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Biru Sake Kasu ~ Nashi & Shincha Tea 

Biru is a pale sour beer fermented on 100% Sake Kasu (lees) and finished with Hazeldean Forest Farm Nashi pears & Australian grown Two Rivers Shincha Tea. Bracingly sour with deep umami notes, mellow pear and fresh bright herbaceous green tea highlights 

Our Artist Joe and we share a love of Japan bordering on obsession, Joe spent a year living there in 18/19 and when we explained this beer to him he instantly came up with the idea of the Tottori Prefecture. Nashi pears are the speciality of Tottori and are grown in the prefecture, which is also known for its Sand Dunes. The Tottori Sand Dunes are Japan’s largest sand dunes running 16 km on the coast of Sea of Japan in Tottori City, the highest point of the sand dunes goes up to 50 m high and are up to 2 km wide. 

Shincha Tea from Two Rivers Green tea

We fell in love with Two Rivers Green Tea a few years ago when we used it in our First Harvest Grisette back in 2016, Two Rivers green tea in Acheron Valley on the Goulburn River chosen for it’s ideal growing environment for the Camellia sinensis plant – or otherwise known as the ‘tea plant’. 

Northeast Victoria was targeted because it’s on the same latitude in the southern hemisphere as Japan’s premium green tea growing Shizuoka Prefecture is in the north.

Two Rivers took the finest green tea plants from Japan and nurtured them from small cuttings to established thirty acre tea plantation that for a period of 12 years was grown exclusively for the Japanese Tea Market, now available in Australia! The first flush of leaf in spring is made into Shincha meaning “new tea” in Japanese. It is a premium tea and the most sought after in Japan.  Winter is a time for the plant to replenish its reserves in readiness for the spring flush of leaf. This first flush is lush and packed with nutrients that have built up during winter creating a more intense tea, with a smooth sweet finish. We also use it for our Jun Tea at home and now cannot possible have any other tea! 

Kasu From The Fermentrary 

We’re LOVE LOVE LOVE Sharon from the Fermentory! We have been collaborating on the Biru beers for 3 years now, using Sake Lees known as Kasu which is the leftover mash after pressing to extract Sake (following fermentation). The kasu is raw, and filled with lots of nutrients including proteins, vitamin B, fiber, and yeasts. Each time we have received a batch it has been from different Sake breweries in Japan, each has preformed uniquely and is a god damn roller coaster, but we have learnt to let the Kasu do it’s thing and submit to the journey! The Kasu itself is a umami bomb, like a beautiful aged Parmesan and can be used for baking breads, cakes, vegan cheese, crackers, drinks, soups, face masks and as a pickling bed! 
 

Nashi from The Hazeldean forest farm 

We have been getting a variety of fruit from Marg & Jason Alexandra at Hazeldean Forest Farm for a number of years now a beautiful property, nestled into the gentle rolling hills at the northern base of the Strzelecki Ranges, in West Gippsland, their farm is brimming with life and diversity, and is the happiest packing shed we have ever seen! Marg & Jason planted an extensive orchard between 1988 and 1992, and have been certified organic for over 30 years. Now fully matured, there are variety collections of chestnuts, walnuts, persimmons, peaches, nashi’s & plums. There are also over 30 varieties of apples, including heritage and cider varieties.  We usually take all their second quality nashi pears around 300 kilo for this batch, this year was our second attempt of doing this beer, we lost the first lot to a turned off freezer but this year the stars aligned and it went directly into the fermenter!