Author: JBT Staff

By Momoyo Kagitani, Brewmaster at LocoBeer in Sakura, Chiba. Kölsch is one of my favorite beer styles. Its birthplace is historic Cologne, Germany, a city along the Rhine River dotted with remnants of ancient structures from the days when the Roman Empire’s reach encompassed the area. Kölsch ranges from straw-colored to golden in hue. It must be completely absent of chill haze. Ideally, it should have a somewhat frothy head with substantial head retention. There should be little to no fruity esters. If present, there will be hints of pear, apple or Riesling, accompanied by a wine-like character. Noble hops…

By Chris Poel who is the Chief Brew Officer at Shiokaze BrewLab, Chiba City. Anyone who has known me for longer than a minute knows that I love hops. There’s nothing better than nice hoppy aroma and clean bitterness. I’ve never met a hop I didn’t like. Well, there are a couple that I don’t much care for, like Sorachi Ace or Cluster, but overall hops are the gods’ gift to mankind. Given my affinity for hops, you might naturally guess that my favorite beer style is IPA in all its many wonderful iterations. Well that’s not the case. For…