Now that things are starting to wind down at work and I’ve brewed my last brew before the big move, I’m able to think on the progress that I’ve made over the past 18 months or so on my quest to become a small batch craft beer brewer in rural Japan..

What a wild ride it has been trying to fast-track the usually slow-paces and natural learning curve that homebrewers go through as hobbyists.. During the 29 brew days I squeezed in, I have made mistakes a-plenty and there will certainly be more going forward, but I have also made tremendous progress..

On tap I have two original recipe beers and a third is fermenting.. as an enthusiastic amateur cook that astonishes me (way more than it should). I still cook largely from recipes albeit I may throw my own spin on a dish or play about with ingredients.. and sure, beer is, on paper, relatively straightforward.. but yeast and bacteria are wee divils who like spanner throwing .. the two beers that I have on tap, I could easily envisage pouring in my future breweries tap room with only minor adjustments as well as versions incorporating tea.. the quality astounds me, but that feeds back into the simplicity of beer-making, whilst I’ve put thought and love into my brews, I can only initiate the alchemy..

I am beyond excited to hopefully turn this into a modest, wee, local, sustainable, rural lifestyle and that the hard work of the past few years finds its feet in Japan.