My visit to the brewery in Nihonbashi, a commercial district in Tokyo

26 Aug 2020

As I mentioned before in this article, CRAFTROCK BREWPUB & LIVE has plenty of authentic beer for a joyful time. We asked a brewer Mr. Suzuki, who is brewing craft beer in the brewery attached to the store, to take us through the beer making process.

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Photo gallery [8 images]

Mr. Suzuki’s beer brewing method

1. Think about the beer recipe he wants to make and choose the ingredients
2. Crush the malt
3. Prepare
4. Ferment
5. Store the alcohol

1. Think about the beer recipe he wants to make and choose the ingredients

First of all, I’ve been escorted to the warehouse with raw ingredients stored.
After deciding what kind of beer he would like to make, Mr. Suzuki selected ingredients like malt, according to its recipe.
The malt used here is mainly from England and Germany, sometimes from Belgium and the United States. The brewery works with around 9 malt manufacturers.

I could actually taste it, and the taste and color vary depending on the malt.

2. Crush the malt

This machine grinds the selected malt. Make sure you crush it carefully, because if you make the husk too small, it will affect the brewing later.

3. Prepare

After crushing the malt, make wort from the malt.
Using this machine, add hot water to the crushed malt and mix. This process enables enzymes to convert the starch in the malt into sugars. The malt mixed with hot water is rinsed off to keep it clean and prevent odd flavors. If you don’t make the husk too small during the second step, it will make this process easier. For small parts that cannot be processed with the machine, use this scoop to stir manually.
Then get back the filtered wort and yeast together, add hops and boil for about 1 hour.
*Yeast is a bacteria that can convert sugars straight to the alcohol and carbon dioxide.

After that, this device called whirlpool removes hop debris by centrifuge method. The temperature of the cleaned wort is reduced from 100 to around 20 degrees.

4. Ferment

Then, transfer the cooled wort to the fermentation tank and ferment it. Leave it to ferment for a week and then add hops for the aroma.

5. Store the alcohol

Remove hops and debris and move it to the storage tank. Fill the tank with carbonic acid to complete the process.

In CRAFTROCK BREW PUB & LIVE, the tank (serving tank) can be observed by the customers and plays the same role as a storage tank. After fermentation, the beer is dispensed into your glass super-fresh and extremely delicious. Check in the menu which beer is fresh-served directly from the tank.

Summary

This new brewery was founded at the end of September 2019. Most of the beer offered in the store is made by the built-in brewery, and the fresh-served beer is provided only in this store. During events such as Fuji Rock, they do catering.

If you gain an understanding of the brewing process, you will appreciate your drinks even more! At CRAFTROCK BREWPUB & LIVE, you can enjoy authentic craft beer in the middle of Tokyo’s commercial district. Go and check by yourself!

About the brewer

Ryo Suzuki (33) / CRAFTROCK Head of Brewing

After graduating from the Faculty of International Relations, Shizuoka Prefectural University, he worked for two years in Tokyo. He became a brewer after working as a pub staff and store manager of Kanda store, when the first store of DevilCraft was opened in 2011. Ryo Suzuki retired at the end of March 2019, and has been in his current position since mid-June. He has visited more than 500 breweries in 15 countries around the world

*Click here for a detailed introduction of CRAFTROCK Brew Pub & Live

Photo gallery [8 images]