barrel Aging has become a popular means of producing quality craft beer. This is beer with a certain amount of pop to it because the different types of barrels the beer are aged in can influence the overall complexity. The process of barrel aging is nothing new, however the abundance of rich flavors now available from barrel aging is simply mouth watering. If you have ever had a barrel aged stout or sour beer, then you know exactly what I am talking about. These types of beers are well worth seeking out due to their rich flavor and lingering notes.

This past summer I was able to visit two breweries that are known for their barrel aging-The Bruery, in Orange County, California and Firestone Walker’s Barrelworks in Buelton, California. I met with Carl Katz, COO/CFO of the Bruery and Jeffers Richardson, the Director of Barrelworks to gain a better understanding of the barreling aging process.

First stop, The Bruery and a little bit of backstory.

The origins of The Bruery began in 2008 after Patrick Rue and his wife Rachel produced their first batch of homebrew while Rue was in law school. It was not long before Rue became more interested in brewing than in law and The Bruery (a fusion of brewery and Patrick’s last name Rue) came into being. From its inception, The Bruery aimed to age beer because of their enjoyment in “the complexities that barrel aging brings to the beer flavor and the connection with how belgian style beer has traditionally been made.” The Bruery now releases over 60 beers 16

per year and about 2/3 of these beers have at least some barrel aging component to them. The Bruery, in Placentia, CA recently completed their tasting room which is connected to their brewery and offers a wide range of incredible flights (tastings of their different beers). The barrel aged beers are stored off site at a separate facility. The Bruery states, “Our calling is to create beers with character and depth using the simplest and purest of means.” Beers produced by The Bruery are not filtered or pasteurized and the majority of bottled beers are

sale just once a year in October and according to Katz, the entire allotment of Black Tuesday for 2012 sold out in just 10 minutes. The only other way to get a bottle of Black Tuesday is to be a member of the Reserve Society.

Now, the process for barrel aging beer is as simple as it sounds. Brew beer. Move to barrel. Let flavor soak in. Because of this, hops are not the dominate character of barrel aged

carbonated through 100% bottle conditioning which allows carbonation to naturally occur within the bottle in a secondary fermentation. The Bruery aspires to “be an influential force in craft brewing.”

Perhaps one of their most influential beers is the legendary barrel aged Imperial Stout, Black Tuesday. Black Tuesday is not just a Imperial Stout, it’s a juggernaut of an Imperial Stout. A notorious brew with an ABV that varies year to year, but has a range from 18.5% to nearly 20%. This brew is put on

beers. Hops are used as a preservative agent as they were originally, but The Bruery does not focus on bringing out the pine or citrus flavors that many hops have become known for. However, The Bruery has used aged hops in sour ales to retain the preservative quality because they lack the bitterness and can impart the desired funky quality to the beer. Additionally, sour ales are typically aged in neutral barrels and strong ales, such as stouts, barley wines are aged in spirit barrels. This distinction is im-

portant because different types of beer need different amounts of time to achieve the flavor profiles that the brewers are seeking. According to Katz, “Sour ales benefit from the bacteria that live happily in the porous oak and strong beers benefit from the flavors of whiskey and other spirits that have soaked into the wood and can mellow over time with the slight, sherry-like oxidation.” The process of aging a barrel aged beer can be as short as 2 weeks to 2 months (as in the case of Loakal Red) or for as long as 3 years. Seasonally, the heavier stouts sell better in winter while the sours are more popular in the warmer months.

Most of the barrels used in the aging process are bourbon or wine.

The Bruery has used others in the past, including Brandy, Rum, Rye, New American Oak, New French Oak, Port, Madera, Scotch and Tequila. For their anniversary this year, The Bruery took the same base beer and aged in several different types of barrels to see what nuances might come about from each type of barrel.

The Bruery clearly has a passion for brewing quality beers that they like and believe will offer an interesting taste and they have not been shy about experimenting with different flavors.

Next stop, Firestone Walker’s Barrelworks.

According to Barrelworks website lore…it was a program that didn’t exist, with just a few vessels stashed into the recesses of pallets of beer at Firestone Walker’s cold storage warehouse. However, the actual barrel aging program has an earlier start and has been an obsession with Firestone Walker since its inception in 1996 when Jeffers Richardson opened the

doors with Double Barrel Ale and the Firestone Walker Union System.

Richardson says that, “This was our ode to the great brewing center in England, Burton-upon-Trent and the English Pale Ales they produced with the Union system. DBA was our flagship beer.” Then, in 2005 Matt Brynildson, Brewmaster since 2000, inaugurated the Spirits Barrel program to commemorate Firestone Walker’s 10th Anniversary. The first beer out of that program was Anniversary X, a blend of several strong ales matured in spirits barrels. In addition to subsequent Anniversary blends, this program has launched some of the component ales such as Parabola, Sucaba, Double DBA and Velvet Merkin. Richardson says that, “This

“Our calling is to create beers with character and depth using the simplest and purest of means.” program has generated both extraordinary ales and a lot of excitement.”

In 2007, Firestone Walker expanded their barrel aging program with the introduction of the Spirits program, an off-premise program with wild yeast and bacteria managed by their Quality Control manager, Jim Crooks. As the brewery grew it gobbled up space, including the small storage area that the “skunkworks” program occupied and the decision was made to relocate the program to a new facility in Buelton in January of 2013 and name it Barrelworks. Both Jeffers Richardson and Jim Crooks with their love of barrels and unusual beers teamed up to move the Live Barrel program, aka, Barrelworks, forward. Barrelworks now has 7000 square feet of space to work with as well as a tasting room, restaurant, bar and walk in barrel aging area for

the public. Barrelworks serves three functions-segregate the wild beers from the main brewery in Paso Robles, give the barrels a true home instead of being jammed into random space where ever it is available in brewery outbuildings, and to serve as a tasting and educational center for barrel aged beer enthusiasts and fans of wile ales.

Firestone Walker’s barrel aging program, according to Richardson is driven by the Three B’s: Barrels, Blending and Balance. “We are a brewery steeped in tradition and obsessed with making or striving to make extraordinary beers. I like to look at Barrelworks as a sort of time machine—we are attempting to make beers the way they were made in the 18th or 19th century (or earlier!).

Barrel fermentation and maturation are the crux of this. This is our love of tradition and the amazing beer that comes from the barrels.” As with all their beers, Firestone Walker strives to create balance, drinkability and complexity.

Within the barrel agin programs at Barrelworks there are three programs-The Firsestone Union Barrel program, The Spirit Barrel program and the Live Barrel program. The Union programs utilizes brand new medium toasted American Oak barrels. Barrelworks has their cooperage design special barrels just for this program. These barrels have a slightly larger volume than a standard wine barrel. One of the most popular beers in this program is the Double Barrel Ale or DBA. With the Spirits program, Firestone Walker has been acquiring used spirit barrels since 2005.

These barrels include bourbon, brandy and occasionally tequila 17

barrels to age strong ales. Because the American Bourbon Whiskey industry uses their barrels only once, Brewmaster Matt Brynildson has been able to use his extensive contacts to build up this arsenal of barrels. The brewery has been able to extract a great deal of flavor from these barrels as the wood is saturated with bourbon flavors. Parabola and the Anniversary Ale have seen great success in this program. At Barrelworks, used wine barrels, and occasionally spirits barrels, plus retired Union barrels are sourced for the Live-barrel program. These barrels include an eclectic collection of American Oak, French Oak and standard wine barrels that have been sourced locally as well as larger format barrels that include poncheons and foeders. Firestone Walker is just now releasing beer in kegs and will begin bottling beer from the Live Barrel program in 2014.

In regards to the time needed for barrel aging, this depends on the barrel and the program. Because Union Barrels are used to ferment beer, they have a short residency time of generally one week. The Spirits Barrel program requires a longer maturation time of approximately 8 months to 1 year on average, depending on the beer. For Parabola, Firestone Walker’s barrel aged imperial stout, the aging is around 12 months in bourbon barrels. The Live Barrel program ranges anywhere from 8 months to 2 years and some times even 3 years.

Beers in this program go through a secondary fermentation with wild yeast and bacteria, as well as maturation. There are also a few barrels in the Firestone Walker “Library” that have been aging up to 4-5 years.

Richardson says these beers taste Excellent. “We just racked two of those into kegs recently-Saucer Full of Secrets, a quad, and it is sublime!”

With the exception of the Firestone Union system, where beer actually ferments in barrels, beers first go through a primary fermentation in stainless steel vessels and are then transferred to barrels for maturation 18

in the Spirits Barrel program. In the Live Barrel program, beers are inoculated with wild yeast (different strains of Brettanomyces) and bacteria (Lacobacillus) through several means. First, the beers are inoculated with a “house” lactobacillus as well as managed strains of Brettanomyces.

Then, the acquired barrels will spontaneously ferment the beers as well.

Richardson says that, “We are fortunate to have both the Barrelworks and Brewery located in wine regions.

This allows us to acquire wine barrels from local sources. Our holy grail is to find and establish a local strain of Brettanonmyces that we like and can use in our program. For now, we have several strains working away and we are quite happy with the results, but we are always exploring and always striving.”

One of the areas that Firestone Walker continues to explore is within the exciting art form of blending.

Barrelworks’ Master Blender is Jim Crooks. Blending works well for certain beer specifications and can enhance flavor and bring out certain nuances. “Blending brings out creative juices and allows us to produce a wide range of beers,” says Richardson. As the brewery approaches a release date, Crooks will select several barrels for blending and Crooks and Richardson will sample blend. After Brynildson will also get involved to lend advice. Once Barrels and a blend are dialed in, Crooks will blend it and ready it for packaging. However, for the Spirits Program the Brew Team in Paso Robles will create, make and mature the strong ales and select the

barrels for blending as is the case with Sucaba, Parabola, DBHA and Velvet Merkin. With Anniversary Ale though, special arrangements are made and the Blend is conducted by winemakers, invited once a year to a special session where they work with Brewmaster Brynildon’s team and are given the components to create a blend. The winemakers have been blending for years and are able to give the brewers a different insight into the art of blending. Richardson says that,”Brewers, in my opinion often express our beers with exclamation points—bitter, malty, sharp, hoppy, etc. The winemakers lend nuance and layers to these, helping us to create complexity. It’s an ingenious idea to bring them in!”

Richardson says that they enjoy the process of learning as they move forward with their various Barrel programs. We can wait to see where this process takes them next.

Both The Bruery and Firestone Walker are involved in creating not only exciting beers, but keeping alive brewing traditions from years past for our enjoyment in the now. It’s liquid art. thebruery.com firestonebeer.com/barrelworks

B r a n d o n E m b r a c e b y

D a n

J o n e s : T h e F u n k

F r i o

Brandon Jones started brewing sour beers at home about six years years ago. Friends responded and spread the word through social media, and soon, Jones says, people across state lines heard what he was doing and “it grew from there.”

When Nashville’s Yazoo Brewing Company hosted a launch party for its limited Fortuitous smoked sour ale, Jones brought some of his home specials. A conversation with Yazoo founder Linus Hall led to some collaborations and eventually to Jones’s current position as Yazoo’s Funkmaster.

Given a corner of the upstairs brew area to work with, Jones oversees all aspects of the experimental sour and wild ales. He acquires barrels and bacterias, plays with blends and bottles the results. And he does this in his free time; he still works a full-time job unrelated to brewing.

Jones is excited about a recent score. He’s got a line on some 30-year-old rum barrels from the Appleton estate. The bacterias, fruits and organisms are the paints, but to Jones, the barrels are the canvas. Most recently, he’s used merlot and zinfandel barrels from California, and port barrels from a popular country singer’s winery in Tennessee. Whiskey barrels are obvious, and Jones says distilled spirit barrels work great with wild Brettanomyces yeast.

(Continues on page 20) 19

Craft Brewery Safari,

Kansai

by DUNCAN BROTHERTON

Look, I’m gonna be frank with you: craft beer excites me. Physically.

I’m not sure if I’m the only person adjusting my seat on the stools at craft beer bars but every time I put one to my lips I can only describe the pleasure as something almost sexual.

It’s because of this I’ve hunted out some of the more obscure breweries in the greater Kansai area. I like to publish them in my very sexy blog and freepaper. I consider myself a wee bit ‘up’ on the scene in Kansai.

How about you? Let’s play a game.

How many breweries in Kansai can you count? 0-5: Beginner. 5-10: Not bad. 11-15: Well Done. 16-19: Legend.

More than 19: better than me… I guess craft turns you on as well.

Here’s a story. I hadn’t even start20

ed drinking and I was all like stumbling out of the subway exit next to Namba Hatch back in May to attend Craft Beer Live (CBL) 2013 on a craft brewery safari! I head around the corner and there were two rows of tents packed with the finest breweries from Kansai’s six prefectures. I took a walk around with a glass to check things out. The place was pumping. Look, I don’t know much about beer yet, but I can tell you about the places.

Craft Safari: Prefecture overview Strong showings from both Kyoto and Hyogo prefectures at six breweries each. Nara had a single turnout.

All breweries from Shiga participated, (onya boys). Good showing from Osaka considering it’s a metropolis with comparatively little agricultural trade, and can’t understand why

Nara only has one. Wakayama… I’m sure there’s more than one, but one is what we had. And now by prefecture in alphabetical order so there are no fights.

Hyogo Spread out like guerillas, you’d have to travel far and wide to try them all. Akashi Beer: Akashi Brewery sent me a profile picture which looks like a level from Wolvenstein 3D but all the walls are fermentation tanks. Explains their large selection.

Awaji Beer: Producing beer since the Akashi Kaikyou Bridge opened in 1998, the Japanese chamber of commerce and industry endorses them for a reason. Try their rice pilsner if you can, it’s lovely. Kinosaki Beer: I haven’t had it yet, but their Kani Beer (ESB) was created to go with crab.

Founded by a long-standing Ryokan in the Onsen town Kinosaki. Konishi Beer: “Tenbun 19” is 1550 on the western calendar, and how long the company has been making sake.

With bling, technical expertise and refined fermentation techniques they produce beer like their Garnet Rouge (hints of roses). Rokko Beer: Mr. Nakajima left a typical salary man’s job to brew. He bored a 50m hole in the ground for water, and created his own milling machine and bottle labeler. Awesome DIY attitude to beer; homebrewers would love him.

Zigzag Brewery: Obscure! I have a mate who’s always up in Tanba Sasayama and says they’re open only short hours. Fresh on the scene in Kansai.

Kyoto Sake history and tradition mixed with start-up madness. Ajiwai no Sato: Made with genuine German recipes, brewing three styles of larger.

Haneda Shuzou: I’ve had their beers many times, drove over the river they use for water and smelt the air up there. They specialize in small lots of European styles. Ichijyouji Brewery: The guy from this new place, claims he brews beers even non-beer drinkers will like (rich, low malt, seasonal fruits and stuff). He’d sold out of his ginger ale by 11:00am. He had one

World Craft Beer Tasting

of those foam hair beer hats, which covered his ears so he couldn’t hear anyone’s order. Kizakura: Another example of craft backed by sake history. ‘S***-just-got-real” type of beers and flavors. They do the Nile beers teaming up with professors from Kyoto University to get all sub-atomic level and stuff. Kyoto Machiya Beer: Fine example of women kicking ass in Kansai. Made with water from the famous ‘Momo no i’ spring, at the famous Nihonshu brewer Kinshimasamune.

Nara Why just one brewery… who knows? Sonikougen Beer: Kick started by a German brew master, they make great 100% Malt Beer with fresh water. Always friendly on the phone.

Osaka Osaka is full of beer people that I really like. Chitei Ryouko: Didjya know there’s a brewery in Bentencho?

It’s attached to an onsen. I like the brewer, Dainichi-san. He was bright red and hugging the server when we met, just saying “Duncan, otsukare” as he handed me a beer. Dotonbori Beer: Kutsuna-san is cool. She graduated in fermentation and wears a tigers tee when she’s brewing. Her tanks have just enough capacity to power the restaurant serving her

beer. Harvest Hill: An agricultural park in the south of Osaka; and all the brewers were sunburnt to prove it. They’ve got authentic German brewing equipment on site, and good sausages. Minoh Beer: A foreigner and a Japanese guy with an Afro told me Minoh’s W-IPA took the cake at CBL and wanted to see more IPAs in general. Oshita-san is by far the most active brewer in the craft beer scene in Kansai and her beers are great.

Shiga Only two breweries, but you’d think there could be more. Biwako Iimichi Beer: They make a beer with Japanese tea, and their restaurant is impressive; built in one of those feudal-era stone warehouses. If it were locked you’d need a cannon to get inside. Nagahama Roman Beer: I went around lake Biwa especially to go have a drink at their brewery at lunch and the trains were late (swear word!).

Had to wait till dinner. Their ale is the best I’ve had in Kansai; sweet, but no overkill.

Wakayama I need to get to Wakayama more.

Nagisa Beer: I totally got the information about Nagisa wrong: I thought they got gold in the Monde selection 12 years in a row, but it wasn’t the beer, just the water. They were totally friendly about it and invited me down to come try some. How nice is that?

Yeah, I was a little hung-over the day after CBL. Anyway, I have a craft beer map of Kansai available on my website, which lists a couple of others too. Check it out at www.gee-beer. blogspot.jp.

Ichiyouji Brewery.

(Bring the Funk cont.’d) fermenting in the zinfandel tubs.

Jones says anyone can experiment with barrel-aging, but the key is to identify what you truly love about your favorite styles. Play off the notes that you like, then select a barrel from there.

Wine and whiskey barrels could be available to homebrewers in Japan, and sake barrels make an even more intriguing possibility.

“And there’s nothing wrong with oak chips or cubes,” he adds. Soak them in whatever spirit you care to try: gin for those piney, floral notes, maybe rum for those dark caramel aromas.

Jones also recommends keeping the barrel pretty full. “Don’t do a 30-gallon batch in a 50-gallon barrel,” he says, warning against the peril of excess oxygenation. A good way to fill a barrel (even a small one) is to “blend, blend, blend. Blending is where it’s at,” he says, adding that a few friends contributing wort or even fermented yields is a great way to build some barrel-aged flavor profiles.

Beer. I Like it. Another. by brian burgess Part 1: Rokko Beer Diner ‘Twas a packed Friday night when I wandered in to Rokko Beer Diner. 20 taps were pumping, 8 Rokko Beers and 3 of their inhouse (literally, as it is made across the hallway) Starboard Brewing.

Osaka is without a doubt the heart of the Kansai craft beer scene, yet for some reason the fashionable paradise that is Kobe is woefully behind. There is merely 1 choice for craft beer drinkers—Rokko Beer Diner near Motomachi station. I had my birthday party here, and I have seen a few wedding parties. It is a decent space, and they are very accommodating.

But it was time to drink. Thought I’d start with their homegrown Starboard Brewing. I grab a Ginger Ale, and the smell was gingery. The flavor was not as strong or sweet like soda.

The Master Brewer is Katsufumi, the son-in-law of Rokko Beer’s owner. I step into their brewery as they are making a rauch. It has no name yet and hasn’t been dry hopped. They let me taste. It’s fruity and yeasty, no gas yet. The hops and malt character is there, but it is not nearly finished. Yuka Onozawa (the heir to the Rokko Beer dynasty and owner of this establishment) says it will be on tap in about 2 weeks. (Editor’s note: Brian went back to taste and said “Marron Rauch. Cloudy amber, full white head. Slightly tart nose. Grapefruit with pith, so slight bitter front. Some smoke like the other Starboard. They are just getting their feet wet before some bold challenges.”)

Time for some dark stuff. Southern Tier Crème Brulee: I have had and loved them in bottles, but my first time on tap! Caramel and Coffee. A sweet front and bitter back with a slightly sweet coffee aftertaste. Heavenly. Running Mike says “it’s a good Christmas beer, but I couldn’t drink it every day.” I agree wholeheartedly, but I would like it more often than Christmas.

The food here is also highly satisfying. Lunch comes with a free drink—including Rokko beer. Kobe burger, porter beef curry, malt crust pizza, or my standby, nachos are the highlights. The fish and chips is enough for two.

Starboard Brewing was started in July with Orange Sunset being their first brew. The staff make the beers. Yes, your cook and waiter are in on creating the beers, making Yuko the best boss EVER! Having tasted nearly a dozen different Starboard Brews, I’d say the concepts are getting more complex but never overpowering. At 5% almost every time, they are also shooting for a craft beer anyone/everyone can drink.

And the best season to come is winter. Why? Stouts flow like water! She will repeat her Valentine Oyster Event, which is four days of drinking! When you come, say hi to the Moroccan behind the counter—he’s a cool guy and makes good food. And Yuko also speaks English, so if Japanese is not your language, don’t hesitate. The menu is bilingual as is some of the staff…but bring a Japanese friend, so they can enjoy craft beer, too. ‘Tis the place to go in Kobe.

Part 2: Yellow Ape Craft I must confess--this is my third time to Yellow Ape Craft…and I have left happy each time. The first time was simply the Best Beer Event EVER! It was “Guess Your Beer” Night.

You pay your ¥900, say which style

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you want, and put your head down on the counter. He pours and starts the 60 second timer. You know the 5 choices, and must decide which it is. He places a placard upside down on the counter, you say your guess, and hold up the answer.

Every time you are correct, the place erupts in cheer.

How is that for a first impression? My memory is still cloudy as to how many stouts I had that night, but I think I only paid for 2.

With a feeling of fondness for Yellow Ape, I grab 2 buddies and head to their 1 year anniversary celebration. It’s Saturday at 3:30 and we turn the corner and

the place looks dormant. We get to the door and the boss is doing paperwork (actually, he is translating his previously all-Japanese beer menu into English).

It seems we are a day early. Even 90 minutes early for the 5pm opening. With the slightest bit of pleading, he says OK, but we must drink upstairs. No problem. (continues on page 25)

Gee! Beer and Beer Zen present:

The Cricketers i n Ta k a r a z u k a

Homebrewing is Science!

by Duncan Brotherton “Brew Lab” is a group of novice scientists learning how to Homebrew, or make quality beer themselves, in their own homes. It’s one part of the newly founded “BOCO (Bank of Creativity, Osaka),” a new venture project promoting creativity energy in Osaka. Join and become an amateur scientist: learn how beer can make your world better. And fuzzier.

People homebrew for a variety of er, Dainichi-san from “Chitei Ryoko” reasons. Homebrewing can be cheap- Brewery in Bentencho. The stage is set er than buying commercially equiv- for the BREW LAB trio (project manalent beverages; it allows people to ager, homebrew specialist, profesadjust recipes according to their own sional beer maker) to hold homebrew tastes creating beverages that are un- seminars and workshops and spread available on the open market. It’s ac- the love of the bubbly stuff. Their first tually easier than you think… Learn brew day will be held on Sunday 24th how to brew beer on a small scale as a of December, 2013; followed by a bothobby with Brew Lab, and bring sci- tling day on Sunday 8th of December. ence excitement and beer happiness A tasting party will follow in the new into your life. And look cool amongst year if the beer brews well. We’ll be your friends. drinking it anyway, even if it doesn’t.

But, how’d it all start, and what You can see more movements brought it’s members together? from the group and general activiBREW LAB founder Duncan first ties at their official Facebook page. met Maek by accident in Osaka, Search for “BREW LAB: Beer Science where he was sharing a homebrew in Osaka” he had made with another member of the ‘Kinki Homebrewers Associa- BREW LAB istion’, Brent Jones. Joining them for a Duncan Brotherton: Homebrew Apsip, he was blown away, not only by prentice. Australian, resident in Osathe quality of the beer, but the real- ka. Craft beer enthusiast, and author ization that you could make this in of the freepaper, Gee! Beer. your own home. Without too much gee-beer.blogspot.jp hassle from the wife.

Maek Post: Homebrew (aspiring!)

Determined to brew himself Master. American, resident in Osaand committed from that moment ka. Brewmaster at Grinning Zen to spread the love of craft beer and Brewery. Editor-in-chief of Beer Zen: homebrew, he enlisted the help of Journal for Craft Beer.

Maek Post, brewmeister at Grinning beerzenjournal.com Zen Brewery and editor-in-chief of Dainichi-san: Professional Craft the very fine journal you hold in your beer Brewer at Osaka local maker, hands; Beer Zen. It turned out to be Chitei Ryoko. Involved in organizing something that they both wanted to local craft beer events like “Craft Beer do, and BREW LAB bubbled to the Live”. titeiryokou.com surfaced. Probably something like ale BREW LAB is proudly supported by yeast does when it’s fermenting.

BOCO (Bank of Creativity, Osaka), Wanting to bring the backing of a new, creative bank set up for the a real pro into the group and need- fresh accumulation and application ing a space to brew, they enlisting the of Osaka’s assets: it’s people, places help of a local professional beer mak- and ideas. bocode.co

Looking for a craft beer outside the city proper? Check out The Cricketers in Takarazuka. The Cricketers opened in October with eight taps and a fridge that offers a modest range of bottled beer from abroad that includes Stone, Green Flash and Bass among others. The tap line up changes regularly, however you can usually find a number of Baird brews on tap. They also take requests.

Owner Matt Anderson says, “The Cricketers is a calm place, we’re not a disco bar with flashing lights and loud music. It’s friendly local bar that you can come to and relax with a few beers and have a chat.” The bar has bilingual staff. In addition to the beers, The Cricketers also hosts events, especially when there are Stone beers involved as they are big fans.

Matt says, “My first passion in Japan is butchering and I produce and sell various meat products through my company, Bangersnmash. I make all the pub’s sausages and are our signature dish. Our sausages pair really well with beers. When I became hooked on craft beers, I thought, hey, why not open a shop and sell my meat products together. The name of the shop comes from the gentleman sport, cricket, and the Cricketers is British owned, so we wanted to keep a little bit of a British theme to it.”

Open everyday except Wednesday. 11am-11pm.

Located in the Sorio Building next to Hankyu Takarazuka station. facebook.com/thecricketers.takarazuka bangersnmash.net

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beer reviews

by Philip Starecky This month we are featuring Epic Brewing which was founded in 2008 in Utah & in 2013 added a second brewery in Colorado. For such a young brewery they make a wide range of nice beers at good prices. An interesting thing this brewery does is to divide their beers into 3 different lines: a Classic series of basic beers, an Elevated Series of beers which vary slightly with each batch & the Exponential Series which features seasonal and more experimental beers. Generally speaking, Classic beers are the cheapest & Elevated the most expensive (though still reasonably priced). Another plus is that they have extensive tasting notes for each beer on their website which are well worth checking out.

Elevated Series ||| 825 State Stout Batch #21-5.7% It has a lovely chocolate aroma & it pours black with a beige head. Some roast coffee notes, hints of smokey bacon & chocolate.

Very nice & easy to drink!

Classic Series ||| Spiral Jetty IPA -6.5% It pours a light cloudy honey gold with a muscat, herbal/floral hop aroma.

The flavor is mostly bitter pine. It’s a solid IPA with a dry finish though not so complex.

Epic Brainless BelgianStyle Golden Ale-8.3% It poured a clear amber with minimal head but a decent body. A caramel tasting amber colored beer. Sweet and fruity.

Book Review: Craft Beer in Japanthe essential guide

and taprooms in Japan.

The guide is broken down into two main sections. The first part is a series of introductory essays that briefly examine the history of beer in Japan and its relationship to the culture, including a list of craft beer festivals and the economics that influence the industry. The second part is the Japanese Craft Brewery Guide that starts of in Hokkaido and makes its way down the islands to Okinawa.

The book does an excellent job of detailing information about the different breweries in Japan and highlighting different styles that shine from each brewery. Mark solidly offers insight to what he feels works for each brewery and also what he feels needs improvement. For individuals living inside or outside Japan, the guide offers sincere insight to the growing craft beer scene in Japan.

A new must have for travellers and a bonus for locals looking for greater knowledge about what is on offer throughout Japan.

Mark Meli’s new guide book, Craft Beer in Japan: the essential guide, launched in October with a release party at Tadg’s craft beer bar in Kyoto that brought in an unending sea of craft beer enthusiasts. The book itself is a what’s where in Japan of craft beer breweries and bars. It offers information on 219 present and forthcoming breweries, analysis of 104 Japanese craft breweries and lists/evaluates 136 bars, brewpubs 24

Epic Copper Cone Pale Ale-6.8% It poured a slightly cloudy orange color with a tan head and had good lacing.

A nice crisp pale ale with a piney bitterness but very smooth. Good stuff.

japanbeertimes.com/craft-beer-in-japan

Exponential Series ||| Epic Brainless on Peaches-10.7% It poured a cloudy orange gold with a foamy head. The peach aroma was pronounced but nice.

The flavor was boozy & peachy, delicious. Sweet & easy to drink, very nice! Great for the ladies...

Epic Santa Cruz Brown Ale-5.8% It pour a dark slightly muddy brown with an off-white head which left good lacing behind. A somewhat hoppy brown, fairly well balanced.

A nice everyday bitter brown beer.

Epic Skull Doppelbock-8.5% It pours a dark reddish brown with a fast dissipating head. It has a nice sweet malty aroma, thick body featuring caramel & a bitter kick. It’s very full bodied. You don’t feel the 8.5% at all.

Epic Big Bad Baptist-12.7% On tap at Tadg’s, this Imperial Stout was an excellent dark beer with a strong coffee aroma followed by a coffee flavor & some roasted notes with hints of chocolate.

Epic Straight-Up Saison-6.8% This was an easy drinking 6.8% draft beer at Craft Beer Base in Osaka.

It poured a lovely gold with a thick fluffy head. The flavor is a spicy complexity ofsweetness & tartness.

It’s easy to drink and a great everyday beer, very pa latable-perfect for the summer. I’d definitely drink it again. epicbrewing.com

beer reviews

app reviews

by brian burgess

Imperial Oatmeal Stout—Boundary Bay I am in Osaka at the World Craft Beer Tasting Festival. It is a 2-day event with lots of promising beer. Of the 130 or so listed, though, I am fully interested in fewer than 10…and they are ALL BLACK! Yet, none were out. So, I waited…and waited…and since I was waiting at a beer festival, I was drinking some decent beers. Waiting…waiting…and 4 1/2 hours after I arrive, the Belle of the Ball is on tap.

Imperial Oatmeal Stout by Boundary Bay: I LOOOOVE IT! It has a strong nose of caramel. The taste is coffee and caramel. What’s better than caramel and coffee (in a beer)?

Simon and Garfunkel? PB&J? Canadians and ice hockey? Nothing!

From 7pm, it’s all I drank, always served by the beer guru, himself. A rural Parisienne was with me and said “Wow! Coffee!”

And if you know any Frenchies, you will know that is high praise indeed.

As I continued though my 1+ Liters of black magic, I felt toffee and coffee were the overwhelming tastes. And if you don’t like that, this is not a beer for you, so might I recommend a nice happoshu. It is around from time to time; look for it— you won’t regret it. bbaybrewery.com (cont’d. from page 22) He bent over backwards, so I trekked into Osaka the following day for the celebration.

And regret it, I did not!

10 people are outside with the grill—the jerk chicken was incredible. 6 people were at the counter, and I heard people upstairs. It was bustling and I order the Left Hand Oktoberfest Stroke Marzen. It is a beautiful 6.6% orangish beer. It’s refreshing. Not light, but not overpowering. It is a perfectly balanced beer.

There are 30 taps going in this 2 floor building. It’s small, but exceedingly friendly. In the mood, I do something crazy. I order the Miyazaki Hideji Murasaki Imo lager. 5.5% of cherry red beer.

It is not at all sweet. In fact, it is sour, light, and effervescent. It is something to try, but not something to drink.

Silver City Imperial Stout has a heavy taste, but not overly filling. Coffee, but not nearly as bitter as most Imperials (insert Royal family vs. proletariat joke here). A great companion to my Arturo

Fuente 8-5-8 Sungrown.

Time to interview the boss, Daikichi Kato. I asked why he opened the shop, and he looked me dead in the eyes and said “I like beer”. We chuckle.

But why so many Japanese beers? He said “there are many good Japanese beers, like Shiga Kogen house IPA, it’s golden and hoppy.” I purchase a Shiga Kogen pale ale and it’s cloudy and hoppy, like a weizen and IPA had a baby. It’s nice.

He said “In Osaka, it’s a Minoh Beer base—everyone knows them, but they don’t know North Island, Hokkaido, Hakkodate or Kanagawa beers.” And he is, in my mind, a specialist. Other craft bars carry their own beer, or international beers. Yellow Ape Craft has many Japanese beers in many styles.

With a new love for his thinking, I order a Shiga Kogen Takashi Imperial Stout, 9.5%. BAM! Coffee followed by hours of drunkenness. Yellow Ape Craft should be on your menu.

Today’s Beer iOS- ¥85 | Android- Free

This is a great little app that features a new beer each day. The beers are beautifully shot with both a can/bottle as well as a view of the beer in a glass. Even better, if you want you can select a 360 degree view and check out the whole label.

The only negatives are the app icon is not that attractive & they mostly feature US beers. It’s still a fun app at a nice price. Worth it.

Craft Beer New York & Craft Beer London iOS-¥300 | Android- ¥299

If you’re heading to either of these cities these stylishly designed apps seem well worth the few bucks they cost. Featuring detailed listings of the pubs, shops & breweries in their respective cities you’ll quickly get the lay of the land. The map function will help you find the nearest place with craft beer & the news section will give you the lowdown on upcoming events. Now if I only lived in these cities...

facebook.com/YellowApeCraft

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recipe

Mirin Porter Glazed Roast Chicken

BY Joshua Taylor A pint of ale is always welcome but I like to do more with a beer. Beer-battered dishes are great, but sometimes I like to try something different and challenging. I was on Pinterest and found this great recipe originally developed by the Beeroness at thebeeroness.com. I adjusted a few things for my typical Japanese kitchen, like portions and a few spices. The recipe turned out quite teriyaki-like with a strong ale component from the brine. Next time, I’ll try it on a barbecue and see what a little cherry smoke may do.

Ingredients: 300g boneless chicken cut into two or three bite pieces For brine: 300ml water 2 Tbsps. salt 200ml ale (Yona Yona Ale) 1 cup of ice

For glaze: 100ml porter (Tokyo Black) 90ml mirin

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Beerzenjournal@gmail.com

2 Tbsps. usukuchi soy sauce Pinch of red pepper (togarashi) 2 tsp. potato starch 3 Tbsps. honey

Directions: 1. In a pot over medium heat, add water and salt. Remove from heat once salt has dissolved. Add ale and ice.

Stir until ice has melted and mixture is at or below room temperature.

2. Add chicken to large bowl. Pour brine/beer mixture over chicken. Cover with plastic wrap and refrigerate for at least three hours.

3. Preheat oven to 210C. 4. In a small sauce pan whisk together the porter, mirin, soy sauce, togarashi, potato starch, and honey. Place pan on high heat. Bring to a boil and allow it to reduce and thicken a bit while stirring.

5. Cover an oven sheet that has a bit of depth with baking parchment.

6. Remove chicken from brine mixture and pat dry. Place chicken on parchment. Brush liberally with porter glaze.

7. Roast at 210C for 40 to 45 minutes. Brush every 10 to 15 minutes with glaze.

Beer zen is published by Grinning Zen Media and Design and printed by mojo printers

editor/Designer | POST MD writers | Ajen Birmingham, Duncan Brotherton, Mark Buckton, Brian Burgess, Brian C. Charest, Adam Douglas, Dan Frio, Makiko Nagata, Philip Starecky, Joshua Taylor, Warren Wills photographers | Jon Brown,

Brian C. Charest website | beerzenjournal.com facebook | facebook.com/beerzen Pinterest | pinterest.com/beerzen Cover photograph Jon Brown Photography Opinions expressed by Beer Zen contributors are not necessarily those of the publisher.

Photo credits and acknowledgements to: American Brewing, The Bruery, Chuckanut Brewery, Firestone Walker Brewery and Barrelworks, Epic Brewing, Three Floyds Brewery and Wikipedia.

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