Author: JBT Staff

You can’t grow quality Koshihikari rice outside of Japan. At least that’s what some agricultural professionals in Japan once believed of the famed Japanese table rice that’s also used in several Japanese craft beers, most notably the internationally distributed lager, Koshihikari Echigo Beer. Swan Lake’s Koshihikari Beer is another fine example. But when a Japanese rice economist mentioned this to the patriarch of a 6th-generation family of rice farmers in Arkansas at an agricultural conference in the 1990s, that farmer set out to prove the assumption wrong. His decision, once an obscure footnote in American agricultural history, now looks as…

Kanazawa is a city with streets paved in gold. Well, not paved, but there’s an abundance of the shiny stuff, and not in a gaudy way. The name Kanazawa literally means “marsh of gold” (owing to a local legend of a peasant digging it up) and the element features across the city. More popularly known as ‘little Kyoto’ because of the intriguing Higashichaya district, with geisha and all, Kanazawa has surged as a tourist destination. The city’s prospects are good, but with the risk of overcrowding such as in the real Kyoto and all the frustrations that brings locals and…

Here is a complimentary digital version of the new issue. If you’d like to subscribe and/or get back issues, we offer them for a tiny fee through our Japan Beer Times app on the Apple Store (Android versions coming soon): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/japan-beer-times/id919662924

Japan has traditionally performed well on the world’s stage when it comes to beer competitions. That has been the case especially with the World Beer Awards, which has been giving out best-of-category awards since 2007. Many consumers in Japan may even recognize the award seals that more than a few Japanese breweries proudly display on their winning beer labels, social media posts, and marketing materials. This year’s competition is open for entries and we encourage breweries to take the challenge. Why? Read on… This is a blind tasting competition with rigorous standards. In the first round (which takes place at…

As avid surfers, Philippe Gueulet and his friends felt that being able to bring home some local beer to enjoy after their trips to the Chiba coast would make a fitting end to their fun. If you’ve ever engaged in any kind of beach sport, you probably understand the feeling. There are certainly worse reasons to open a brewery, which is exactly what they did. Gueulet has a distinct resemblance to the actor Woody Harrelson. His almost mischievous, boyish smile is what does it the most. He is smiling throughout our interview, in fact, as he should be given the…

Here is a complimentary digital version of the new issue. If you’d like to subscribe and/or get back issues, we offer them for a tiny fee through our Japan Beer Times app on the Apple Store (Android versions coming soon): https://apps.apple.com/us/app/japan-beer-times/id919662924

Over the last few years, the number of breweries in Japan has more than doubled to over a thousand. Of course, breweries are not do-it-yourself kits; they require professionals to set them up. Additionally, ambitious companies are diving into the industry without sufficiently experienced staff, either. Spent Grain has been a key player in providing support for both of these needs. Headed by veteran brewers Ryo Suzuki and Takahiro Nagaishi, the company provides a range of services covering all needs: the design and paperwork for new breweries, the importing and installation of brewery equipment (including entire breweries), brewing training on…

For this issue, we return to the topic of centrifuges. But instead of describing aspects of the machinery, we speak to an experienced brewer about his specific application of the technology. Nick Calder-Scholes is the head brewer at Sydney, Australia’s One Drop Brewing Co (featured in JBT60). Using a centrifuge from GEA, whose systems are available in Japan, he and his team have developed a new brewing process they call Clean Fusion. So far, it has yielded eye-opening (and fan-pleasing) results from their R&D IPA program. Hopefully this practice will spread in Japan, too. Please describe the basic process behind…

Since the birth of craft beer in Japan 30 years ago, there have always been businesses not initially involved in brewing that started operations: hotels, agricultural entities, resorts, liquor distributors, and more. So why not an equipment manufacturer? There have been several, actually, and Hokkai Iron Works Co. is one of the more recent ones. To learn more about why, here we posed some questions to its team: head brewer Yamatani, managing director Ishibashi, operations employee Ueda, and sales manager Hata. We understand that for many years Hokkai Iron Works Co. has been engaged in the manufacture of “dished heads”…

Chiba prefecture is a worthy travel destination. If you don’t overlook it, that is. It’s easy for many to think of Chiba as a kind of metropolitan overflow of Tokyo, or as a bedroom community for the capital. The prefecture’s northwest corner is certainly dense with development. But its rural, hilly interior and long stretches of relatively uncrowded beaches provide ample adventure for those looking for a pleasant, easy getaway. Several of us at the Japan Beer Times have been preaching the pleasures of Chiba’s beaches to friends and family for nearly two decades now. Warm, relatively placid waters in…