Home brewing in Japan

[tektonjp]

I was just at the Harujuku pub last night. Yum. I met the Japanese home brewer whose porter is being brewed by Baird (Wan Cup). He happened to bring in a bottle for sampling. Yum!
As for stir rods, you can get them on Monotaro: https://www.monotaro.com/g/00177579/ you may want a longer one. And defintiely to find a glass bottle/flask with a flat bottom. Most are curved and very hard to use a stir rod.
And for speed, I have a 12v PC cooling fan which I power with a multi voltage wall wart. It's one of those adaptor types you can put different tips on to run different things at different volts - up to 12 volts. I cut the tip off, and by switching the voltage, I vary the speed of the fan. Handy. Full 12v is way too fast.
Edit: Here is the thread for my stir plate build. You can see a pic of the wall wart I talking about. https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f51/i-stir-plate-285927/

 

[surume]

http://www.komei.or.jp/news/detail/20121110_9593

Looks like the Komei Party received a request to make homebrewing legal. Hope this passes in the parliament.


By the way, went down to Bashamichi Taproom for Country Girl Kabocha Ale; wasn't so pumpkin-y as I expected, but rather a hint of baked pumpkin. You couldn't really tell if it was pumpkin if you weren't told.

 

[yoshiie]

http://www.komei.or.jp/news/detail/20121110_9593

Looks like the Komei Party received a request to make homebrewing legal. Hope this passes in the parliament.

Best of Luck to Yamanaka-san! Hope this time it's successful :rockin:

 

[OppamaBrendan]

BIG NEWS! Its been quite a while but the next organized Homebrew meeting is happening in December! I hope you can all make it to Tokyo for this, I'd like to meet you in person and share some brews! I went to one in June and had a lot of fun and met many homebrewers there (but neglected to get a lot of their contact info).

Place: Popeyes (Tokyo)
Time: December 16th 2pm-4pm (leaving plenty of time for afterparty)
Tickets: 5000 Yen ( I don't know what we get for that price, details to come)
I believe we should find some details soon at this section of advanced brewing: (http://advanced-brewing.com/club.html)
Has anyone who has ordered from Advanced gotten any notice or info yet? I have never ordered from them yet so I got this information second-hand.

Homebrew 忘年会を開催します。
　・日　時　　　：2012年12月16日(日曜&#26085　14:00～16:00
　・場　所　　　：麦酒倶楽部　POPEYE
　・会　費　　　：5000円
　・その他　　　：ご厚意により、休業日の貸し切り開催と
　　　　　　　　　させていただきました
詳細追ってホームページでお知らせいたします

 

[surume]

I just popped down to Costco at Shin-Sugita and found a stainless steel 15 litre pot for less than 3000 yen. Dunno if it is any good, doesn't look as sturdy as the more expensive counterparts but it definitely is a bargain at this price.

I'll use it in my next all-grain attempt.

The homebrew party sounds great, although I don't have any brews I feel are good enough to give out to people, I think I'll pop by.

 

[mpearce]

BIG NEWS! Its been quite a while but the next organized Homebrew meeting is happening in December! I hope you can all make it to Tokyo for this, I'd like to meet you in person and share some brews! I went to one in June and had a lot of fun and met many homebrewers there (but neglected to get a lot of their contact info).

Place: Popeyes (Tokyo)
Time: December 16th 2pm-4pm (leaving plenty of time for afterparty)
Tickets: 5000 Yen ( I don't know what we get for that price, details to come)
I believe we should find some details soon at this section of advanced brewing: (http://advanced-brewing.com/club.html)
Has anyone who has ordered from Advanced gotten any notice or info yet? I have never ordered from them yet so I got this information second-hand.

Homebrew 忘年会を開催します。
　・日　時　　　：2012年12月16日(日曜&#26085　14:00～16:00
　・場　所　　　：麦酒倶楽部　POPEYE
　・会　費　　　：5000円
　・その他　　　：ご厚意により、休業日の貸し切り開催と
　　　　　　　　　させていただきました
詳細追ってホームページでお知らせいたします

I ordered from them the other week but haven't heard anything. 5000 yen for two hours is a bit pricy, but lets see what it is for. I am interested in going for sure though.

 

[mpearce]

I just popped down to Costco at Shin-Sugita and found a stainless steel 15 litre pot for less than 3000 yen. Dunno if it is any good, doesn't look as sturdy as the more expensive counterparts but it definitely is a bargain at this price.

I'll use it in my next all-grain attempt.

The homebrew party sounds great, although I don't have any brews I feel are good enough to give out to people, I think I'll pop by.

did they have any 24 liter pots? I want to do a full boil for 20 liters.

 

[surume]

This website has stainless steel cooking pots of all sizes for really cheap.

http://www.daishin-syouji.co.jp/SHOP/46847/67993/t01/list.html

There is a 22 Litre one for 6280 yen, 24 Litre one for 7680, or a 31 Litre one for 6750 yen. The "Han-Zundo" pots are more expensive compared to their holding capacity than their "Zundo" counterparts... The only difference is shape, the Han-Zundo or the "Half" Zundo is shorter and wider. Probably more expensive to produce those than the tall and slim Zundos.

I have never ordered from them though.

 

[ShizuokaBrad]

Hey guys! I'm brewing down in Numazu, Shizuoka. This thread has really blown up recently! Lots of great info. Thanks.

I'm finding getting specialty malts quite frustrating these days. Anyone interested in doing a share on some larger bags. Sakeland carries most of the Weyermann malts in 25kg bags. Prices are high~ish at anywhere from 6900¥~8000¥.

Anyway, good to know there are some very active homebrewers out there.

 

[mpearce]

This website has stainless steel cooking pots of all sizes for really cheap.

http://www.daishin-syouji.co.jp/SHOP/46847/67993/t01/list.html

There is a 22 Litre one for 6280 yen, 24 Litre one for 7680, or a 31 Litre one for 6750 yen. The "Han-Zundo" pots are more expensive compared to their holding capacity than their "Zundo" counterparts... The only difference is shape, the Han-Zundo or the "Half" Zundo is shorter and wider. Probably more expensive to produce those than the tall and slim Zundos.

I have never ordered from them though.

Cool, thanks for the link.

 

[mpearce]

This website has stainless steel cooking pots of all sizes for really cheap.

http://www.daishin-syouji.co.jp/SHOP/46847/67993/t01/list.html

There is a 22 Litre one for 6280 yen, 24 Litre one for 7680, or a 31 Litre one for 6750 yen. The "Han-Zundo" pots are more expensive compared to their holding capacity than their "Zundo" counterparts... The only difference is shape, the Han-Zundo or the "Half" Zundo is shorter and wider. Probably more expensive to produce those than the tall and slim Zundos.

I have never ordered from them though.

Cheapest prices I have seen so far. Will for get something after the first of the year if not sooner.

 

[WhoZiT]

Do you need IH? This brings up the cost quite a bit.

I bought a new 50L stainless zundo from yahoo auctions for about 5000 yen shipped. It's thin, only about 5kg, but it gets the job done. Of course I use an outdoor 3-ren burner. 70L was not much more and I think the next step down was about 30L.

 

[OppamaBrendan]

Hey guys! I'm brewing down in Numazu, Shizuoka. This thread has really blown up recently! Lots of great info. Thanks.

I'm finding getting specialty malts quite frustrating these days. Anyone interested in doing a share on some larger bags. Sakeland carries most of the Weyermann malts in 25kg bags. Prices are high~ish at anywhere from 6900¥~8000¥.

Anyway, good to know there are some very active homebrewers out there.

I just hope that we don't get the "hammered nail" treatment because we are discussing this out in the open. There are other active homebrewers around but they don't publicly discuss it much as to avoid attracting trouble. I wonder if you can buy somthing like "offsales" of specialty malts from the friendly folks at Baird? They seem like very approachable personalities although they are extremely busy all the time.

This thread really did take off! Looking at the stats now, its up to 1442 views and 103 responses! :rockin: Maybe its getting time to consolidate some of the "where to buy" information into a specific discussion in the Japan group? I'd like to see some of that info without scrolling through a hundred posts.

 

[ShizuokaBrad]

Yeah, I guess it might be best to keep it to PMs if anyone is interested.

Honestly though, what homebrewer out there could justify having 25kg bags of say, Melanoidin, when they are doing 5g batches and only using a few hundred grams at a time?

Many of the other specialty malts, like Caramel varieties, roasted, smoked etc are easy enough to get in smaller quantities but ones like aroma or melanoidin seem to only be available in 25kgs (unless I'm missing something).

 

[surume]

By the way, I'm thinking about getting a 20kg bag of pre-milled "Ale Malt" by Asahi BM. If anyone is interested in buying half, let me know. I live about 20 mins by car from Yokohama Station.

 

[yoshiie]

I just hope that we don't get the "hammered nail" treatment because we are discussing this out in the open. There are other active homebrewers around but they don't publicly discuss it much as to avoid attracting trouble.

Brendan, what do you mean? Homebrewing is completely legal in Japan, as long as it is under 1% alcohol

I mix all of my "beer" with gut-rot-cheap-ass Shochu from the local discount store and drink it like a Hoppy Which I assume everyone commenting on this board does as well

 

[OppamaBrendan]

Brendan, what do you mean? Homebrewing is completely legal in Japan, as long as it is under 1% alcohol

I mix all of my "beer" with gut-rot-cheap-ass Shochu from the local discount store and drink it like a Hoppy Which I assume everyone commenting on this board does as well

nah, whenever I make a mistake it goes straight into the garden to fertilize monster tomatoes. I didn't mean to sound paranoid and I dont feel a need to rely on PM messages about group buys.

Surume, Thats the "Maris Otter" type right? I'd be interested. When are you planning your buy? I'd be interested in getting a bag of wheat too, care to split one? I Haven't done any wheat beers yet.

Looking at the Asahi order form section for hops, I am bit confused. Is that price per kilo or price for the whole 20kg? If its for the 20kg that is a ridiculously cheap option for Hallertau, Nugget, Cascade, and (saaz? zeus? what's ザーツ?). I would be down for a group buy of Hallertau at that price, there's even an option to have 8 separate bags shipped Oh look, we have 8 members of the Japan group right now

 

[mpearce]

Do you need IH? This brings up the cost quite a bit.

I bought a new 50L stainless zundo from yahoo auctions for about 5000 yen shipped. It's thin, only about 5kg, but it gets the job done. Of course I use an outdoor 3-ren burner. 70L was not much more and I think the next step down was about 30L.

I'm sorry what is IH?

I like the yahoo auctions idea. Have to check that out too. I am still on the gas stove in the house so can't go too big and bad just yet. I think I can do 32 liter on the stove it two burners. Willing to give it a try at least. I want to get a burner for outside but that will be some time coming I think. Have to weight cost to need factor.

 

[tektonjp]

The pot you listed is for IH use. Not sure how it would work on a propane burner. Here are some SS ones on Yahoo.
15 liter pot? What's your batch size?

50 liter : http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s306634199
30 liter http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s306633785

 

[WhoZiT]

IH refers to a bottom designed to work efficiently with the all-electrical stoves that are trending now.

I thought the same thing about the hops at first. It's a per-kg price, sold in lots of 20kg or whatever.

 

[surume]

IH pots means they can be used with IH stoves (some pots cannot be used on IH, only electric and gas). All pots can be used with gas.

 

[surume]

nah, whenever I make a mistake it goes straight into the garden to fertilize monster tomatoes. I didn't mean to sound paranoid and I dont feel a need to rely on PM messages about group buys.

Surume, Thats the "Maris Otter" type right? I'd be interested. When are you planning your buy? I'd be interested in getting a bag of wheat too, care to split one? I Haven't done any wheat beers yet.

Looking at the Asahi order form section for hops, I am bit confused. Is that price per kilo or price for the whole 20kg? If its for the 20kg that is a ridiculously cheap option for Hallertau, Nugget, Cascade, and (saaz? zeus? what's ザーツ?). I would be down for a group buy of Hallertau at that price, there's even an option to have 8 separate bags shipped Oh look, we have 8 members of the Japan group right now

ザーツ is Saaz. But yeah, that's the per kilogram price, so you'll have to multiply that by 20 to get the full price.

Yeah, its the Maris-Ottery one, although it could be Golden Promise or any other English ale malt. I'm planning to buy it before the end of the year. Perhaps the first week or second week of this December.

Not planning any wheat beers atm, unfortunately... I don't have a mill and getting through 10kg of ale malt before it goes stale is a tight enough schedule for me. I'm also planning to buy 10m of copper tubing for a immersion wort chiller, and maybe a new fermenter, which will set me back on my budget as well.

When I start working full time in April, I'll have a lot more money to work with, but for the time being, I'm going to have to keep things small.

 

[mpearce]

The pot you listed is for IH use. Not sure how it would work on a propane burner. Here are some SS ones on Yahoo.
15 liter pot? What's your batch size?

50 liter : http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s306634199
30 liter http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s306633785

Ah got it. I am going to be doing 5g (19L) batches. Would like to do full boils but don't know if it is possible yet or not on my stove. The wife is not home on Saturdays, my planned brew days, so that is not an issue so I can go brew crazy. I will have my brewing kit this week so looking for a good pot before that if possible. I have a 19L pot I borrowed from the father-in-law but if I could get a full one before the weekend I will be

 

[mpearce]

IH refers to a bottom designed to work efficiently with the all-electrical stoves that are trending now.

I thought the same thing about the hops at first. It's a per-kg price, sold in lots of 20kg or whatever.

I have the gas stove still which I like better than electric.

 

[mpearce]

The pot you listed is for IH use. Not sure how it would work on a propane burner. Here are some SS ones on Yahoo.
15 liter pot? What's your batch size?

50 liter : http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s306634199
30 liter http://page14.auctions.yahoo.co.jp/jp/auction/s306633785

Damn that is cheap. I think I will get one of those 30L ones. That should work fine for a full boil I would think.

 

[surume]

I just ordered 10 metres of copper tubing and 10 metres of silicon tubing.

Oh gawd what did I do

 

[mpearce]

I just ordered 10 metres of copper tubing and 10 metres of silicon tubing.

Oh gawd what did I do

I made my chiller last week. Came out great. Very easy to do if you have a form to bend around. Only the tube ends were a bit tough to bend. I used the tube bender and that made it very easy though.

 

[tektonjp]

Hey guys! I'm brewing down in Numazu, Shizuoka. This thread has really blown up recently! Lots of great info. Thanks.

I'm finding getting specialty malts quite frustrating these days. Anyone interested in doing a share on some larger bags. Sakeland carries most of the Weyermann malts in 25kg bags. Prices are high~ish at anywhere from 6900¥~8000¥.

Anyway, good to know there are some very active homebrewers out there.[/QUOTE

Okay y'all, I'm going to offer my malt list from Ohnishi Shoten in Tokyo. You can get specialty malts for just a bit more than regular malt. You can buy direct from them. The only problem is that sometimes you need to remind them of your order because you are a small guy. They don't always just right on it like the people at Asahi. Anyone who wants the list and how to contact, PM me. I don't really want to stick it out here in public. EDIT: I can't seem to attach images to PM, so please include a regular email addy so I can post the forms to you.

BTW, specialty malts, kept right, will keep for a loooong time, unlike base malts. Split a bag between 4-5 people.

And no, I'm not afraid of the boogie man by being on this forum. The guys in the tax department have better things to do than to troll a homebrewing forum in english.

As for hops, there are a couple of hops specialty stores in the States which will ship 3.5-4 pounds of hops overseas for 18 bucks shipping. This is another way to buddy up and split stuff. See Nikobrew and Yakima Valley Hops.

Cheeers

 

[mpearce]

I spoke to Nikobrew today. They ship to Japan no problem and try to give as much a discount on shipping as possible. They have a great selection of hops IMHO. I will be using them in the future.

 

[ShizuokaBrad]

I actually just ordered 4 pounds total (8 different varieties at .5 pounds each) from Yakima valley. Their prices seems a bit cheaper than nikobrew for the varieties I wanted. The price for 4 pounds, including shipping, was US$68. I thought it was a pretty good price compared to the cost of buying from domestic retailers. As well, it seems that it was shipped the same day and it was possible to use paypal instead of credit cards. I'll give on update when they get here to let you guys know how it all turned out.