12ozrebel
Member
I will have to check out Antenna America the next time I head to Yokohama. Went up there last week and didnt even get a chance to stop off and get any Micro Brew Goodness. Maybe this weekend.
Home brewing in Japan
- Thread starter OppamaBrendan
- Start date
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surume
Well-Known Member
I will be checking out Antenna America around 6pm today. Say hi if you spot a guy wearing glasses, a black coat, jeans and a burgundy scarf.
Just went to Craft Beer Market. Well worth you time. 20 beers on tap, all Japan crafts. Cheaper than anywhere else I have been and good food too. Only 10 minute walk from my office so that is a huge bonus. Will be at good beer faucets tomorrow night though stop by and say hello.
mpearce said:
I've been wondering, too. I've been here so long I don't even know what it's supposed to taste like. I tried a commercial cider here and it was nothing like ciders or apfelwein that I've had in the past. I tried a commercial mead and was really turned off, but I would totally expect a real mead to be completely different.
There are kits/kit honey I've seen before. Ideally, i'd want to try local honey, but it's insanely expensive. Chinese honey? What yeast is commonly used?
surume
Well-Known Member
Costco has honey for a more affordable price, not local stuff though.
There is a store in Kyoto that sells polish mead and they sell online as well, if you're into thicker meads then I'd recommend it.
There is a store in Kyoto that sells polish mead and they sell online as well, if you're into thicker meads then I'd recommend it.
![Craft A Brew - Safale S-04 Dry Yeast - Fermentis - English Ale Dry Yeast - For English and American Ales and Hard Apple Ciders - Ingredients for Home Brewing - Beer Making Supplies - [1 Pack]](https://m.media-amazon.com/images/I/41fVGNh6JfL._SL500_.jpg)
OppamaBrendan
Well-Known Member
Still have been putting off making another brew these days, but I have excuses! I started another food hobby I had been meaning to try for a while; cheese! I have done a few batches now and will do another tomorrow night. It takes less work than an all grain beer so for these days when I have had less opportunity to brew it will have to do.
A friend invited me to hang out on his brew day this week! I have never watched anyone brew before and there were some good tips for me to learn. He was very organized with his workflow, starting the strike water heating, then grinding the grain (double roller is so much faster than my corona mill!), then pre-heating the mash tun. A digital thermometer with a temperature alarm is cheap and great to have so you don't need to watch the pot! Mashing in was straightforward, 15 minutes before the mash was done the sparge water started heating. He was batch sparging, and verlof'ed a few liters for each batch (initial, and 2 rinses). While running off the wort for each sparge he checked the brix reading with a refractometer (I am definitely getting one now!). Straight away he got the wort on the stove to get up to boil temp, and once there put his first hops in a hop spider and we sat down for a pint to wait. He keeps a rolling boil but not a vigorous one and was not worried about a boil over. Unfortunately the timer hadn't started so we ended up estimating the 30 minute addition, and may have been a bit too early as the final gravity was a touch lighter than predicted. While chilling the wort he used the hot water return to wash his mash tun! Great idea! I had to head home so I missed out on pitching the yeast. Good times!
Oh, forgot to mention the style was an ESB.
Here is a photo of my mozzarella and the aftermath of the brew session.
https://plus.google.com/photos/1123...s/5849951465987167041?authkey=CPie_L__o5XPwQE
A friend invited me to hang out on his brew day this week! I have never watched anyone brew before and there were some good tips for me to learn. He was very organized with his workflow, starting the strike water heating, then grinding the grain (double roller is so much faster than my corona mill!), then pre-heating the mash tun. A digital thermometer with a temperature alarm is cheap and great to have so you don't need to watch the pot! Mashing in was straightforward, 15 minutes before the mash was done the sparge water started heating. He was batch sparging, and verlof'ed a few liters for each batch (initial, and 2 rinses). While running off the wort for each sparge he checked the brix reading with a refractometer (I am definitely getting one now!). Straight away he got the wort on the stove to get up to boil temp, and once there put his first hops in a hop spider and we sat down for a pint to wait. He keeps a rolling boil but not a vigorous one and was not worried about a boil over. Unfortunately the timer hadn't started so we ended up estimating the 30 minute addition, and may have been a bit too early as the final gravity was a touch lighter than predicted. While chilling the wort he used the hot water return to wash his mash tun! Great idea! I had to head home so I missed out on pitching the yeast. Good times!
Oh, forgot to mention the style was an ESB.
Here is a photo of my mozzarella and the aftermath of the brew session.
https://plus.google.com/photos/1123...s/5849951465987167041?authkey=CPie_L__o5XPwQE
surume
Well-Known Member
Recently I did a batch with the Asahi Beer Malt's English Ale Malt. Their grind is really fine, and it leaves a lot of sludge at the bottom of your mash tun. There really is no point in sparging this stuff, so it makes mashing easier in a way, but it also means you go through your malts faster. I'm not sure on the taste, but the 10 litre batch of SMaSH with the English Ale Malts and Fuggle hop pellets should be ready to drink and I will post thoughts on it pretty soon.
Chief brewer of Yokohama Brewery agreed on the fine grind, and told me that was the reason he doesn't use malts from Asahi.
On another note, I will be moving to Higashi Kanagawa station at the end of this month and the place I will be living in is really small. I suppose I can still find place for fermenting and stuff, but there is only room for 1 pot on the cooking stove, and I was wondering if it was possible to brew in such a small kitchen.
I am wondering if it is possible to brew in such an environment, and if anyone has similar experiences, would like to hear them. I may have to consider leaving my brewing equipment at my parent's house, although I don't want to (for obvious reasons
Chief brewer of Yokohama Brewery agreed on the fine grind, and told me that was the reason he doesn't use malts from Asahi.
On another note, I will be moving to Higashi Kanagawa station at the end of this month and the place I will be living in is really small. I suppose I can still find place for fermenting and stuff, but there is only room for 1 pot on the cooking stove, and I was wondering if it was possible to brew in such a small kitchen.
I am wondering if it is possible to brew in such an environment, and if anyone has similar experiences, would like to hear them. I may have to consider leaving my brewing equipment at my parent's house, although I don't want to (for obvious reasons
tektonjp
Well-Known Member
OB, where did you get the rennin? Just use regular milk?
Surume, the asahi malt is quite nice, IMO. I do the grind myself, though. Not sure why the grind would make you go through malts faster. If anything, a finer grind will give more efficiency, and thus less grain needed.
Yokohama doesn't grind their own? Surprised.
Surume, the asahi malt is quite nice, IMO. I do the grind myself, though. Not sure why the grind would make you go through malts faster. If anything, a finer grind will give more efficiency, and thus less grain needed.
Yokohama doesn't grind their own? Surprised.
12ozrebel
Member
Brewed 2 batches today, an Amber and a
Wheat ale. I used Saaz and Chinook for
The Wheat and Saaz and Centennial for
The Amber. Used American ale yeast for
the wheat and Belgian Strong for the Amber.
Should be interesting. @Surume,do
You have a place to brew outside? I use
a gas burner hooked up to a propane tank
and seems nicer outside brewing than in the
Kitchen.
Wheat ale. I used Saaz and Chinook for
The Wheat and Saaz and Centennial for
The Amber. Used American ale yeast for
the wheat and Belgian Strong for the Amber.
Should be interesting. @Surume,do
You have a place to brew outside? I use
a gas burner hooked up to a propane tank
and seems nicer outside brewing than in the
Kitchen.
JiBiru8
Well-Known Member
On another note, I will be moving to Higashi Kanagawa station at the end of this month and the place I will be living in is really small. I suppose I can still find place for fermenting and stuff, but there is only room for 1 pot on the cooking stove, and I was wondering if it was possible to brew in such a small kitchen.
I am wondering if it is possible to brew in such an environment, and if anyone has similar experiences, would like to hear them. I may have to consider leaving my brewing equipment at my parent's house, although I don't want to (for obvious reasons
Have you tried BIAB? 1 pot on the stove is all you need! And if your sink is too small to wash the pot, you can always use your bathroom. If you have room for your fermenters, I don't think you'll have a problem.
That's real surprising.
surume
Well-Known Member
I've been wanting to try BIAB but I can't find the right kind of net to use as a bag... any suggestions? I tried Sarashi cloth but it clogged up very fast, preventing water from seeping through.
JiBiru8
Well-Known Member
I bought this from AHS:
http://www.austinhomebrew.com/product_info.php?cPath=178_33_403&products_id=1058
No idea for anything local though, sorry.
tektonjp
Well-Known Member
surume said:
100 yen shop. Mesh laundry bag. Works great.
surume
Well-Known Member
I was worried about them being polyester, and was searching for nylon laundry mesh bags. I just looked up the melting point and I suppose polyester is fine also
OppamaBrendan
Well-Known Member
tektonjp
Well-Known Member
Thanks!
mpearce said:
Well, it's just a little icon now, but here's a link:
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/japanese-beer-server-dispenser.html
Drifting79
Member
Gday fellow japanese amatuer brewers.
I have only just joined this forum and after a week of browsing i decided to search for any info on japan
LOW and BEHOLD!!!
there are other highly motivated brewers in japan
this is great news
I have probably met a few of you briefly at the Advanced brewing meetings I have only been to 2 meetings as i work in australia and live in japan
I also went to the winter bash which was awesome
I will be back in japan after the 1st of april for 5 weeks
I have been building a single tier 3 vessel system for a while and using it as a gravity system until i can get my pumps set up
the information you have all contributed is awesome so far
I did find an interesting article on modifying a co2 regulator imported from
the US to match the japanese bottle
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/japan-standard-tank-us-standard-regulator-338713/index2.html
this is an easy fix if you cant find a reg in japan
I have built one of the stc-1000 temp controllers so if anyone has any issues with these let me know and i will be sure to help
I also built a stir plate and got most of the gear from tokyu hands
they do sell potentiometers in the model electrics section it cost a coupla bux
It would be great to meet some new people who are interested in brewing and learn some new tricks maybe do some brew days together
I dont really have the space issues at my house that a lot of Japanese brewers must have but i still try to keep my system pretty compact
I have not been able to find the link to the asahi malt supplier
if someone could share that with me that would be great
I have been getting my malts from AB and sakeland but the price for the asahi malt looks to be very good and i will just keep getting my specialty malts from AB or sakeland
the link to labware is awesome so i will be going to Kanda for a look asap
do they have 5 ltr erlynmyers?
maybe this would be a good time to line up and get together for a beer
fellas i also have a malt mill if you need some of your grain to be milled
i live in kanagawa area odakyu line
to be honest the malt mill was one of my first purchases as i cant just brew spontaneously with my job there is a fair bit of planning with my roster
I can really only brew in the first or second week so the brew is ready to bottle in the last week before i have to commute to work
another reason why i am going to kegs in the near future
great thread guys and one i believe is long over due
I have only just joined this forum and after a week of browsing i decided to search for any info on japan
LOW and BEHOLD!!!
there are other highly motivated brewers in japan
this is great news
I have probably met a few of you briefly at the Advanced brewing meetings I have only been to 2 meetings as i work in australia and live in japan
I also went to the winter bash which was awesome
I will be back in japan after the 1st of april for 5 weeks
I have been building a single tier 3 vessel system for a while and using it as a gravity system until i can get my pumps set up
the information you have all contributed is awesome so far
I did find an interesting article on modifying a co2 regulator imported from
the US to match the japanese bottle
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/f35/japan-standard-tank-us-standard-regulator-338713/index2.html
this is an easy fix if you cant find a reg in japan
I have built one of the stc-1000 temp controllers so if anyone has any issues with these let me know and i will be sure to help
I also built a stir plate and got most of the gear from tokyu hands
they do sell potentiometers in the model electrics section it cost a coupla bux
It would be great to meet some new people who are interested in brewing and learn some new tricks maybe do some brew days together
I dont really have the space issues at my house that a lot of Japanese brewers must have but i still try to keep my system pretty compact
I have not been able to find the link to the asahi malt supplier
if someone could share that with me that would be great
I have been getting my malts from AB and sakeland but the price for the asahi malt looks to be very good and i will just keep getting my specialty malts from AB or sakeland
the link to labware is awesome so i will be going to Kanda for a look asap
do they have 5 ltr erlynmyers?
maybe this would be a good time to line up and get together for a beer
fellas i also have a malt mill if you need some of your grain to be milled
i live in kanagawa area odakyu line
to be honest the malt mill was one of my first purchases as i cant just brew spontaneously with my job there is a fair bit of planning with my roster
I can really only brew in the first or second week so the brew is ready to bottle in the last week before i have to commute to work
another reason why i am going to kegs in the near future
great thread guys and one i believe is long over due
OppamaBrendan
Well-Known Member
Welcome to the group! Wow we are at 19 members now!
I just brewed an EPA with the ale malt from Asahi, and like Surume said it is tough to work with, a good proportion of it is crushed into flour and the husks are broken pretty small as well. I had trouble draining the mash tun when batch sparging and it took at least 30 minutes longer than anticipated. I use a braided stainless hose but may switch that for a copper manifold after this experience.
That being said, I got better efficiency than my previous 4 batches.. and overshot my abv target for style by a few points haha, I may actually water my beer down a bit if the flavor is full bodied enough to handle it when it is done in secondary.
I finally got a motor on my corona mill and it was a dream to do the rest of the grains for this beer. All I did was get a super cheap drill (21V driver + 92 bits for less than 4000 yen on rakuten), thread a bolt into where the handle normally attaches, and attach the drill to the bolt.
I got to test out the larger unwoven PE sink strainer bags for my hops additions. They were large enough to comfortably fit 30gm additions and have plenty of "free-swimming" within the bags. I tied the bags shut with the excess of the bag, but if I used kitchen twine they would have had a ton more space. I let them float around and they didn't melt when contacting the sides or bottom of the pot either. Now here is the thing; I had a decent bit of break material and I am not sure if there was any hop material that made it through the bags or if it was all from the super fine malt.
Cheers!
I just brewed an EPA with the ale malt from Asahi, and like Surume said it is tough to work with, a good proportion of it is crushed into flour and the husks are broken pretty small as well. I had trouble draining the mash tun when batch sparging and it took at least 30 minutes longer than anticipated. I use a braided stainless hose but may switch that for a copper manifold after this experience.
That being said, I got better efficiency than my previous 4 batches.. and overshot my abv target for style by a few points haha, I may actually water my beer down a bit if the flavor is full bodied enough to handle it when it is done in secondary.
I finally got a motor on my corona mill and it was a dream to do the rest of the grains for this beer. All I did was get a super cheap drill (21V driver + 92 bits for less than 4000 yen on rakuten), thread a bolt into where the handle normally attaches, and attach the drill to the bolt.
I got to test out the larger unwoven PE sink strainer bags for my hops additions. They were large enough to comfortably fit 30gm additions and have plenty of "free-swimming" within the bags. I tied the bags shut with the excess of the bag, but if I used kitchen twine they would have had a ton more space. I let them float around and they didn't melt when contacting the sides or bottom of the pot either. Now here is the thing; I had a decent bit of break material and I am not sure if there was any hop material that made it through the bags or if it was all from the super fine malt.
Cheers!
Ogri
Well-Known Member
Bought a 20kg bag of uncrushed English Ale malt and a 20kg bag of uncrushed Pilsener/German 2 row from Asahi Malts which I've done a few brews with so far. Crushing the grains in a Corona mill, doing BIAB, and have been getting great efficiency with them:rockin:
Seem to getting around 85% from the English Pale malt and beercalculus is telling me I'm getting 96 to 98% from the Pilsener malt that I've used in a couple of partial mashes
I'm thinking that the figure on the Pilsener is partly due to the 90 minute boils I've been doing and partly down to mashing for 90 minutes, too.
By the way, whilst I'm at it, just wondering if anyone here has used the Pilsener malt, without doing vigorous 90 minute boils, and experienced any DMS issues.
Anyway, very pleased with these malts, and ecstatic about the price compared to what I had been paying previously, so just wanted to express my appreciation and thanks to you guys (especially Scott
) for the resource you've managed to put together here for HBers in Japan.:rockin:
Seem to getting around 85% from the English Pale malt and beercalculus is telling me I'm getting 96 to 98% from the Pilsener malt that I've used in a couple of partial mashes
I'm thinking that the figure on the Pilsener is partly due to the 90 minute boils I've been doing and partly down to mashing for 90 minutes, too.By the way, whilst I'm at it, just wondering if anyone here has used the Pilsener malt, without doing vigorous 90 minute boils, and experienced any DMS issues.
Anyway, very pleased with these malts, and ecstatic about the price compared to what I had been paying previously, so just wanted to express my appreciation and thanks to you guys (especially Scott
) for the resource you've managed to put together here for HBers in Japan.:rockin:tektonjp
Well-Known Member
@Drifting
I did find an interesting article on modifying a co2 regulator imported from
the US to match the japanese bottle
-It's easy enough to use the J regulator. The quick connect lines are great. Get one with a dial and using the "bar" instead of psi is easy too.
I have not been able to find the link to the asahi malt supplier
if someone could share that with me that would be great
-http://www.asahibeermalt.co.jp/product/malt-hop/ See also the posts in this forum from about #50 onwards re: asahi.
do they have 5 ltr erlynmyers?
-Watch yahoo acution. You can sometimes find 5l ones for 1500 yen!
Brew on!
I did find an interesting article on modifying a co2 regulator imported from
the US to match the japanese bottle
-It's easy enough to use the J regulator. The quick connect lines are great. Get one with a dial and using the "bar" instead of psi is easy too.
I have not been able to find the link to the asahi malt supplier
if someone could share that with me that would be great
-http://www.asahibeermalt.co.jp/product/malt-hop/ See also the posts in this forum from about #50 onwards re: asahi.
do they have 5 ltr erlynmyers?
-Watch yahoo acution. You can sometimes find 5l ones for 1500 yen!
Brew on!
Drifting79
Member
Hey Tekton
could you please explain this j type regulator in a bit more detail
I have to agree with the over all savings with this malt in bulk , it is a lot more reasonable cost wise, i will be ordering my base from asahi in future thanks so much for the links.
can you order it in english over the phone ?
this is a great resource for the Japanese gaijin amateur brewers
would be good to meet you all at some stage and have a brew day
could you please explain this j type regulator in a bit more detail
I have to agree with the over all savings with this malt in bulk , it is a lot more reasonable cost wise, i will be ordering my base from asahi in future thanks so much for the links.
can you order it in english over the phone ?
this is a great resource for the Japanese gaijin amateur brewers
would be good to meet you all at some stage and have a brew day
What kind of kegs does everyone recommend here? I want to get to kegging as soon as I can.
I am currently looking for a 5L or 10L kegs. Under what catagory on Yahoo auctions do you normally look? Would love to get a few on the cheap.
I'm not trying to plug my tutorial, but there is a pic and a brief description of one there.
https://www.homebrewtalk.com/entries/japanese-beer-server-dispenser.html
Ogri
Well-Known Member
I reckon you'd be well justified in plugging it a bit more:rockin:
Read through it the other day and it definitely got me thinking, for the first time, about the possibilities of kegging and getting a server for home.
Great job, mate.
I reckon you'd be well justified in plugging it a bit more:rockin:
Read through it the other day and it definitely got me thinking, for the first time, about the possibilities of kegging and getting a server for home.
Great job, mate.
Yeah, me too. I just read it and now I want to get to kegging.
