Luke Pernotto

In 1869 William Copeland, a Norwegian-American living in Japan, started what is believed to be the first beer brewery in Japan. Some 154 years later while vacationing in Kyoto, Japan I visited the Spring Valley Brew Pub. While Spring Valley started as a small brewery through a series of acquisitions and mergers the business is now owned by Kirin Brewing. Kirin is one of the four Macro Breweries in Japan similar how Budweiser and Anheuser Busch are seen in America. Similar to Budweiser and Anheuser Busch the Japan Macro Breweries are seen as the opposite to craft beer. I find it funny that many of the people talk down about these breweries when speaking about beer in Japan. I see those larger business as the ones who can afford to experiment and afford the more costly domestic grains and hops. On my visit to the brew pub I was lucky enough to try beers made with hops grown in Kyoto.

I started out with the seasonal flight of Summer Craft Ale, Silk Ale, and Houjun (496). The Summer Craft Ale had a thin grassy flavor with a very clear straw color. The mouthfeel was highly carbonated with a crisp finish. The SBV was between 6-7. The Silk Ale was very very light in flavor. It reminded me of drinking watered down malt flavor. Extremely light straw color with a 2-3 SBV. There was a light head. The aftertaste did have a residual bitterness similar to white wine. The Houjun (496) is one of the signature Spring Valley Beers. It’s balanced malt and hop bitterness makes it very drinkable. The beer was more amber color than the other two with a SBV or around 15-17.

After the flight I tried the Yosano IPA. This IPA was made with hops grown in Yosano, a northern town in the Kyoto Prefecture of Japan. The initial aroma of the beer gave a sweet oranges scent. The beer was a deep amber color and by the time the glass came to the table there was no head. As the glass sat and continuous carbonation bubbles rose from the bottom a thin veil of a head formed on the top and rim of the glass. There was a mild haze in the glass. The mouthfeel was that of a sweet malt flavor. There was a slight bitterness at the end of the sip. The bitterness was not harsh, but a nice compliment to cut the malt sweetness. Because of the heavy malt flavor and mild hop bitterness I wonder if this would be better classified as a pale ale instead of an IPA. This is a common though I have with beers labeled IPA in Japan.

While the flight was not my favorite I was happy to see a beer grown with locally grown hops. The citrus flavors are popular with japanese drinks and I think this hop variety would do well in a greater number of beers. Overall it was an enjoyable visit and I hope large breweries like Kirin continue to use domestic hops and malts.