Microbrew arrives in time for sakura-viewing parties.
Last year, we cracked open a bottle of beer from Japanese craft brewer Sankt Gallen made with cherry blossom petals. Like many of Japan’s unique food and beverage flavors, it was only available for a limited time, but with spring just around the corner, the Kanagawa Prefecture-based company is bringing back the special brew.
Succinctly called Sankt Gallen Sakura, the five-percent alcohol beer is made with the flowers of leaves of the yaezakura variety of cherry blossom tree, which are also used in a variety of Japanese teas and confectionaries. Each 2,340-liter (618 gallon) batch of the beer is produced with 60 kilograms (132) pounds of sakura assistance grown in Nagano Prefecture.
The beer is produced with a mix of malted barley and wheat, and ordinarily hop-loving Sankt Gallen goes a bit easier than it usually does on the bitter flavoring for its cherry blossom beer, which has an IBU (International Bitterness Units) value of 17.
Sankt Gallen Sakura is priced at 463 yen (US$3.85) a bottle and goes on sale at Japanese grocery stores and liquor shops between February 25 and early April.
Source: Narinari
Images: Sankt Gallen