Why Garyu Brewing Doesn't Chase Trends

Located in Ozu, Ehime, Garyu Brewing is a craft brewery that prizes the fundamentals far more than fleeting trends or flashy marketing. Temperature control, ingredient management, recipe design—by meticulously focusing on each of these elements, they've earned high acclaim at competitions both at home and abroad. At the International Beer Cup, one of the world's five major beer competitions held in Japan, they've won awards for two different beers for three consecutive years, starting in 2023, just their second year in operation. In total, six of their beers have clinched gold medals in their respective style categories. For a small, regional brewery, this track record is nothing short of exceptional.

So, what's the brewing philosophy behind their success? What we heard from the team on the ground was a surprisingly straightforward and pragmatic approach to making beer.

At Garyu Brewing, new beers are rarely born from a sudden flash of inspiration. The process starts with a blueprint: defining the beer style and the target flavor profile.

They consult overseas recipe sites and existing styles to map out the malt composition, color, alcohol content, and aroma profile. On top of that, they also envision the drinking scenario: who their target audience is, whether the beer will be paired with food, or enjoyed by itself.

They prioritize the question, \"How will this beer be enjoyed?\" over, \"Is this a beer we want to make?\". This order of operations perfectly captures Garyu Brewing's design philosophy.

When entering competitions, a brewer can't deviate too far from the style guidelines. But the goal isn't simply to create a textbook replica. It’s about understanding the standards and then seeing how much you can perfect the recipe and express your own character within that framework.

For Garyu Brewing, their "own style"—a pun on their name, *Garyu*—isn't about breaking the mold, but mastering it.

On the brewery floor, their meticulous approach to temperature and data is striking. The temperature of the strike water (the hot water mixed with malt) is precisely calculated in advance, factoring in the day's ambient temperature and the condition of the stored malt.

For instance, when brewing a classic ale with a single-infusion mash, even if the target mash temperature (where enzymes convert starch to sugar) is 68°C, they don't start with 68°C water. Anticipating the temperature drop from the malt itself, they preheat the water to around 75°C. Skipping this adjustment would cause the mash temperature to fluctuate, affecting protein levels and sugar conversion, which ultimately changes the beer's final flavor.

The same rigor applies to ingredient management. Malt is kept in a climate-controlled environment to minimize the impact of external temperatures, and they avoid long-term storage. To ensure freshness, they place small, frequent orders that align with their brewing schedule.

During fermentation, each yeast strain has an ideal temperature range, which they carefully manage. If fermentation stalls, they don't just guess—they make micro-adjustments to the temperature and monitor the results. Instead of relying on gut feelings or experience alone, they make decisions based on hard data. This discipline is what gives every batch its consistency.

At Garyu Brewing, the first batch of a new beer is never considered the "final version." No matter how detailed the initial blueprint, the first brew rarely tastes exactly as planned.

Fermentation involves a living organism, so even with an identical recipe, the outcome can change with the seasons, the condition of the ingredients, humidity, and ambient temperature. Because of this, their process is built on the assumption that they will brew, taste, and then make a series of micro-adjustments.

This might mean changing a malt ratio by a few percentage points or tweaking the timing and amount of hop additions. By layering these small changes, they gradually zero in on the target flavor. It's not unusual for a recipe to go through several iterations before it's considered complete. But they say they never cut corners or compromise during the process.

\"Instead of aiming for perfection from the start, you get a better beer in the end by meticulously refining the process.\"

Of course, things don't always go according to plan. We've had instances of fermentation issues or poor compatibility with adjuncts, forcing us to make the tough call to dump a batch.

"We brew about 50 to 60 batches a year, and in the four years since we opened, we've only had to dump two batches—both in our first year. But I remember those two times vividly."

Dumping a batch is a huge blow, both financially and emotionally. Even so, we'd rather not force a release. Instead, we prioritize reflecting on the cause and learning from it for the next brew. Was it a misjudgment at a certain stage? Was it an issue with temperature control? Or maybe the pre-processing of an adjunct?

We examine every single detail and apply what we've learned to the next batch. This cumulative process is what elevates our overall quality. Since we're not a mass-production brewery, we have to be dedicated to genuinely confronting the outcome of every single brew.

At Garyu Brewing, it's not just about the brewer's assessment. At events and our taproom, we directly observe how people react to our beer. While hearing someone say "This is delicious" is great, what we pay even closer attention to is how quickly their glass is emptying. Some glasses are empty in a flash, while others, despite positive comments, are barely being touched.

In one instance, we completely overhauled a pale ale recipe based on how quickly a group of female customers were (or weren't) finishing it. We tweaked the bitterness and the lingering aftertaste, shifting its direction to be more of an easy-drinking, everyday beer. A drinker's silent feedback can sometimes be more honest than any verbal review. By picking up on these unspoken cues and incorporating them into our recipes, the beer gets one step closer to perfection.

There are no shortcuts in Garyu Brewing's process. We stick to the fundamentals, check our numbers, embrace our mistakes, and listen intently to drinker feedback. Our commitment to mastering these seemingly ordinary steps is what ultimately earns us recognition. We choose reliability over flashiness. Every glass of Garyu Brewing beer is a quiet testament to this sincere, cumulative effort.