From the Road: Matt and Alesong head to Japan!
Well, I'm finally back home in Oregon after a long trip to Korea and Japan. The Japan leg of the trip was to attend the Hood to Fuji beer fest in Tokyo. If you recall, we got involved with that event last year and made the draft-only beer called Rakko with Himitsu beer from Ise, Mie, Japan. The fest is held every other year in Portland and every other year in Tokyo.
Since the two Asia events were back to back weekends, it gave me a chance to see more of the country and visit last year's collaborators, Himitsu, and this year's collaborators, Son of the Smith Cider.
We landed in Nagoya and took the 2 hr train ride south to Ise, a small community on the Ise bay. I got to see their Farmhouse Brewery, the fields where they grow rice, rye, spelt and other things they use in the beers, meet Dad and Grandma (the farmer and gardener, respectively), and also make a beer with them. We formulated a Imperial Milk Stout, ala Rhino Suit and added Hinoki, a Japanese Cypress used in making saunas. We also added a touch of white oak, a classic American Wood. It was a great time creating, laughing and eating at an Izakay where I got to try fermented sea cucumber intestines. Yum! We even got to visit a famous Shrine in their town, Jingu.
Then it was off to Omachi, Nagano. You might remember this place as the home of the 1998 Olympics. Boy, was this a beautiful area. The snow capped mountains just rose out of the valley. It even snowed the day we arrived, but rose to 70 degrees and sunny the day we left. We didn't make another beer or cider with Son of the Smith, but we did get to dine on Yakitori (chicken) and drink Shochu, visit a geothermal hot spring(onsen), and see the cidery and orchards. Hard Cider is very new to Japan and rather unknown to many. Son of the Smith was actually the first producer of hard cider in the country. They are doing very many amazing cider blends with barrels, with wild yeast and with aged hops. It was quite a philosophical parallel with Alesong. The head cidermaker name Takuro is nicknamed Hakase, which means 'doctor' or 'professor'. That guy knows his science! And the other business partners grow the apples they use to make the ciders. Their creations are a blend of traditional UK cider apples, some dessert apples, and they are also developing native cider apples that they have discovered in the mountains surrounding their town. Truly an amazing business.
After an awesome four days in Ise and Omachi, it was off to Tokyo for the fest. I worked for two days with our importer, meeting many of the people that sell our beer. In addition, my son who goes to school in Hawaill joined us for the weekend. We reunited with all the Oregon brewers traveling for Hood to Fuji fest and painted the town a beer-colored gold! The fest was amazing. 6-2.5 hour sessions later and we were exhausted. The Son of the Smith X Alesong Collab was a Bourbon barrel aged cider with Oregon Peaches, aged hops, and a touch of Rosemary. It ran out each session, so felt like business as usual for us.
Despite the craziness of Tokyo, we had just enough energy for a field trip on Monday to a Brewery (Coedo brewing ), A Soy sauce Brewery (Kinbue) and also a sake brewery (Kagamiyama ). I learned a ton on the trip about other fermented beverages and foods and was even able to return with some 'spent rice' from the sake production. Turns out you can make tea or use it in marinades because some of the enzymes involved break down proteins in meat. I can't wait to try it out and I'm glad TSA didn't start asking questions!
All in all, our trip to Japan (and Korea) was amazing. I've met new friends, learned a lot, laughed with the people who sell our beer, and experienced new foods and cities. I can't wait to return. Thanks for following along.
Cheers!
Matt
