EXPLORATION BREWER INTERVIEW -Bright Side of the Moon-

Kelley: Hi, I’m Kelley. I grew up in Tampa, FL, and graduated with a BA in Japanese from the University of Florida, though I came from a computer science background. My love for craft beer began while I still lived in the US, which led me to work in a craft beer specialty bar with 62 taps and over 500 different bottled beers. From there my interest in fermentation and desire to brew beer blossomed, though I wouldn’t have the opportunity to do so until much later.

I came to Japan on the JET Programme in 2014 as an ALT and was fortunate to be placed in Kyoto-shi. After 3 years on the program, I spent a wonderful 4 years at a sake brewery in Tamba making sake and doing export and international sales. It was also during this time that I started working part time for KBC in the taproom (2017).

As much as I loved my job, I wanted to move back to Kyoto, so I transferred to a sake brewery in Fushimi for 2 years. I joined KBC full time in April of last year (so am still new and learning a lot) but am thrilled to have the opportunity to design my own beer!

Kelley: I decided on a White Stout, a relatively unknown and somewhat controversial style, as stouts have become synonymous with dark beer. Having only tried a white stout once 10 years ago, I wanted to challenge myself to make one and create the flavor profiles that I love so much about stouts without relying too heavily on specialty malts and creating a dark color. I also welcomed the opportunity to collaborate with a local coffee roaster, Kurasu, with the addition of their summer seasonal Natsu Ake coffee. I want to surprise people in a good way when they try this beer.

Kelley: Originally, "stout" was simply used to denote beer higher in ABV, gravity, or bold in flavor. Porters, dark beers from England, had variable ABVs, and the heaviest and strongest of these were called stout porters. Porters and their heavier stout cousins were immensely popular, and eventually the meaning of stout in its relation to beer evolved to its own separate style of dark beer. White stout as a style reclaims the original meaning. As a summer release, I decided to keep the ABV at a more drinkable 5.5%, so it isn't necessarily strong, but I am confident that it achieves bold flavor!

Kelley: My first love with craft beer was stouts, so I wanted to revisit that and brew something that has never been made before at KBC. That led me to the White Stout – I wanted to bring the mouthfeel and roasted coffee/chocolate notes that I love from stouts without the dark color normally associated with them. After sampling some of their coffees I thought this one would go well with the beer, not too much acidity but had a good flavor. I wanted to stay with a medium roast to avoid transferring too much color to the beer.

Kelley: Stouts, being synonymous with dark malts, are typically black in color. With this being a light colored beer, and therefore outside of people's typical expectation, I went for Bright Side of the Moon, in reference to a famous Pink Floyd album. With Dark Side of the Moon being the original name, the idea was to play on the expectation of dark, with the color actually being light. As for the Japanese version of the name, Dark Side of the Moon in Japan was called "Kyoki" (狂気), or "insanity". For the Japanese name, therefore, we went for "Shiroi Kyoki" (白い狂気) or "White Madness" as a somewhat literal translation.

Kelley:I don't know if it has fully hit me yet, but it's very exciting. I'm thrilled that my beer will reach so many people, I want as many people to enjoy it as possible. If I saw someone order it in a bar and they seemed open to conversation, I'd ask them how they were enjoying it and answer any questions they had. I also hope to show people another facet of what is possible within the realm of stouts, and inspire people to try ordering them more often.

　

While lots of craft beer fans like an occasional stout, darker beers are usually harder to sell in volume. On the flip side, real stout fans are out there, and they'll happily drink pint after pint of them. Hopefully this lighter stout will be making its way into the glasses of stout fans as well.

　

Kelley has made a habit of breaking preconceived notions in her path to being a brewer of sake, and then craft beer. It feels fitting that she went for a beer that breaks preconceptions of both style and appearance. A fitting beer for our series of exploration. Cheers!