"1623." This is the year when Kawasaki was established as a post town on the Edo-Kyoto highway. In other words, this was the birth of the city of Kawasaki. It’s also the name of Tokaido BEER's flagship beer-- an orthodox IPA using a large number of aroma hops, created in the hope of becoming a long-loved taste, just like the rich 400-year history of the city of Kawasaki.
Craft beer doesn't have a concrete definition, but many brewers feel that it is rooted in your community and is an essential aspect of craft beer. Tokaido BEER itself has a strong identity in Kawasaki. The brewery was set up in this area because of the poem Matsuo Bashō wrote at Kawasaki-juku:
"I clutch to the barley ears to support myself as we have to part now." Matsuo Bashō wrote this to his disciples who came to see him off when he left Kawasaki for his hometown of Iga in Mie prefecture. It captures the importance of the widespread wheat fields in Kawasaki at that time. The brewer heard this poem and thought, “from wheat fields to wheat liquor.”
The illuminated fermentation tank that can be seen from the counter is an image of the night view of the factory in this city. Facing the counter is a futuristic portrayal of Hiroshige Utagawa's ukiyo-e painting "Kawasaki-juku" drawn on the wall. Past, present, and future. A single glass of beer connects time flowing through the city.
The brewer of Tokaido BEER used to teach physics at a prep school before his brewing days. He started making beer because, as he said, "I couldn’t find the beer I wanted to drink, so I decided to make it myself." His first brewery Kazakami Brewing astonished the beer industry and attracted attention from all over Japan. A few years after opening Kazakami he got into a traffic accident and considered retiring and closing the brewery. Luckily, fate led him to join and launch Tokaido BEER instead. They continue to produce craft beer unique to Kawasaki, such as "Floating in Black" which name suggests the image of Kawasaki's famous factory night view, and "FRO AGARI YELL" which was developed with the local soccer club Kawasaki Frontale.
There’s a creative side to craft beer brewing and a scientific side. How malt and hops are processed and how yeast ferments the beer solution are all complicated scientific matters, so the brewer at Tokaido BEER has an advantage with his scientific background. Scientific knowledge, particularly physics, is indispensable for beer brewing.
An understanding of physics helps you understand how the solution will change by adding or not adding oxygen to the equation and how the reaction differs depending on whether the reaction happens when beer is done fermenting or when the product is being transferred. It’s all very complicated but simply put, knowledge of physics is very useful in the end.
With knowledge comes ingenuity, and the brewer of Tokaido BEER used that knowledge to introduce new kinds of equipment, previously unheard of at other Japanese breweries. It was a risk to use new tools and equipment, but he wasn’t worried because he knew the science behind it.
Back at Kazakami Brewery, he focused on creating unique beers, but at Tokaido BEER he wanted to compete alongside the traditionalists. When one competes not only in individuality but also in quality, every step is taken into account. “Refinement is a talent in beer brewing.”
