KAERU BEER — an Anglo-Japanese Writing & Professional Services consultancy that focuses on international Craft Beer & Cider. A trading name of Matsuda Mulville
Breweries & Cideries
Swinkels Circularity Index is determination to make a difference
There is a tendency to overlook what really matters in the food and drinks industry. Social media vilifies organisations for business manoeuvrings that leave consumers with a bad taste (no pun intended), and yet, peel away the layers and it is surprising which organisations are …
Grade A Cider Trustmark: independence, quality and traceability guaranteed
Strict wine laws exist to protect producers and consumers, to regulate the industry and combat fraudulent fruit juice or noxious substance adulteration. People enjoying wine expect to taste an artisan’s skill with fresh pressed grapes. Shoppers choose between fresh fruit-juice or concentrate, and the alcoholic …
Dijk Cider: drink local, drink natural, drink sustainable
Despite lacking craft beer’s trendiness, Dutch artisanal cider’s mass appeal continues to attract fans to the all-natural ingredients and traditional production methods. Cidermaking’s history pre-dates brewing, and today’s drinkers recognise why ancient cultures found it refreshing. No one expected a renewed, determined focus on regional …
Forgotten Apples remember Fearful Dogs
Johan Holleman acquired his first apple tree in 2009, a gift from a neighbour whose dogs refused to share the garden with it. It produced so many apples that by 2014 he did not know what to do. Eating them or baking pies could not …
Crises innovate a virtual beer industry
A Virtual Brewgaloo supplementing a physical event later in the year is a wonderful idea. Everybody needs cultural focus and social togetherness at this critical time. It’s a great opportunity. Introducing North Carolina and NC Beer to a much wider audience, national and global: North …
Miroc Beer’s Marugame taproom reinforces Shikoku craft beer benchmark
Industry- and process-focused commentators entrust beer critique to taste experts. But everybody values well-rounded beer. Discovering a skilful malt and hops balance is joyous. And so, Marugame’s Miroc Beer ranks among the area’s high-profile craft beer breweries. It deserves its position. The Miroc Beer taproom’s …
Skilfully caught in Crooked Spider’s tasty, flavoursome web
(Originally published 29 March 2018) A brewer’s Process & Food Technology background delivers indispensable insight. The eponymous arachnid’s insight recommended it avoid tumbling into nascent breweries’ test brews. Brewer Niels Beekhuizen offers assurance: no trace of spider remained in the brew. The poor arthropod trudged …
Magnificent seven to dominate at triumphant celebratory Van Moll Fest
Either wait twenty years to celebrate Van Moll Fest’s Silver Anniversary or congratulate Van Moll now on its festival’s Wooden Anniversary. Five years of success. Let’s extrapolate the success of Van Moll Fest 2039 from its triumphs and reputation gained over the past four years. …
Do you desire Walhalla’s divine nectar of gods at BXLBeerFest?
A heavenly brewery from the Netherlands makes its debut Belgian festival appearance at the end of August. Walhalla Craft Beer is among Amsterdam’s foremost independent craft beer breweries. The Valkyries have selected well. The angelic taste of celestial beer is not only reserved for afterlife …
Barcelona’s 20/20 vision is the Cerveses Almogàver Taproom
Barcelona’s latest brewery taproom is taking shape in the Sant Martí district of the city centre. The Cerveses Almogàver Taproom will open in early 2020. Its location a few stops from Sagrada Família on the L2 Metro will attract locals and beer tourists alike. They …
The Bräugier Craftbier Brewpub enhances the Berlin Craft Beer scene
About The Bräugier Craftbier Brewpub A few steps from Prenzlauer Allee in Berlin’s vibrant Prenzlauer Berg neighbourhood is the Bräugier Craftbier Brewpub. With 12-taps, this recent addition to the Berlin Craft Beer scene is making a big impression. The brauhaus tucked behind the taproom produces …
Worshipping the Holy Spiritus of brewing, distilling and events
100% pure ciders, meads, distilled beverages and liqueurs, all traditionally brewed in a church. It’s not a common thing to hear. And yet, the Holy Spiritus in Sint Jansteen, Zeeland, is a brewery, distillery and events location that is open to individuals and trade. The …
Getting to know: Dennison’s Craft Drinks Sas
Travel a few minutes north from the northern Italian city of Reggio Emilia and you’ll find English Taste and Italian Passion at Dennison’s. A small brewery and drinks production facility with big flavours and an even greater amount of artisanal desire to produce classic Craft …
Europe welcomes Australian sour: Farm Ale & Cider and Wild Ales
It is 10,500 miles from Tasmania to Italy. And yet, for the love of farmhouse ales, cider, mixed and wild fermentation, Tasmania’s Two Metre Tall is pleased to be making the mammoth and monumental journey to participate in Reggio Emilia’s Arrogant Sour Festival. With 500 miles …
North Brabant celebrates the unforgettable apple
Biezenmortel’s De Vergeten Appel has an extensive appeal. Firstly, there are the cider fanatics who not only relish Dutch artisanal cider for its quality, but also cherish traditional production methods used from time immemorial — the cider-making process remains unchanged over many hundreds of years. …
Getting to know: Tibidabo Brewing
L’Hospitalet de Llobregat — known locally as simply L’Hospitalet — is the Catalan municipality immediately southwest of Barcelona that plays host to the annual Barcelona Beer Festival, attracting many thousands of visitors each year who are keen to try some of the finest local, national …
Visually appealing design sells Craft Beer to the unacquainted
In today’s crowded market an ever-increasing number of start-up Craft Beer breweries compete for finite consumer expenditure. Shelf-space is finite, too. How a Craft Beer sells itself visually in a supermarket or bottle-shop is vital to success. A Craft Beer that demonstrates it understands branding …
Getting to know: Old Dairy Brewery
A clue to its history and roots lies in its name. It’s not too challenging: Old Dairy Brewery was founded in 2009 at a former facility for milking dairy cows in Kent, an English county known to beer-lovers across the globe for its world-class hops. …
Celebrate Craft Beer’s Ruby Anniversary with the Tar Heel State’s Finest
Which event celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2019? Which monumental occasion kickstarted a Craft Beer revolution? Before this milestone the world of beer was very different. Imagine it. A handful of breweries . A small number of beer styles. A tiny fraction of the choice …
So, what exactly is Glühbier?
What is more heart-warming than a tipple of Glühwein at a traditional Christmas Market? We all overindulge in delicious red wine, heated and mixed with fruits, sugars and spices. There is nothing better on a cold winter’s day. Or so it seems. We’re familiar with …
オランダのビール業界が大騒ぎします
オランダのビール業界が大騒ぎします! Oproer Brouwerij のバーレィワインとインペリアル・オートミールスタウトを頂きました。 このバーレィワインは凄くノミクチがよい! バーレィワインに多い独特のアルコール感が余り感じられず(だからスイスイイケます)、思わず本当にこれはバーレィワインか？と思ってしまうぐらいです。 先日彼らのビアカフェ兼レストランへお邪魔させて頂きましたが、全オーガニックのローカル食材を使ったヴィーガンフードを提供していて、とっても魅力的でクリエイティブな料理が味わえますよ！
Getting to know: First Flight Island Restaurant & Brewery
Why did the chicken cross the road? To get to the Southernmost Brewery of course. In fact wherever you are in Key West there are feral chickens (and iguanas) crossing roads to get to all sorts of things. First Flight is tucked away down a …
Rebalancing power in favour of independent business
The march of capitalism is incessant. Many countries that tried to halt and reverse its progress were devastated by a crippled economy as the large-scale social-experimentations in achieving parity and fairness dramatically failed. Throughout the socioeconomic growth and collapse in these lands, however, the top-level …
Tiny Rebel and CAMRA at impasse over KeyKeg
It is disappointing to read James Beeson’s article in The Morning Advertiser concerning how CAMRA has handled Tiny Rebel’s decision to use only KeyKeg on its brewery bar at this year’s Great British Beer Festival. CAMRA’s questioning of KeyKeg’s reliability seems unfounded because we have …
Latest popular hotel amenity: a brewery
It seems the latest boom area for craft beer is luxury hotels attracting guests with in-house breweries on-site. But it’s certainly nothing new. Long before the jet-age or advent of the internal combustion engine—when the most luxurious form of travel was literally several horse-power with …
Getting to know: Ignition Brewery — brewing with a social awareness
South London’s Ignition Brewery is a craft beer brewery with a difference. Whilst its Pale Ales and Porter are high-quality products — popular in the area’s pubs, bars, cafés and restaurants — it is Ignition Brewery’s social innovation and practical contribution to the local community …
A big drop in alcohol does not mean a big drop in taste
Ipswich in the UK is the home of Big Drop Brewing Co., which focuses on modern craft beer of no more than 0.5% ABV. “To drink. Not to be drunk” it says on the label, although we’ve not drunk a beer virtually free of alcohol …
Getting to know: Brouwerij 5Hoog
No, it’s not a high-five greeting. Nor is it Shoog in leetspeak (aka 1337speak). It’s a reference to the brewery’s lofty beginning as a group of fanatical beer-loving friends on the fifth floor, a level from which Thom, Sven, Patrick and Nick have rarely had …
The Great British Non-Alcohol Beer Festival
Changes are indeed afoot at CAMRA, yet this is perhaps not the momentous shift in policy and wider beer or cider inclusion that many CAMRA members recently voted for (and some voted against). Welcoming non-alcohol beer to its Great British Beer Festival is a great …
Contract brewing: a great complement to brick-and-mortar breweries
Here’s something of a hot potato. A storm is brewing (no pun intended) in the world of Craft Beer. In Canada, at least, there are debates happening over the pros and cons of contract brewing, otherwise known as gypsy brewing or, in this case, ‘virtual …
Getting to know: CiderLab
(This is my translation from Dutch of Mark van der Veek’s own words, to which I have added plenty of artistic licence!) Until he discovered cider, Mark struggled to find a refreshing alternative to beer that was not high in alcohol. As a non-beer drinker, …
Getting to know: Schneeeule Brauerei GmbH
Anti-mimesis is a philosophical idea that Life imitates Art. Bubo Scandiacus (the snowy owl, schneeeule, or sneeuwuil) is one example of a vulnerable species (life) that, once extinct, cannot be imitated. The original Berliner Weisse is a beer style (art) that was just about extinct …
Getting to know: Rock City Brewing
Rock City. It’s a nomenclature claimed by cities and regions across the world for their natural landforms, geological formations, or love of loud guitars. The Dutch city of Amersfoort earns its nickname of ‘Keistad’ — literally translated as ‘Boulder City’ — from the 20,000 …
Getting to know: House of Pint
A book should never be judged by its cover, according to the idiom that tells us how unwise it is to form opinions and make assessments without firstly taking a look inside. The merits of a brewery, therefore, should not be based on its size, …
Getting to know: Stapzwan
The literal translation of the motto adopted by Utrecht’s Stapzwan brewery is “discovering, connecting and enjoying”, and since brewers Vincent Stap and Jeroen van der Zwan are childhood friends who have spent over 10-years travelling together on their beer journey, it’s safe to assume the …
Getting to know: Brouwerij Pronck
Brouwerij Pronck is fiercely proud to be a brewery in the historic Dutch city of Leiden, a city known the world over for its university. Leiden has been the home of Brouwerij Pronck since it was founded there in 2014, and the brewery shows its …
A coolship: science-fact, not science-fiction
To the uninitiated, the word ‘coolship’ — an anglicisation of the Dutch ‘koelschip’ — may be seen in one’s mind’s eye as a seagoing vessel transporting ice, a leisurely vehicle for transporting Happy Days’ Arthur Fonzarelli, or something generically CGI and sci-fi from the …
Getting to know: Excosa Brouwerij
Excosa Brouwerij is popular. When the brewery makes a public appearance, passionate brewers Nico Landheer and Jan van Trooyen take central position amid the commotion. Their bar at a beer festival is abuzz, and it can be something of a challenge to negotiate the thronging …
(Briefly) Getting to know: Haymarket Brewing
Kaeru Beer would like to thank Frank Shepard from Haymarket Brewing — a long-established brewery and brewpub located in Chicago and Bridgman, MI — for the beers and chat a few weeks ago at Beermiscuous. Haymarket Brewing focuses primarily on European styles, particularly Belgian, but …
CANarchy in the USA
There’s strength in numbers. It’s proven. One brewery working with another creates a stronger bond. Many breweries collaborate with another brewery on beers, brewing and events, for example. Some breweries are acquired, and others merge to create a larger parent brewery. For whatever reason …
Post-hardcore beers from Deftones
How did Belching Beaver Brewery become the official brewer for everybody’s favourite post-hardcore band, Deftones? Kaeru Beer visited the brewery’s North Park Tasting Room to find out. Being avid fans of the Grammy Award winning metal titans, Belching Beaver Brewery heard rumours that the band …
How to build a Foeder
Outside Benelux, Foeders are a rarity. Most people don’t even know what they are. They could be described as extra-large barrels used in the production of sour beers, for example. What is important, however, are the properties of a Foeder. Their size is important …
The art of south-London’s bees
It is a rare occurrence to taste something that is wholly unique. It is even rarer to taste something that’s wholly unique and tastes delicious. Finding the latter to be astonishingly drinkable and something of an undiscovered marvel is almost unheard of. Today is that …
Getting to know: BE+ER
It’s very easy to have a love/hate relationship with BE+ER, but for a very positive reason in both cases. It’s very easy to fall in love with the beers, which themselves are meticulously brewed with a deep love and passion; it’s also very easy to …
Getting to know: Bird Brewery
Self-confessed twitchers Ralph van Bemmel and Rik van den Berg swooped onto the Dutch beer scene a couple of years ago, bright-eyed, bushy-tailed and with an exuberant enthusiasm and gusto that has allowed the goldcrest (Ralph) and the bearded reedling (Rik) to firmly established Bird …
How does Founders Brewing Co. find itself in Europe
If you suspected Founders Brewing Co. appeared at European beer festivals simply because they enjoyed a jolly European jaunt, you’d only be partly correct. What you’re drinking is certainly from Grand Rapids, MI, but what’s happening behind the taps is a very Spanish affair. …
Getting to know: HappyFace Beers
The flags are resolute in making a declaration. Badass Brewing! Badass the brewing may be, and the beers may be fuelled by megawatts of power, but there’s little attitude suggestive of a badass in all-round nice-guy, Rob Zwaan, brewer at HappyFace Beers. Standing literally …
Getting to know: Neobosski
Wicked! Swearing! Smokin’! Fireball! Bomb! All terrifying words to describe terrific beers brewed by the terribly congenial Jeroen van Beek and Erik de Bos from Utrecht’s Neobosski Brewing Company, close friends whose relationship straddles that fine line between genius and mad (beer) scientist. Being …
What is the definition of a Craft Beer Brewer?
“Craft”. It’s an interesting word that we regularly use as beer-lovers, but it’s an unregulated word. Much like “Artisanal”. I could produce a beer in my garden shed and call it an Artisanal Craft Beer — nobody would argue with that description. A huge …