Kyoto Brewing Co. - Wholesale

黙々人 (Mokumoku Jin)

Grodziskie "Polish Champagne" brewed in collaboration with Kobo and Godspeed.

[Character]
A spritzy and tart low ABV wheat beer brew with smoked malt.
[Food Pairing]
Spiced sausages, Chinese-style shrimp noodles, charcoal-grilled sweetcorn (ideally baby corn in skins)
[Naming]
"Moku moku" is a play on words between the onomatopoeia for smoke and a word meaning to quietly and conscientiously go about one's work. "Jin" means "people" or "person". This beer itself is an attempt at a traditional smoked Polish style beer, but the characters involved in making it are perhaps some of the most single-minded and determined brewers you may ever come across, whose focus when in the process of making the beer, is in contrast with the broad smiles and open relaxation when the day is done, and beers is being enjoyed rather than being made.
[Brewer's Voice]
When brewing with 2 brewers known for making great examples of traditional Czech lagers, we knew we had to make something in that space. However, we wanted to brew something that would be new and exciting for them as well. We settled on a Grodziskie, which is, ironically, technically neither Czech nor a lager (!), but a bit of a near lost-in-time style that has its origins in Poland. This beer uses smoked malt and is made up of 100% wheat malt. Since this beer relies on so much of its character being derived from the malt, we wanted to ensure from the very beginning we put the most amount of care into crafting this beer.

Unlike the smoke-heavy beers that hail from Germany that gives off notes of ham and bacon, the smoke character on the Grodziskie is supposed to be toned down so that it interplays well with the sour notes of the beer. As such, we decided to smoke all the wheat ourselves to ensure that the malt was not exposed too much smoke. This malt was smoked under the careful watch of the Kobo Brewing team over several days at a Japanese smoke house in Toyama. The final result was a beautiful and mouthwatering smoke flavour that filled the air around the brewhouse during the collaboration.

The 100% wheat malt bill and a low ABV meant we had to take our time with this one and make sure everything was just right. We kept the hops all European, using Tettnang, Saaz and Lubelski a Polish hop variety. Paying an ode to Godspeed’s 7th anniversary, we used a near continuous hopping method adding small amounts of hops every 7 minutes through the boil. The low Alpha acids of these hops allowed us to focus on getting a well-rounded hop character while keeping the bitterness low on this beer.

This beer was fermented with a blend of yeast designed to mimic the traditional style of a mixed culture fermentation of this beer. This allowed us to sour the beer slightly giving the beer a crisp and bright character along side the smoked wheat to keep this beer refreshing but flavorful. Finally, we finished the beer off with a high level of natural carbonation to give this beer a spritzy champagne like finish allowing the aroma to come alive. This was a fun beer to brew and a lot of care when into it by the whole team to bring forth our best representation of this classic style.
Style
Grodziskie
Series
Nakama
ABV
4.0%
IBU
22
Gas Volume
2.8
Malt
100% Wheat Malt (~40% Smoked)
Hop
Tettnang, Saaz, Lubelski
Yeast
Philly Sour, S-04
Category
Beer
JAN
4589718741789
Best Before
2025/01/03