Home brewing in Japan

[Blue-Frog]

GB,

What size has your plants reached?
How many grams dry hops have they produced?
(how many years growth have they had?)

Did you see my posts in the Japan Hops Trading thread?
I don't want to stink up the room, but I think it is important to make sure these plants are healthy before spreading them around...

so far, no one has posted anything to suggest normal growth, normal health, and I have repeatedly observed poor growth... even weak producers should, I think, from their 2nd year on, be able to produce at least 350+ grams of dried hops per season.

If these plants don't then we need to find the reason, and if that reason is infection, we need clean them up or dispose of them and not spread them around.

My Duboius Centennal: longest bine 60cm (w/ small leaf widths, short internodes)
My Healthy Hop: 300+ cm
My ifsy Magnum: ca. 1.2 m, growth stopped... none noticable for weeks, browned ares and brittleness

I hope you can say that the plants you have are vigorous and good producers and nothing I observe resonates with your own experience with them.

My problems could all be at the local level, but in the absence of claims of clear robust health and productivity... throughout the life cycle (ie til the crop is in) I fear that the source material might have been infected. I have read that often it takes a few years for the symptoms to appear, so it may take a while to know, if ever.

 

[OppamaBrendan]

Plant diseases are pretty easy to spot, not always so easy to correctly ID. What kind of infection do you think your plant has? Short plants with slow growth sounds more like an environmental issue (nutrients, temps, pH, drainage)

My hops have been attacked by aggressive amounts of caterpillars this year, the leaves look like swiss cheese. I have been picking off the pests and used a systemic insecticide and they are starting to recover. They took a few week break from growing taller during the infestation.

The Magnum has 8 bines that are more than 3 meters tall
The Centennial is close behind and has a lot of little ground-cover short bines. I am leaving those to shade the soil and keep it cooler when the summer heat kicks in.
The Cascade (2 small crowns) is catching up at over 2 meters
Only the Homestead hops are still stalled (because the bugs chewed off the growing tips ) I expect some new growth in the next week or so.
They have some brown spots from being chewed on but no indication of virus type infections. Lots of chewed up damage, absolutely brutal on parts of the plants. If I had waited a day or more there wouldn't even be leaves left on them, at the rate the fackers were eating them!

All of these were transplanted in early spring, mostly from pots where they were doing poorly with restricted root zones. The Cascade rhizomes were tiny, about a fistfull of roots, so I think they have been doing very well considering. They all have tons of compost so I think they are not switching over to flowering yet due to excess nitrogen. Only the Magnum is starting to flower on a couple bines so far, but there are plenty of buds on those 2 bines.

 

[Blue-Frog]

oops! See next post...

 

[Blue-Frog]

Plant diseases are pretty easy to spot, not always so easy to correctly ID. What kind of infection do you think your plant has? Short plants with slow growth sounds more like an environmental issue (nutrients, temps, pH, drainage)

The Centennial... has a lot of little ground-cover short bines.

It is exactly these short ground cover STUNTED bines that I am focusing on.

I strongly agree that ID-ing is difficult.
I really refuse to say much is set in stone, but there seems to be something wrong here.

Not always is it going to be clear if one has a problem plant... for example if a symptom is a reduction of height or fruit production (eg hop cones) to 60% of a healthy plant, one needs to know what that 100% is, and that will change over time with age and with other details.

Also, many symptons are not diagnostic; they simply may or not be present.

One pix of HSV infection emphasizes yellow leaf spotting,
but this does not seem to be a diagnostic feature (?) of that disease.

One thing I have been wondering about in regards to my hop's troubles, is HSV.

http://www.usahops.org/graphics/Fil...Hop Stunt Viroid.pdf#search='hop+stunt+viroid'

http://www.dpvweb.net/dpv/showdpv.php?dpvno=326


Since HSVd symptom expression can vary significantly according to host species, host variety and viroid strain consequently, predicting the potential damage resulting from HSVd infection can be very difficult.

My feeling is the Centennial is a victim of something.
Don't know what yet, but its' growth is akward in comparison to what I have to compare it with.

Anyway, lets see how many grams dry cones are produced this year...
mine are 2nd yr;
yours are 3rd year or more... (?)

I don't know about Snow16 and Guzzibrew, but 2nd yr at least I think.

If we report what we get/see I think we will be abe to see if it is just a problem I am having,
or if it is a problem with the source material.

 

[Guzzibrew]

This is my second year for the cuttings that OppamaBrendan sent me. They started late ( I think they are in too shaded a spot) but they are now at least a meter off the ground, the Centential has only one strong bine, but the Magnum has three and is a little over a meter and a half high.

I'll try and keep you informed about production. Last year they produced a couple of handfulls of cones.

Last year I had problems with mites. What does anyone spray them with?

GB

 

[Guzzibrew]

On a related topic...

I just placed an order with Hops Direct:

Crystal, First Gold (UK), Magnum,and Chinook (pellets)

Galena, Amarillo, Citra (Leaf).

Anyone need hops?

GB

 

[mooh]

Hi all,

I finished brewing my first batch with a kit I got off advance brewing.
I think I made one big mistake: I didn't really aerate the wort before pitching the yeast. I believe this is the reason why I my gravity would not drop below 1.016. I used the S-04 yeast. After two weeks I tried rousing the yeast a bit, and let it sit for another 4 days, but no effect at all. So I decided to bottle it last weekend. Still have to wait for at least a week to try it out, but I am already thinking on brewing my next batch.
For my next batch I was thinking of trying a SMaSH brew, and I wanted your opinions. I am thinking of placing an order with Asahi Malts, but I am wondering which malt and which hops to buy. Any good advice for SMaSH? I read maris otter malt and citra or cascade hops make a nice smash IPA, but Asahi Malts doesn't have any maris otter malt. Any suggestions are welcome!
I am now thinking on getting their ale malt with citra hops...

Best,
Wim

 

[sabotenfighter]

Hey Wim,
Asahi's English ale malt has been called "maris otter like" and I use it pretty much exclusively as my base malt. Definitely lends to a sweet malty backbone in every beer I have used it in. Slight bit of color too. If you want more of a neutral grain, go with their standard Canadian brewing malt (its just normal 2-row). Cascade SMaSH Pale Ale is a pretty easy and tasty beer. How much hops you add and when is kinda up to you. You could go with the basic, 90g total (30g each at 60/30/10), or something more extreme if you want to lean more toward an IPA on the bitterness. Last SMaSH I did was with motueka hops and Asahi base mashed low. Did about 40ibu bittering addition at 60, and then 60g at flame out for a 60min hop stand. Turned out pretty ok, but not a huge fan of those hops by itself.

 

[tektonjp]

Wim,
I'm assuming you'll be getting your hops from someplace other than Asahi. They only sell hops in LARGE quantities.

Personally, there are only a few hops I would go to for single hopping in a pale ale, and I would not do a single hop IPA due to the increased malt bill and the need for more IBU to match the grain would make it less complex in the finished beer (ie boring). I just think IPAs need a some variety in hops.

That said, cascade is great. Sierra Nevada pale ale is all cascade. Another good one is citra, but some folks might be put off by the intense fruitiness when it is used alone.

 

[mooh]

Thanks for the info!
I was thinking of buying the hops with Asahi malt too, but 2,5kg seems like way too much. I thought I might be able to store it in my freezer, but then again, 2,5kg... I will buy my hops on ab or sakeland. I want to get some cascade and citra hops, but citra hops seem to be sold out.
Does anyone know a good source for hops? Preferably in Japan?

I think I will start out with one malt and maybe two hops. I just want to get to learn what character each kind of hops gives to the beer. And the only way to learn for me seems to be tasting it.
Any other advice, or easy recipes are always welcome!

Best,
Wim

 

[sabotenfighter]

Tekton,
Actually SNPA uses Perle/Warrior for bittering, but they did get famous for using cascade in the latter half additions.

Wim,

Check out Brewtoad or brewers friend for recipies. Plenty of good ones on there and you can sort them by ingredients/type.

Citra and other hops can be a total B to get here. Also, Asahi's price for hops isnt that great, even if its a ton. I ordered 3.5lb (~1.6kg) of hops from YakimaValleyHops.com. They have great prices and selection as well as 25$ flat rate shipping to Japan. Unfortunately, the exchange rate sucks really bad right now, so its not as cheap as it was when the 2014 harvest was released.

 

[tektonjp]

Saboten, You're right. I stand corrected.

Wim, if you look at the order sheet from Asahi, you'll see it's an order of 20 kg of hops in 2.5 k bags. As Saboten said, the better deal, sspecially since AB and Sakeland have such a poor selection, is to order 3.5-4 lbs of hops from the States and freeze them.

 

[Funkychef]

A quick question to those who mill their own grains. Ive been milling on a home made roller but its not far from dying and im looking at getting a proper mill that might last longer than 18months. Where did you all get your mills america or aliexpress or local. If i can get one in Japan for a reasonable price i would buy one but they seem way over priced?

 

[mooh]

Thanks for the feedback!

I am trying to order some malt of Asahi Malts, but does anyone have any idea how long it takes before they contact you after sending a fax?

It looks like it is going to take a little bit to get the ingredients for trying a Smash, so I will wait with it for my 3rd batch.

In the meanwhile, I am planning on trying my second batch next week.
I got some LME and Lager yeast from someone here that left Japan.
The LME are almost over their expiration date.
I am thinking on brewing some pilsner/lager style beer with the following ingredients:
1.5kg Beer enhancer Extra Pale LME (Morgans)
1.5kg Wheat LME
0.5-ish kg of Weyermann pilsner malt

Whirlfloc tablet
saaz hops

saflager w-34/70 dry lager yeast

18L tap water

Would this give a descent pilsner beer you think?
Feedback and comments are welcome!

Best,
Wim

 

[OppamaBrendan]

With that wheat it won't really be pilsner but if it tastes good thats really all you need to be concerned about.

 

[sabotenfighter]

Yeah, I'd change out the yeast and get an ounce of hallertauer hops and make yourself a decent wheat beer instead of a pils

 

[mooh]

Thanks for the feedback!

The yeast is about to expire, so I think I might try a lager first.
I will leave out the wheat LME and get 3kg-ish of pilsner malt instead.

I will use the wheat LME next time to make some wheat beer.
A quick question about wheat beer: is it okay to use standard dry ale yeast for it (US-04 or US-05)?

Best,
Wim

 

[tektonjp]

Thanks for the feedback!

The yeast is about to expire, so I think I might try a lager first.
I will leave out the wheat LME and get 3kg-ish of pilsner malt instead.

I will use the wheat LME next time to make some wheat beer.
A quick question about wheat beer: is it okay to use standard dry ale yeast for it (US-04 or US-05)?

Best,
Wim

I've never used 04 in a wheat and I can't stand it in ales. 05 will give you an american/clear wheat beer. If you are looking for a german style, you need to use wheat yeast.

 

[mooh]

tektonjp,

Thank you very much for the advice.
I will try using the US-05 ale yeast.

Best,
Wim

 

[Fastforwardx2]

I just got a Japanese CO2 tank but need an adapter for my American regulator. Anyone have any ideas to fix this situation? Thanks for any advice. I just want to start kegging

 

[Fastforwardx2]

I figured out how to convert my regulator .... I replaced the nut that connects to the tank with an adapter nut that I found in the electronics section at Nafco. I believe it was a 5/8 nut.

 

[Guzzibrew]

Christmas came early at the Guzzibrew house...

Bags of Premium 2 row, Carared, Vienna Malt and Maris Otter and packages of Gallena, Crystal, Chinook, Magnum and UK First Gold.

To be split among the soon to be first 3 inaugural members of the Fukuoka Brewers League.

I'm going to start trying to roast some of it too, but there will be some left to trade if anyone is interested.

I've got to get some of this into kegs before the warm weather hits hard here in Kyushu.

GB

 

[Tachinomia]

Hello everyone,

Quick intro, I live in Kyoto, started BIAB 6 month ago, only brew ales because no temp control apart from swamp cooler, fed-up with bottling.

I would very much like to keg but I suppose that like most things here it's a bit of a challenge to put it mildly.

As we french say, yes I am french sorry about that, "pourquoi faire simple quand on peut faire compliqué?", which roughly translates into "why make it simple when you can make it complicated?".

Any advice on finding kegs and CO2?

Many thanks in advance,

T

PS: Am I wrong in assuming there's only one thread for brewing in Japan?

 

[Blue-Frog]

Hi,
Welcome to Texas!
There is a related thread, "Japan Hops Trading".
but this seems to be the place to be.

Kyoto Summers are hell.
I miss her though.

Cheers!

 

[snackson]

Christmas came early at the Guzzibrew house...

Bags of Premium 2 row, Carared, Vienna Malt and Maris Otter and packages of Gallena, Crystal, Chinook, Magnum and UK First Gold.

To be split among the soon to be first 3 inaugural members of the Fukuoka Brewers League.

I'm going to start trying to roast some of it too, but there will be some left to trade if anyone is interested.

I've got to get some of this into kegs before the warm weather hits hard here in Kyushu.

GB

I'll be moving to Sasebo the end of September and once settled will be looking for others who brew as well. I've decided to just do E-BIAB while I am over there.

 

[tektonjp]

Hello everyone,

Quick intro, I live in Kyoto, started BIAB 6 month ago, only brew ales because no temp control apart from swamp cooler, fed-up with bottling.

I would very much like to keg but I suppose that like most things here it's a bit of a challenge to put it mildly

Any advice on finding kegs and CO2?

Two things. Keep an eye out on Yahoo auction. They show up rarely, but sometimes you can find an old "chuu hai" keg, which is like a cornelius keg. Also ask around neighborhood bars and liquor stores for old chuu hai kegs.

Second, join up with Kinki Homebrewers on Facebook and ask there. I'm in Shiga and if you need any help sourcing things, let me know. If you want to join the FB group (it's a closed group), friend me @ Robert Scott Murray on FB and I'll get you on the group.

 

[12ozrebel]

fastforwardx2,
Did you provide your own CO2 bottle for a fill? Or, did you have to buy a new one from the company that did the fill?
Thanks, 12oz

 

[Tachinomia]

Two things. Keep an eye out on Yahoo auction. They show up rarely, but sometimes you can find an old "chuu hai" keg, which is like a cornelius keg. Also ask around neighborhood bars and liquor stores for old chuu hai kegs.

Second, join up with Kinki Homebrewers on Facebook and ask there. I'm in Shiga and if you need any help sourcing things, let me know. If you want to join the FB group (it's a closed group), friend me @ Robert Scott Murray on FB and I'll get you on the group.

See you on FB!

 

[Fastforwardx2]

Hey 120z,

I didn't buy a CO2 tank. I rent it from the shop for a little over 5000 yen deposit and I pay a little over 2000 yen for the gas. From my understanding the Japanese shops usually won't fill foreign tanks.

 

[12ozrebel]

I am doing my first lager and I pitched the yeast Monday morning and there has been no activity as of yet. Should I be nervous? My fridge that I am using is right at 50 degrees F. Any suggestions?
Thanks, 12oz