Brewing Master

Question:

My wife and I thought we’d give my father-in-law a nice gift.  He’s a Korean War vet and is wanting the same kind of beer they used to drink in 1950 in Korea.  He says it was Japanese and was brewed with rice.  He says he drinks Budweiser nowadays since it’s as close as he can get to that original flavor. Are there any extract or partial recipe ideas for this… or at least recommendations on a style?  I thought I’d ask in case the "modern" Japanese brands aren’t very accurate. Thanks! JJM

Response:

I aslo spent some time in Japan while in the service but during the 80’s. There are a few brands available most notably Asahi or Saporo, but in the 80’s the Japanese also started to develop dry beers.  These are beers that dont have any after taste or malty flavor.  Now whether or not these compare to the beers of the 50’s I cant say.  You could try making your own recipes and substitute some if not most of the grain for rice.  Never really thought about it though. Good luck.

– Hide quoted text — Show quoted text – My wife and I thought we’d give my father-in-law a nice gift.  He’s a Korean War vet and is wanting the same kind of beer they used to drink in 1950 in Korea.  He says it was Japanese and was brewed with rice.  He says he drinks Budweiser nowadays since it’s as close as he can get to that original flavor. Are there any extract or partial recipe ideas for this… or at least recommendations on a style?  I thought I’d ask in case the "modern" Japanese brands aren’t very accurate. Thanks! JJM

Response:

I aslo spent some time in Japan while in the service but during the 80’s. There are a few brands available most notably Asahi or Saporo, but in the 80’s the Japanese also started to develop dry beers.  These are beers that dont have any after taste or malty flavor.  Now whether or not these compare to the beers of the 50’s I cant say.  You could try making your own recipes and substitute some if not most of the grain for rice.  Never really thought about it though.

Thanks for your thoughts!  I’ve found incredibly little on Japanese beer recipes on the web and in newsgroup archives, even for Asahi and Kirin, so I’ve devised the following recipe.  I’m assuming this is post-WWII Japan where barley would be too expensive to use liberally in cheap beers. 3# light DME 2# rice syrup 1/2# dark brown sugar 2 oz Saaz [bittering] 1 oz Saaz [flavor] OG=1.045 FG=1.010 SRM=6.49 IBU=27.7 ABV=4.6% JJM

Response: