Advent Beer Calendar 2020: Day 14: Shonan Beer Merry Xmas

December 14, 2020 By Jon Abernathy | Filed in Beer Advent Calendar, Beers

Today’s Advent beer selection comes from Japan and Shonan Beer, which is the beermaking division of sake brewer Kumazawa Brewing, located in Chigasaki in the Kanagawa Prefecture. Shonan is about one hour from Tokyo, and takes its name from the region which is known for surfing; established in 1996, the brewery arm initially focused on German-style lagers, and now offers a full lineup across a variety of styles. For Christmas, Shonan offers a variant of its Schwartz in its seasonal Merry Xmas.

Bottom fermented beer originated in the Bavarian region, which means “black” in German. It features the aroma of roasted malt and a refreshing taste.
2008 World Beer Cup German Black Beer Category Gold Award

I reached out to Shonan for more information about the beer, and received a reply from brewer Shunsuke Wakatabe about the beer and his role with the brewery.

I have been brewer at Shonan Beer since 2019. Before I became a brewer, I worked as a Japanese cuisine chef in Australia and Canada, and at a French restaurant in Japan. These experiences were good chance for building up my career. Encountering an Australian beer was the biggest impression on me. I dreamed of brewing beer and decided to change my career to become a brewer. My goal is brewing beer that goes well with Japanese food.

This is my favorite beer I have ever brewed. The beer style is Schwarz by German brewing methods that have been used since our company’s inception. It received the World Beer Cup award three times.

We use carefully selected roasted malt to control the tannins which adds aromatics, and is full of flavor and smooth. This beer is blended and well balanced with several types of hops from NZ and EU in order to control the bitter taste. When mashing, we perform two protein rests and two saccharification steps. These take a long time to brew but we follow each step carefully.

(Merry Xmas) is a great combination with Japanese food especially yakitori and Japanese sweets. Brewing Xmas beer is a fun part of my job.