Introducing "Habakarisan"

This week, we have released a new beer, available for sale only in Kyoto, and our first that we are confident in presenting as a shelf-stable product, possible to keep at room temperature. This is a beer we have been developing and testing for well over a year. It’s a beer made in line with Belgian tradition, but of course adding our own stamp, with the addition of fresh yuzu peel and quality dry sansho pepper bringing a Japanese twist on the Witbier style.

We’ve written many times of our feelings towards Kyoto, the city in which Kyoto Brewing was born. It is something we have been asked about since before we started the brewery, and countless times since.

Why Kyoto?
 The question is one where we have considered many elements as to why a craft beer brewery in this town makes sense. The appreciation of the artisanal, and therefore the neat crossover with our industry of craft. The appreciation of being meticulous in creating authentic cuisine and the selected ingredients that makes a part of it, and how that also fits in well. The fact that the city is not about being conspicuously expensive or luxurious, but instead on quality and authenticity, or “honmamon” to use a more local dialect.

But the truth is, above all this, we planned to open here as it was a city in which we wanted to be, a city to where the founders of our company had each had some connection or other, and a continued draw to the city beyond it.

Why Kyoto Brewing?
The choice to name our company after the city was not one we took lightly. In fact, we went through dozens of names that avoided the name before finally, after lots of consultation with others outside of the company, we came to the decision that, so long as we look to ourselves be authentic and do right by the city, there was no reason not to. Since then, the name has been a way to keep putting pressure on ourselves so as not to fail in living up to the standards.

The idea of making a beer only for Kyoto is one that we have had since our very early years. We have always liked the idea of making something special for those in the city, as well as to create a small reward for those who make the trip to our town. But that isn’t the total reason.

The other comes from the fact that, while a lot of beer bars have opened in the city since we start – we might even claim to have the most per capita – the retail space is way behind Kanto in terms of how ubiquitous craft beer is. We also feel there is a huge gap in what we see on typical menus in non-craft establishments.

While Kyoto is so particular about its ingredients, and with many establishments so particular about their wine, their sake, and even their soft drinks, they often just have the one draft product, perhaps complemented with one or two very similar bottled options. This to us feels like the very embodiment of “toriaezu”, a concept that we want to remove from beer, and one that seems at odds with what we admire so much about Kyoto.

So what kind of beer do we feel we need to make?
 We have been doing secondary fermentation in package – adding a little priming sugar and some yeast for carbonation to happen in bottle/can/keg - for a number of our products for a couple of years now. Almost all, if not all, of traditional Belgian beer uses this technique.

Why? Well, doing so has a number of advantages in our minds.

Not least is the simple element of it leaving less oxygen in the beer, allowing it to last longer. This has the double effect of allowing beer to evolve positively with time, not unlike champagne or wine.

We also saw it as a way to allow some products to become room temperature stable, but without pasteurization. There is a long debate in the beer space about pasteurization which we will not go into now, but we felt that secondary fermentation in package would be the best way to achieve room temperature capability without taking anything away from the beer, and if anything making it a better product, and more authentic to the tradition of Belgian beer.

For over a year now, we have been making some one-off beers only available in Kyoto. These were all approachable beers refermented in package. They were also a way for us to test both the customer reaction and also the suitability of various styles for a longer-term Kyoto-only product.

And so we have created Habakarisan
Walking a difficult line, Habakarisan’s purpose was to be a beer fitting for Kyoto, both in terms of living up to the name, but also to be a beer that one could enjoy with the quality food available in the city. We also wanted it to break barriers, however. Our hope is that this is a beer that is, of course, available in craft beer bars for local beer drinkers and those who travel in from outside to enjoy as a part of their trip to the city. We also hope, however, that it makes it beyond the craft specialised places and into the hands who are entirely new to craft beer. From there, who knows what doors it might open?

We wanted to make a beer that would both be authentically Belgian, authentically KBC, and authentic in representing the name of Kyoto, all while being appealing to both craft beer fans and approachable to those who are relatively new.

The Belgian Wit
 We took one of the most popular Belgian beer styles, the Belgian Wit. Traditionally, this typically light 4.5-5.5% alcohol style, with its light colour and mild haze, offers a soft mouthfeel from the heavy wheat load (“Wit” meaning “wheat”), and allowing the drinker to enjoy the spicy and fruity notes from the yeast. In a very Belgian way, they then traditionally apply adjuncts, namely a touch of coriander seed and orange peel, to amplify these characters, making the beer very characterful in addition to being very light.

To add a local twist, we have substituted these common adjuncts for yuzu and sansho, almost ubiquitous ingredients in Kyoto cuisine, to give it a local connection. To get this right for what we hopes will become a flagship for us within the city, we have tried and tested many elements. Aside from the obvious matter of testing how such a beer will hold up, we have also tested to make sure that our use of these adjuncts is done so in the best way to bring out its character.

Firstly, the “sansho” pepper, procured via “Takimono Ebisu” a traditional producer of chirimen sansho, we tested both fresh and dry sansho extensively before arriving at the conclusion that the dry did a much better job of holding up in beer, and showing off both a touch of its citrus nature but also its more herbal elements that make it so addictive as a culinary ingredient. For the yuzu, we took the carefully peeled zest only – both flesh and pith removed – and avoid the impact of heat on it at all, applying it to the cold side in production only. We are far from the first brewery to have used these adjuncts in a beer, but we are very pleased with the results of our research and testing in terms of how to make the very best of them, and can’t wait to see the reaction.

And what does Habakarisan mean, after all that?
Habakarisan is “otsukaresama” in Kyoto dialect. We like to think that this beer will be one that many will raise a glass to at a Kyoto restaurant. Those visiting the city might choose to grab one to enjoy on their train home. Perhaps a casual beer drinker, unfamiliar with the variety of craft beer, might pick it up in a supermarket and decide to treat themselves after a tough day. And from there, perhaps there might be the small spark and a smile off the back of tasting this. Habakarisan!