Buckwheat Brown Ale
Minami Aizu Brewing Company, Ltd

"We developed Buckwheat Brown Ale at the request of the Yamagataya in Ouchi Juku, Fukushima prefecture. Yamagataya is famous for its buckwheat noodle dishes prepared with buckwheat knowhow perfected over more than ten generations, and the proprietor decided the time was right to introduce a brew based on the same Tateiwa buckwheat they use in their noodles. Buckwheat is a commonly-used brewing material in Eastern Europe and Russia where the cold, inhospitable climate produces little barley. Conditions are similar in Minami Aizu and Tateiwa turns out the best buckwheat in the country. In the first instance, this brew is a top-fermented ale made brown by our choice of toffee, caramel-flavored malts that we believe compliment the buckwheat flavor. Secondly, this brew's signature feature is the use of raw buckwheat at the mashing level. The market is crowded with buckwheat brews that use processed flakes or syrup imported from North America to simplify brewing but we believe our contribution to the art is the use of buckwheat at the mashing level with high-enzye malts to convert the buckwheat to fermentable materials. This ale should be consumed at about 12 to 14°C to taste the subtle hop and malt flavors. Buckwheat Brown starts at a specific gravity of 1.060 and finishes at about 1.010 with an alcohol content of about 5% by volume (ABV)."