The Kirin Yokohama Brewery is one of nine across the nation. We visited the site of the original brewery location before that (a memorial stands there now), then did our brewery tour at the current brewery.
There, we met the Brewery Manager and Brewmaster, who are responsible for the quality of the product. We learned how Kirin Ichiban beer is made. The interactive displays are very useful and helped laymen like me, understand the process. The biggest takeaway for me was that Kirin uses only the first press of the wort. Brew Master Mao-san explained that there is no second press, and the wort is sold as animal wort after the first press.
This first press process is what gives the Kirin Ichiban its crisp flavour. It costs more to do it this way but it makes for some fine beer. Which we tasted at the tasting area. Our tour guide also showed us the triple pour method, to ensure you get the best out of a poured beer. When you do the triple pour method, the head at the end of the pour is so thick, it doesn't fall off even if you tilt the glass.
We also visited the Spring Valley Brewery (SVB) next to the Yokohama Kirin Brewery. Here, Kirin makes craft beers by mixing different hops and ingredients into the beer. Very hipster stuff.
We had a pairing set of craft beers. I liked the Afterdark one, paired with chocolate, the most.
Needless to say, every meal we ate on this trip was washed down with plenty of Kirin Ichiban. Shiok!
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