Home brewing in Japan

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Update to the list of sanitizers and cleaners listed at the start of this thread:
***UPDATE*** Bleach is packaged color coded in kitchen and laundry variations for Japan. The kitchen version is in a green bottle with a pink cap, laundry type in a blue bottle with dark blue cap. I had always overlooked the blue capped bottle assuming it was ammonia or some other chemical not to be confused with bleach :( The label on the green (kitchen) bleach lists ingredients as: 次亜塩素酸ナトリウム 塩素系,
アルキルアミンオキシド, 水酸化ナトリウム・ アルカリ性 (Sodium hypochlorite chlorine, Alkyl amine oxide, Sodium hydroxide) and the blue bottle lists ingredients as: 次亜塩素酸ナトリウム 塩素系,水酸化ナトリウム アルカリ性
The difference seems to be Alkyl amine oxide which wikipedia lists as a surfactant. I have been using this pink capped bottle in my no-rinse sanitizer solution and never suspected this might be causing head retention issues.

I have had head retention issues that I have not understood the source of. No taste of infection, using specialty grains to improve head retention, and carbonating properly yet my beers seemed to be fairly poor on visual presentation. I think this was possibly the cause for me, but will have to start a new beer to see if there is a difference. Im going to switch to the blue capped bleach from now on anyway, it still has the active ingredients needed.
Cheers!
B
 
I was just cruising back through the beginning of this thread and Oppama mentioned the large amounts of cornie kegs here in Japan. I find it to be the opposite. Please tell me where to look because I could use some more.
 
Haha, sorry I suppose coming from Canada it seemed like a lot. I was seeing quite a few stacked outside restaurants at times when I wrote that though. I don't really think they are being used for beer so perhaps soda companies are still using them? I never looked into it. If you have a safe way to use/open/reseal a commercial beer keg valve of any type, it seems easier to get your hands on other keg styles here.
**Edit** Looks like I was wrong, there are cornelius style bodies but most have regular commercial valves. :smack::smack:

Auction sites sometimes sell kegs, although I don't know how legal it is to re-purpose for your own use or to even sell them like that. (http://auction.item.rakuten.co.jp/11513359/a/10003907/?news=c2c_shop_1)
I have seen occasionally breweries posting on beer sites that they are liquidating older kegs, and looking for buyers. Usually they are looking for bulk purchasers though. AB still sells corny kegs (or at least they arent listed as sold out) on this page: http://advanced-brewing.com/0_keg.html
Personally I would probably go with a commercial keg from one of the big 3. Yeah its probably not legit but Kirin et al have keg stables on a massive scale, and distribute very convenient sized kegs between 5L and full size. Deposit is cheap and if you dont damage it in anyway and return it after use it is an ethical grey zone. I haven't done this, its just a hypothetical. I have 2 couplers and a tap and would love to keg someday but other things come first...

Bottling my APA today. A few days overdue, but better late than never!
 
Hey all, I'm just getting into homebrewing- started my first batch ever with a friend yesterday, and got bleach on my only pair of jeans.

I don't know if you all know, but apparently Brewland is now listing their items on amazon.co.jp! (I discovered this by accident searching for cheaper sanitizer.) Now you can use those stupid amazon gift cards on brewing gear! For some reason, while most items are the same price as on their site, a few are slightly higher. Ex: the bottle filler is 730 on their site, 780 on amazon. Also, hops are listed under Pet Supplies > Bird treats ??
 
Thinking about my first brew since the summer. Not sure what to go for this time… Suggestions? :)

Btw, the biwa wheat ale was awesome!
 
Welcome and congrats on your first brew! Thanks for pointing out the Amazon bit as well, I thought that was them that occasionally showed up on searches.

For some reason, while most items are the same price as on their site, a few are slightly higher. Ex: the bottle filler is 730 on their site, 780 on amazon. Also, hops are listed under Pet Supplies > Bird treats ??

I think with Amazon and Rakuten and similar sites you find they take a cut for the hosting of the products. I usually switch between amazon or rakuten for other shopping and try to find the cheapest, sometimes there is free shipping on one or the other that saves me 700 yen or so. I am glad they dont list the hops as dog treats, that can make them sick!


SB, I have ran into 3 people total who have picked a rye american pale ale for their first autumn beer. Complete coincidence, weird! Did you decide on something now? Great to hear the biwa turned out! My biwa and ume wine is really getting much better, I drank a bottle during late September and the acid is coming down a lot. I think I will let the other bottles sit until winter is over, perhaps enjoy them in the spring.
 
Tomizawa Shoten
image-1039490628.jpg

This place carries lots of flours and sugars and other materials! I picked up some beet sugar for my upcoming tripel. Probably a Tokyo-only brand though...
 
While looking in vain for something I could use to make a Grain Bag, I noticed this pump. It's apparently made to siphon kerosene for heaters, but I wonder if it would work for wort too. Has anyone tried?

image-1498501561.jpg
 
I have seen these but never tried one for kerosene or wort. How much are they?
First thing to check is if it can be effectively cleaned and sanitized, if so, then is it food grade? If it passes those questions, then will it handle hot liquids up to 100C? Can it run for a fairly long time continuously? Lastly, the cost should be worthwhile.

If you buy a pump, you might as well be looking for something to also use to recirculate and transfer hot liquids, which can increase your brew-house safety and efficiency. Watching my friend mash in with his pump running hot water through his mash tun to preheat to the perfect temp compared to my hand transferring of scalding water really sealed the deal for me. After the mash he recirculated to vorlouf, and pumped the runoff into his brewkettle without moving anything except some hose connections.

If you are looking for a pump, there are cheap 12 volt pumps called "solar pumps" you can buy online that are food grade and rated for over 100 C temps. I just ordered one myself, from a store on aliexpress it will be about 1700 yen including shipping. I have a DC adapter to power the pump already otherwise it would be a bit more.

If you are looking just to transfer cooled liquids, then an autosiphon is just as good in my opinion. I haven't seen them for sale in Japan yet, but are easy to find online.
 
BTW, its not something everyone agrees on but my go-to grain bag is a couple of laundry bags from Daiso. They list the ingredients on them so you can check that it is made of plastic that is safe up to 130 C or more. They are as food grade as any other I am guessing, but wash them in hot or boiling water before first use.
I like them because they have many sizes, and the lingerie type has a fine mesh that holds crushed grain pretty good. They have zippers, made of plastic that can withstand boiling temps, so I just zipper it closed and let the bag float free in a BIAB mash. They are cheap, so if you want to you can just drain and throw the whole thing out, easy cleanup. (I have a compost so I do that instead).
They are not really huge, so I will use a few of them in a BIAB instead of one. It is easier to lift out smaller bags of saturated grain than one huge one anyway.
 
Any home brewers located in Misawa? I'm looking to get a small home brew club together. Share brews, ideas, and have some small brewing events. I'm here for another three years.
 
EOD You are the first that I know of to post from as far north as Misawa! I had to look up where that was, and then of course I had to check the climate. Lucky you! You just need a heat pad and you are set all year!
Hope you find some people to brew with up there even if it means converting people to homebrewing first :D

Fencdar a tripel? Wow, that must have been pretty heavy to bag out!
 
Fencdar a tripel? Wow, that must have been pretty heavy to bag out!

It was a small batch (<12L), so no serious issues. The mash was amazingly thick, though. My OG was 1.083, shooting for 1.088- not bad for a first-timer, I hope.

EOD_supraguy said:
Any home brewers located in Misawa? I'm looking to get a small home brew club together. Share brews, ideas, and have some small brewing events. I'm here for another three years.

I'm in Tokyo, but hoping to get up to Misawa soon for business (I is a vendar!). Maybe we can meet up for a beer then! :mug:
 
It was a small batch (<12L), so no serious issues. The mash was amazingly thick, though. My OG was 1.083, shooting for 1.088- not bad for a first-timer, I hope.

Thats one of the other things about BIAB that I like, efficiency is usually pretty good. If you could dunk it into another pot with hot water you could probably get a small beer out of a "second sparge", although i dont know what style you would call it.
 
Hello guys,

I am new to brewing and glad to see all of this useful information about brewing in Japan. I am located in Iwakuni which is about an hour or less south of Hiroshima. I am just introducing myself to the thread and seeing if there are any other home brewers in the area.

A little about myself is last year for Christmas my in-laws got me a Mr. Beer Kit with 3 standard recipe kits. First one I brewed was the Grand Bohemian Czech Pilsner which my buddies and I agreed it was pretty good. I did not have much luck with my 2nd brew attempt ( Aztec Mexican Cervesa ) was horrible which I think was contaminated; it was bad enough that I poured it down the drain. The third recipe kit was the St. Patrick's Irish Stout which I still haven't made. I did buy 3 additional recipe kits: White IPA - 2013 Spring Seasonal which is in the fermentor and will be bottling it tomorrow or the next day, Beach Babe Blonde which I have not made yet, and finally is the Raspberry Wheat which has been bottled for two weeks now. I have been doing a lot of research and have decided to upgrade to a 5 gallon batch kit with a couple recipe kits ; which I got from Midwest Supplies online. I am lucky that I can ship through the USPS since I am in the Military which is still expensive but not as expensive as getting it shipped other ways.

Sorry for the long post but I have one more question. I was wanting to try and brew some lagers and was wondering if any one had any good ways to keep the fermentation temps low enough for the lager yeast?

Thanks for any help and all the info on this thread.
 
If you can get cheap postage then you're laughing
More beer in the states would be he way to go for a lot of your stuff
As far as lagers go a fermentation fridge is the way to go

Look up stc-1000 on here and ebay!
 
I'm in Tokyo, but hoping to get up to Misawa soon for business (I is a vendar!). Maybe we can meet up for a beer then! :mug:

PM me when you're thinking about coming to the area. I'll let you know what I have bottled. I have a brown ale and a pumpkin beer almost ready to go!
 
Welcome to the thread!
The Okinawa brewing enthusiasts are the ones closest to you I think, and many are military as well as far as I know. They have a group on FaceBook I think you can message them there to get added if you are on FB as well.

I don't know how cool it gets there but right now it is perfect lager brewing temp in kanagawa! A freezer with an stc 1000 is probably the way to go, I have an stc but no freezer yet and looking forward to that.
Cheers!
B
 
Hello guys,

I am new to brewing and glad to see all of this useful information about brewing in Japan. I am located in Iwakuni which is about an hour or less south of Hiroshima. I am just introducing myself to the thread and seeing if there are any other home brewers in the area.

A little about myself is last year for Christmas my in-laws got me a Mr. Beer Kit with 3 standard recipe kits.

Sorry for the long post but I have one more question. I was wanting to try and brew some lagers and was wondering if any one had any good ways to keep the fermentation temps low enough for the lager yeast?

Thanks for any help and all the info on this thread.

Mr. Beer is how many start. You can get a drinkable beer but once you go into extract kits you will make very good beer that others will beg for from you. MoreBeer is the best place for getting things shipped here. They are priced well and quick.

As for your Lager, if you are down south then you will need some kind of temp control right now. I would recommend that you wait until later in the winter then all you need is to keep the beer warm. Right now even in Tokyo we need a way to keep the beer cold enough. Without a freezer or refridgerator you won't be able to keep it cold enough and consistant.
 
Mr. Beer is how many start. You can get a drinkable beer but once you go into extract kits you will make very good beer that others will beg for from you. MoreBeer is the best place for getting things shipped here. They are priced well and quick.

As for your Lager, if you are down south then you will need some kind of temp control right now. I would recommend that you wait until later in the winter then all you need is to keep the beer warm. Right now even in Tokyo we need a way to keep the beer cold enough. Without a freezer or refridgerator you won't be able to keep it cold enough and consistant.

That is what I am expecting from this new starter set and recipes. I hope to make really great beer. Also I am looking into getting some kegs and getting into kegging. I have a good contact for getting kegs relatively cheap. I was wondering how different Japanese kegs where from american with regards to fittings and such. Thanks for the advice and I am still on the search for a decently priced refrigerator that I can turn into a fermentor chamber.

Hope to hear from you guys some more,
John
 
As far as commercial style (not cornelius) kegs go, there is a mix here in Japan for fittings. American (and Canadian) kegs usually use a sanke valve for the connection. Here is a link for easy ID of valve types http://www.kegworld.com/keg-valve.htm

I had brought a Japanese 15 liter keg (Kirin I think) to Canada with me a few years back and it took a G system coupler to connect. I still have that and an A system German style coupler waiting for the day I get kegging again.
 
The problem wih the sanke style kegs is they are very difficult to clean between brews
The big breweries use a mechanical cleaner with strong acids to remove any material before they are refilled
The choice to use a Cornelius style kegs for home use is ideal
For this reason
This by no means you can't use a sanke but will be highly benificial
For many uses
Lately I saw a whole bunch of Cornelius style kegs which were the 10 ltr size

I brew 20 ltr batches but you could put 10 in each but you will always lose a bit of beer to the bottom of each keg
Something we should all take into account when brewing a batch
I actually start with a minimum of 26 ltrs of wort in the boiler I end up with about 23 ltrs post boil by the time it's transferred into the keg I have about 2 ltrs left over which I bottle!
Something to take into consideration
 
That is what I am expecting from this new starter set and recipes. I hope to make really great beer. Also I am looking into getting some kegs and getting into kegging. I have a good contact for getting kegs relatively cheap. I was wondering how different Japanese kegs where from american with regards to fittings and such. Thanks for the advice and I am still on the search for a decently priced refrigerator that I can turn into a fermentor chamber.

Hope to hear from you guys some more,
John

The major difference you will find is in regulators for your CO2. The Japanese use metric and US doesn't. So if you get a regulator from the US you will need to buy an adapter for it, which means more cost.
 
Hey ya'll! It's been a while. Hope everyone is brewing up a storm!

I'm trying make a new mash tun from a cooler and am having a hell of a time getting the parts I need locally. Particularly the piece that goes through the opening of the cooler. I've been to several plumbing places and then have nothing that fits the bill. I'm getting super annoyed!

Anyone else on here make one in Japan? Any tips?

Cheers dudes!
B
 
Hey ya'll! It's been a while. Hope everyone is brewing up a storm!

I'm trying make a new mash tun from a cooler and am having a hell of a time getting the parts I need locally. Particularly the piece that goes through the opening of the cooler. I've been to several plumbing places and then have nothing that fits the bill. I'm getting super annoyed!

Anyone else on here make one in Japan? Any tips?

Cheers dudes!
B
Sorry dude, I got no ideas. You might want to take the cooler down to the homecenter with you and just mess around with different things. Remember though you want something that can handle heat and won't put something harmful in your wort.
 
I used a cooler with a drain port built in to the bottom, and just drilled a hole through the cap of that for a barbed connector. Then I threaded silicone tubing up through the hole, fit it onto the barbs and pushed the barb back through the hole. It is a pressure fit seal that way, and I can unscrew the cap if I need to remove it. It has never leaked under 20 L of hot mash, and I have used it like this for several brews.

I have recently thought about getting one of those tap/die kits I see at the hardware stores. I wonder if that would be useful for threading my own ports into coolers, and if I could just get some cheaper stainless tubing and make my own fittings. Right now I have a pump and a bazooka screen that I need to start looking for fittings to match the threads, and I would like to re-do my mash tun drain to the side of the cooler where I think I can drain it better.

edit* I just took a look and Monotaro.com has lots of fittings listed under building supplies- plumbing, and the stainless ones are listed as such so you could probably find all the parts you need right there without needing to go to any other stores.
 
I've posted this in the Japan Brewing group as well but there appears to be little traffic over there.

I've found a bunch of decommissioned corny kegs (both pin and ball lock) and had to buy the lot so I've got a few extras. Most are the tall ones (approximately 18 Liters) but I've got a couple of smaller 11 liter ones too. If anyone is interested in some PM me.

I also bought a couple of huge military surplus super chef insulated beverage dispensers one is 5 gallon the other is at least 8 that I was thinking about using for fermenters- until I found the kegs - they might make excellent electric brewing kettles too.
 
Guzzibrew said:
I've posted this in the Japan Brewing group as well but there appears to be little traffic over there.

I've found a bunch of decommissioned corny kegs (both pin and ball lock) and had to buy the lot so I've got a few extras. Most are the tall ones (approximately 18 Liters) but I've got a couple of smaller 11 liter ones too. If anyone is interested in some PM me.

I also bought a couple of huge military surplus super chef insulated beverage dispensers one is 5 gallon the other is at least 8 that I was thinking about using for fermenters- until I found the kegs - they might make excellent electric brewing kettles too.

Wow Guzzibrew that is tempting, but I think SWMBO would force me to commit seppuku. Our small apartment is a bit crowded already.

Does anyone know of a homebrew group in Tokyo / Chiba, or a way to find out about one? If there isn't an active one I might try to start one.
 
A bit off topic but....

Does anyone over "there" know what is used when brewing Kirin? I'm trying to develop a clone recipe and haven't had any luck, other than making an American style lager. I know that they use "first press" which is essentially no sparge and there's no rice, all 100% malt. If anyone could give me some insight, that would be awesome!
 
Does anyone know of a homebrew group in Tokyo / Chiba, or a way to find out about one? If there isn't an active one I might try to start one.

There are a bunch of guys brewing in Tokyo, I only know two in Chiba...me being one. There is a brewing club through Advanced Brewing but I think it is mainly Japanese.
 
Fencdar I would suggest if you are a customer of Advanced brewing to sign up for their mailing list club. When they organize a get-together (seems to be two or more times a year) a lot of people come out of the woodwork. There are more Japanese brewers than foreigners at those events but we are united in one common language. Beer.

Guzzibrew you found the right thread as this seems to be where 90% of the Japanese posters end up. That is really awesome of you to offer and several people have enquired on here about cornies. I am not going to bite this time but I am sure others here will take you up on those.

Ki-ri-n there are several Kirin beers on the market here and seasonals come and go. I assume you are referring to the draft lager though? I have not done the brewery tour but if I ever do I will try to find out any recipe I can for you. I recently tried one called "the aroma" Kirin premium and it was probably the best Kirin beer I have had. It comes in a glass bottle with a pull tab cap. If you are interested there are good reviews of Japanese beers on this site : http://japanbeer.wordpress.com/. Even though they are maybe not doing sparge those giant breweries make their money by getting insane efficiencies so any recipe you try at home will have to be an approximation I think. If you tried a recipe verbatim it would be nearly impossible to replicate the extract efficiency at home and it would come out lower original gravity I think.

Cheers!
 
I was referring to the orignal lager. I can't get anything else other than that here. Even the lager is brewed by AB now. Not what I'd consider the same.
 
Fencdar I would suggest if you are a customer of Advanced brewing to sign up for their mailing list club. When they organize a get-together (seems to be two or more times a year) a lot of people come out of the woodwork. There are more Japanese brewers than foreigners at those events but we are united in one common language. Beer.

I'm down with the nomunication. :tank:

I was thinking of something a little more often than 2-3x/year... I guess I'll have to wait until the next one, and try to rope wrangle of them into meeting more often.
 
Fencdar,

I know all about wife enduced seppuku. I'm so broke and the wife is getting so cranky about all the kegs about the place that I may have to commit harakiri with my bamboo mashing paddle- ouch!

OppamaBrendana,

Sorry to hear I can't entice you on the kegs. How are your hops? Are you going to have more cutting come spring?
 
ShizuokaBrad,

What you may want to try is to ask the SO to look for a plumbing supply store in the phone book- or call the operator. I know it will cost you, but unless you know a plumber or you get really lucky you won't find the place.

You should be able to get a stainless nipple (that's a short length of pipe that is all threaded) there. (Hope I'm not telling you what you already know).

Then you want a threaded connector (that's a straight piece with internal threads.) And a hacksaw.

Cut about a 1/4 an inch off each end of the threaded connector they will serve as your 'nuts'. You won't be able to find a proper nut for it.

Remember the pipe threads are tapered so if you make the 'nut' too wide it won't thread on easily. Then you need washers which should be available at a good hardware store. But you will need to order a high temp silicone washer from ebay. The best gasket material I could find in Japan looks to be BunaN rubber. Probably not up to a brew kettle, but might do for mashing...

You could also try finding aquarium silicone (it's supposed to be food grade)- won't kill the fish right? I'm guessing it's available in a good pet store.

When you assemble you could use a pipe wrench or just hand tighten. If you get the proper big fat silicone o-ring you shouldn't over tighten anyway as the o-ring will squirt out.

The biggest problem with sourcing stuff in Japan is that the standard home centers have nothing but air fresheners. Find a proper pro shop. The staff there are usually really nice, inquisitive and very friendly. They are also- gasp- knowledgable, but will probably not feel comfortable advising you on how to seal a mash tun.
 
For gasket material that is food grade silicone take a look at the baking section of any Daiso or 100 yen shop. You should find some silicone baking pans with uniform thickness of rubber that would be suitable for mashing and probably boiling temps.
* I have not tried this* but I don't see any reason it wouldnt work.
 
Thanks for the advice guys. I was able to finally get all the pieces together that I needed. I'll report back after I give it a go sometime in the next couple of weeks.
 
OppamaBrendan,

The silicone baking sheets/ pans is a good idea.

Shizuokabrad,

Where did you finally source all your parts? Keep us informed about how the build goes.
 
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