湘京折衷 (Shoukyou Secchuu)

1 bar limited to 1x keg max

A bit of serendipity brought us together with Shonan Beer at the Craft Brewers Conference (CBC) 2014 in Denver, Colorado. Head brewer Takashi Tsutsui was attending alone and in need of a place to stay and we had an open couch at the house Kyoto Brewing Co. had rented out. While we had never really spent much time together before the trip, a week of sharing good beers and great laughs made us quick friends. We repeated the experience during the 2016 CBC in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and the serendipity continued when both parties happened to be looking to share a booth at the Keyaki Hiroba Beer Festival later that year.

The beer started out as an excuse to use the small amount of Australian and New Zealand hops that each brewery was able to acquire. We were having trouble figuring out what the best way to express the unique characteristics of these hops while at the same time blending the character of each brewery. A Session Belgian IPA seemed too Kyoto Brewing Co., while an India Pale Lager seemed too Shonan Beer. Then it hit us: why not brew two collaboration beers and serve them side by side at the shared Keyaki Hiroba Beer Festival booth? To further the collaborative spirit, we decided to brew the exact same recipe at each brewery, changing only the yeast. The result is Shoukyou Secchuu, an American Wheat Ale brewed by Kyoto Brewing Co. and a Wheat Lager brewed by Shonan Beer.

Naming: The spirit of collaborative brewing culminates in both parties stepping out of their comfort zone a little bit in order to produce a beer that neither one would have brewed on their own. In a way, it is similar to the policy of Japan as it looked to modernise following the Meiji Restoration, sending diplomatic missions throughout the globe to learn the ways of the more advanced West in order to adapt them to their own methods when they returned home. Playing on this theme, Shoukyou Secchuu is the harmonization/blending (Secchuu) of Sho (Shonan Beer) and Kyo (Kyoto Brewing Co.)

Style: American Wheat Ale

Malt Bill:

Pilsner, Wheat, Oat

Hops:

Bittering - Nelson Sauvin

Flavour/Aroma - Nelson Sauvin, Galaxy

Yeast: US-05 American Ale

ABV: 5.0%

IBU: 23

Gas Volumes: 2.2