Luke Pernotto

As my final term paper for school continues along I am getting to the point where I am looking at areas where Japanese craft beer’s exposure can expand. One of the areas I think will help with exposing Japanese Craft Beer is using traditional Japanese ingredients in beer brewing. Japan has a wide variety of ingredients that are very distinct to the flavors of Japanese food. These include rice, seaweed, sake yeast, Japanese citrus (yuzu, shikuwasa), and wasabi. On a recent visit to The Okinawa Bottle Shop in Yomitan, Japan I stumbled across this beer.

In 2000 Bryan and Sayuri Baird opened Baird Brewing Company in Numazu, Japan. When I lived just outside Yokohama, Japan I would often visit their Basamichi Taproom. Over the years they have mastered brewing and currently have a fairly large roster of beers they regularly produce. Many of which highlight Japanese flavors. While putting wasabi into a beer may seem like a terrible idea, it works well here and is balanced with the rest of the ingredients. I will admit that if done incorrectly this could turn out like some spicy pepper beers that are completely undrinkable.

The beer starts with a malt sweetness hinting at a biscuit aroma. An earthy spice aroma is also present on the opening pour. The beer pours from a glass with a very large head. This head slowly dissipates, but there is still a lingering head that leaves a lovely beer lace as the beer is consumed. Orange light amber color with very tiny bubbles slowly rising from the bottom of the glass. The beer is mostly clear that is even more impressive because the beer is bottle conditioned. Bottle conditioning means that the beer is naturally fermented with additional sugars placed in the bottle instead of being force carbonated with CO2 gas. This is a more natural way of carbonating but it does leave residual sediment at the bottom of the bottle and the beer needs to be carefully poured to prevent the sediment entering the glass. In the taste the spicy bitterness overpowers the malty sweetness that is strong in the aroma. The bitterness leaves a dryness in the aftertaste. Green tea flavors can be picked up in the flavor and taste. The wasabi I can smell a little in the aroma, but I dont pick it up in the sip. As the glass warms to room temperature the wasabi becomes more perceived. While Japan Pale Ale is not a traditional Beer Judge Certification Program styles it would best line up with an English Pale Ale.

Beer Information:
Style: Japan Pale Ale
Packaging: Bottle, Canning Date (unknown), Expiration Date (2024/04)
Ingredients: Made from Pilsner and Maris Otter Malt, Un-malted Roasted Barley, Japanese Korizato (Rock Candy), Whole Flower Cones, House Scottish Ale Strain Yeast, Wasabi and Green Tea. Stats: ABV 6%, SRM listed as 4.5. I would say it is darker.