Cheers from Tokyo!

Here's my introductory post. Hi everybody! I'm an avid homebrewer and live in Tokyo. Just went all-grain last month and probably brew kits anymore. I'm hoping to make some virtual friends here, bring myself up to date on the homebrewing scene in the US, and share my experiences. I am an American and moved here 11 years ago from Oregon. How I miss Oregon, where there's a brewpub within walking distance to everywhere.

Cheers!

Hi and welcome to HBT.
Are you a geologist in Japan? Now that would be interesting!
What is it like brewing in Japan. My first thoughts are that it's expensive and supplies are hard to get.

Hi Rich,
Yes I am a professional geologist and my registration is from Missouri. The work is very interesting and it gives me a nice warm fuzzy feeling, especially since I work on humanitarian projects (similar to USAID, etc) developing groundwater based water supplies in developing countries where children and livestock are dying from lack of clean drinking water.

Homebrewing has been a struggle in Japan; lack of sources for equipment and ingredients. For example, I bought all of my kegs from the US and sending them over here doubled the price, and up until last year I had to buy my extracts from Australia (cheapest shipping). But now there are 2 or 3 homebrew supply shops in Japan. Yes, only 2 or 3 in the whole country! So, although I can readily buy grains and hops through mail order, I'm limited to what's on hand. And liquid yeast is only available 2 or 3 times each year. Everything is expensive. I bought my 15 gal aluminum HLT, 12 gal cooler, copper tubing, and various fittings for about $500. The HLT and cooler were bought through the Yahxx auctions at significant savings. This should give you an idea of how expensive things are over here. There is no such thing as a neighbor hood home improvement center or general hardware store here, only specialty shops that cater mostly to professional plumbers and the like. So, yes it is a challenge to locate equipment at reasonable prices. But fortunately there is a small community of homebrewers here and most of them speak some English (I can not read or write Japanese and my speaking ability is limited to basic survival Japanese).

Welcome! For the moment we're in the same time zone (Korea here). There's another homebrewer from Japan who comes around pretty often - he goes by Catfish. I'll be back in the states in April (or so). Good luck, and happy brewing!

Thanks Yuri. If you ever pass through Japan, or more specifically Tokyo, let me know and maybe we can grab a pint of some real ale. I checked out Catfish and he's down in the kansai area (Osaka, Kobe, etc.) which is about 3-4 hours away by bullet train.

Been checking photos in the galleries and I'm jealous. Reminds me of when I used to live in the US and had a house with a yard. I bought a 4th floor flat in a condo here in Tokyo and brew out on the balcony. Fortunately I live in a business district so nobody complains about the brewing fragrances. And better yet, my wife likes the smell of making beer as well as drinking it. But brewing out on the balcony is a bit cramped and poses some challenges such as no running water or gas outlet. I paid the gas company $150 to install an additional gas outlet inside the flat. Tanks of LP aren't available in central Tokyo. I run water and gas hoses out to the balcony when I brew. At least my wife can use the kitchen while I'm brewing now.

My wife travelled to Japan to compete in an Eikeden (sp?) relay race a few years back but since she was in the midst of training and racing she didn't imbibe in any beers in Japan. I wasn't able to accompany her so I am curious what types of beers are the dominate styles and are there any brewpub like situations or microbreweries?
To hear how hard you have it brewing makes me feel very spoiled as to how easy it is for most in the lower 48 to get ingredients and the like. But I never cease to be impressed with how resourceful people are about homebrewing. If you want to see a very resourceful lady check out this homebrewer/craftbrewer in the middle of nowhere in Australia http://oz.craftbrewer.org/Library/Gear/Phillipa/BushBrewing.shtml After seeing her setup I thought that I've got it way too easy. Welcome aboard the forum. What's your next brew?

Run,

Yes, I'd say you and most people in NA have it fairly easy. Even here in Tokyo there isn't a brewshop. In fact, the only actual brewshop I know of in Japan is in Kobe. I buy everything by mail order. Here in Tokyo, as with any city in Japan, land is at a premium and the space between houses is a mere 40 cm, or about 15 inches and some older places have much less. I actually have another condo out in the burbs (my ex lives there with the kids) that has 20 m2 (about 200 sq feet) of yard. That's the only redeeming factor of that place as it's too far away for commuting. Brewing in the city is an exercise in constantly improvising and searching for sources of equipment and ingredients. I looked at that ozzy's website about brewing in the outback and found that we have a lot of challenges in common, strange as it seems.

I have an ozzy brew friend here that's an avid runner and he runs the ekiden regularly as well as all other marathon type events. Commercial beers in Japan are primarily lagers and black lagers. Not very interesting. There are no brewpubs in Tokyo. The only brewpubs and microbreweries are located in the countryside. (Actually there is 1 brewpub in Tokyo but out on one of the man made islands in the Tokyo Bay; the name is TY Harbor and you can find it on internet.) There are a few pubs in Tokyo that specialize in imports and microbrews. And there is a beer lovers club here that seeks out and visits bars that have good beers. The situation over here is in it's infancy and if the beer loving population could be convinced that there is life beyond lager then there would be considerable opportunities to open and operate brewpubs in Tokyo.

In another week or two (it takes a week to order and receive the grains) I'll start brewing ales, probably a west coast pale ale to start (my wife's favorite).

Welcome Geologist. Well I hope you at least enjoy sushi; you got that on those back here! (luv sushi!)

Yes, I like sushi and sashimi too. And some of the best is right next door; the 5th best sushi restaurant in Tokyo is next door, but plan on spending at least $100 for a no frills meal. But over here rice is basic to most all meals and I prefer some variety in my starches. I eat something with rice in it (sushi, etc.) a few times a week at most. Most of my Japanese friends eat rice for all but 2 or 3 meals a week. The widely popular alternative to rice is "pasta", which means spaghetti. Go to an neighborhood Italian restaurant here and the selection is spaghetti and salads. In other words, Italian restaurant means spaghetti. I get tired of eating rice and spaghetti, so my other hobby is making breads.

Geologist said:

so my other hobby is making breads.

Click to expand...

Ah yes, another hobby related to yeast. My wife and I like making breads as well and now I'm really into the artisan styles of breads that require a sponge but perfecting a good sour dough is always on my mind.

As much as I like ales I have to say that a black lager is often times in my refrigerator but to date these have been commercial varieties. I will attempt a black lager recipe sometime in the near future but my problem is that I simply hate waiting for that lagering period.

I'm sure that once you introduce some of your Japanese colleagues and friends to the wide flavourful variety of ales that they too will become intrigued by this ever consuming hobby.

Cheers,
Jeffrey
runhard, trainhard, raceEZ, and enjoy a homebrew.

Run: Sounds familiar. Last year I brewed a bock which is primarily a black lager and it took first place in the lager category of the Japan national homebrewers competition. My coffee stout took second place in the imperial stout category. Generally I prefer dark beers. I brewed the bock for drinking during hanami (cherry blossom viewing) and it was very successful both as a beer and in timing. Enjoyed several hanami parties under the cherry blossoms with my beer.

Breads: Been making them for years and I also try to keep a sourdough starter around. I use both dry and live yeast for breads and took a class to learn about making beer bread. Our main limitation is oven space. There is no such thing as a conventional oven that is found in most American homes. We're limited to a countertop device that nearly everyone in Japan has. It looks like a microwave oven but it's a combination convection/microwave oven. So much for baking baguettes and turkeys...