Let's go back three years to 2020.
Okubo and I have an extremely passionate passion for beer, so we were given the opportunity to take advantage of the Monosasu site's "exploratory" system, which allows us to try out different things using the site's budget, and make Monosasu Beer at Hitachino Nest Beer's hand-brewed brewery .
This experience made us even more passionate about beer, so we decided to try our hand at the second Monosasu Beer in 2022. Our passion continued to grow, and we were given the opportunity to make the third in 2023.
We will present a passionate reflection on the insights and lessons gained from this valuable experience in two articles in dialogue format.
Beer made possible by our friends, beer made with our friends
Okubo: One thing we regret about the first project is that the sparging process, which involves pouring hot water, is really difficult, and we didn't have enough people. The first time, we brewed two types of beer with three people, but this time, we brewed two types of beer with six people. With more members, we had more time to brew.
Kojima: This time, we had Kuno-kun and Nozomi-chan join us as part of the film crew, as well as Iino-san, who was in charge of the food that went with the beer.
Having more members means we have more time to carefully observe and think about the process of making wort.
Okubo : It was a great help in deciding the bitterness and choosing the hops.
Kojima : Also, when designing the beer label, we thought it would be easier to visualize it if we worked on it together, so we asked the designer Kikuchi to join us.
At first, a refreshing design proposal was presented, but Mr. Kikuchi himself was not very convinced. "It's not right, give me some time on the weekend!" He said, and after the holiday, he came up with that design! It was like a sudden artistic explosion!
Okubo: That's why it got so much better.
Kojima : Exactly! I think that was born because we had them participate in brewing the beer. It was chaotic, like watching the color change as it boils in the kettle. If you just look at the beer poured into a glass, it's already liquid gold, so I don't think that design would have been born.
Okubo: It makes you think, "It can be this delicious?" The design was made possible by our experience in brewing beer, and it was well received within the company.
This time! In search of the flavor I want to create
Regarding the taste of Kojima Beer, to be honest, we were a little hesitant in the first release, so we made it easy to drink so that everyone could drink it. For the second release, we decided to make it something that we ourselves would want to drink!
Using the recipe data from the first batch as a base, I sniffed a lot of different things in the process of selecting hops. I kept sniffing and sniffing and agonizing until the very last moment when they told me, "We don't have time!"
Ohkubo : Yes, hops are important. That's why you wanted to make it from hops.
Kojima: What should we do? Should we start by growing hops next time?
Do you also grow Okubo wheat?
As I was thinking about making something I could be more satisfied with, I started to think about growing things from scratch, choosing farmers and signing contracts with them, and I realized that that's the direction we go in. The more I want to improve things, the more I think about it.
Kojima: Because this was the second time, they knew what to do at each stage and worked efficiently.
Okubo : It was good from an engineering standpoint, but I had high hopes for the second one to be even more delicious, so my disappointment was high.
Kojima IPA wanted a fuller body or depth of flavor, so I changed the color to a darker amber. I also chose hops that were more IPA-like. The IBU (bitterness index) of the first batch was 50.9, while that of the second batch was 65.7. The Indian Blue Demon is around 55, so I went all out.
The finished beer was unexpectedly smooth. Everyone said it was easy to drink, even though it was an IPA. It certainly was an easy-to-drink, refreshing IPA.
We had imagined it to be a punchier IPA. It didn't have as much punch as we thought it would. We thought that changing the color to amber would give it more body, but it didn't turn out that way. We still haven't figured out why that is.
Up until now, we've only been making beer as an "experience," but for the third project, we decided we wanted to take it further by consulting with a professional.
Casual conversation starts with beer
Kojima : There were some things we had to reflect on in terms of the timing and operation of serving the finished beer for the second batch. We felt like the end-of-year party started without us being able to properly tell everyone what we wanted to say.
We couldn't send it to the satellite offices in Okubo- Kamiyama or Suo-Oshima either.
Kojima: I had to take the lead.
That reminds me, when I became a leader at CF, I created a time called a coder meeting so that coders could communicate with each other. But it's not enough to just create a space. I realized that I needed to encourage people to talk and think about how to use the time and how easy it is to talk. In the same way, when I was running the dormitory, it wasn't enough to just run a space. I realized that I needed to create a mechanism to make the space run smoothly, or to encourage people to talk.
I realized that just brewing beer isn't enough.
But it was great to hear people say things like, "It was delicious!" and "It was easy to drink." I'm glad it was an opportunity for people to know that there's beer that tastes like this! I hope it lets people know that there's a beer out there that suits you. It goes well with food, too. It's fun, really.
Okubo : Continuity is power. Creating a place for people to drink and making delicious beer.
Kojima: It's not like saying "Drink my beer! Drink my beer!", but rather "a place where conversation can flow over beer."
By the way, the other day, I went to drink craft beer with Yamada-san to celebrate after a big hurdle at work, and we had a lot of conversations about this and that. Just having beer around really gets the conversation flowing.
Kojima : I think the amount of chatting has decreased a lot since COVID-19. But I think chatting is like mineral components in the body. Just like the body eats, circulates, and moves the body, the mind communicates, circulates, and moves the mind.
I think people are healthier in an environment where "casual chat" is a part of everyday life like air. I also think that all sorts of things are born from that kind of chat.
I've always had a sense of crisis that I need to be conscious of "casual communication" and incorporate it into my daily life. I can work without it, but if I just have a meeting for a purpose and pursue results, I feel like I'm losing my balance without even realizing it. That's why I think "casual chat" is necessary, or rather, it's actually very important.
But it's not something that can be done just by being told, "Okay, let's chat." At times like that, I thought it would be nice to have something like, "Oh, I made beer!" or "Oh, Iino-san made dinner!"
Okubo: Some conversations also arise from cooking.
Kojima: I hope people realize the importance of talking (exchanging ideas). I personally hope that such opportunities will continue to exist.
If the third installment goes well, taking into account what I've learned so far, I'm already looking forward to what to do next.
Okubo :It would be great if this project goes beyond the scope of research and develops into a new business venture.
Kojima: I've left the web work to everyone else, and as a beer master I've been able to brew in various places. My dreams are expanding!
Having completed the second installment, I reflected on three things that came to mind.
One is,
"Once I've decided to do it, I'll immerse myself in it."
If you can concentrate on that, you can learn and realize much more than you imagined. If you compromise, it will become a point of regret later, and your mind will be filled with that, making it difficult to catch up on the lessons and realizations you had. If you do it thoroughly, you will be stuck in the quagmire, whether the result is good or bad. It will give you plenty of food for the next time, and make you want to brew again! So I vowed to immerse myself in the beer path without wavering.
The second one is,
"Friends are important"
I know I'm saying something like One Piece, but in the second volume, I really felt how important it is. This is also a key point for the third volume. I'll talk about it in more detail in the next article, but it's amazing how the things we can do expand through "multiplication". I'm happy and encouraged, and I'm really grateful. I want to continue to cherish the wonderful friends I've been able to connect with through the bond of beer.
lastly,
"I love beer after all~♡"
Why do I love beer so much? Of course, I love beer as an otaku, but maybe it's because it's a magical drink that allows me to encounter and connect with something.
In the third installment, new challenges arise and the beer brewing process takes an interesting turn.
So, stay tuned for the next article!
KOJIMA Izumi