Catching Up

Hello fellow travelers on my beer journey!

Thanks for patience on the delay in getting the newsletter out. The good news is that I've been busy getting my beers out the door. And have succeeded!

We have soft launched at SF Beer Week, and the response has been beyond expectation.

SF Beer Week Recap

During the 2 weeks of SF Beer Week, we had a our beer featured at the Rabbit Hole, which is a Taiwanese-owned bar and restaurant, serving Taiwanese-inspired dishes, creatively delicious cocktails and mocktails, as well as a great beer selection (of course).

At SF Beer Week Festival at Salesforce Park, some of you may have come to our brand new blue and white tent. Thanks for stopping by! I didn't anticipate being so busy, so sorry didn't chat much, but hope you enjoyed the beer. The day started with a trickle of VIP ticket holders, then became a flood at general admission, and was non-stop until the kegs kicked. We brought and extra, and that was drained as well. I couldn't see the line, but people were telling me the line stretched across the field to other brewery lines. Several people came for the beer because a friend said they "have to try the beer at the Sugoi tent." Amazing! :-)

We also had 2 off-beer week launch party events hosted by Chile Lindo in the Mission, where in addition to the famous empanadas, we did a collab empanada: Japanese Curry Chilean Empanada. Can't get more Mission than that. These were fun and intimate gatherings where people got a chance to meet and mingle over beer and empanadas, with owner Chef Paula as our vivacious host.

Thanks for everyone coming out in support, and if you missed them, hope to see you at future events.

Beer Lineup

So what exactly are these beers? Super excited to talk about them. We have two: Nagoya Nights, and Biru 101.

Nagoya Nights

Nagoya Nights is a Japanese-style pilsner. Along with a pilsner grain-bill, it's made with koshihikari rice, a rice prized for it's flavor, and used in Japanese beers. This rice, along with the malts, are grown in California. Speaking of malts, the pilsner malt we used is from Admiral Maltings, based here in the Bay Area in Alameda. I've been a fan of their malts for a long time as a home brewer, and thrilled to be able to use that as a basis for my beers.

Along with noble hops, and a Japanese hop, I incorporate a touch of genmaicha. Genmaicha for those not familiar, is a cousin to the famous Matcha. It's a green tea blended with toasted rice, which gives the beer a pleasant aroma, without being distinctively green-tea-like.

The idea for using genmaicha as the tea in beer came to me while visiting Nagoya in 2023 with friends. It was a spring evening near Nagoya Castle, hence the label art. The blue and white is reminiscent of shibori dyed cloth in Japan, to signify the craft

It's designed to pair very well with Japanese foods, especially things with high umami, a degree of richness, or striking flavors. So, it goes really well with sushi, or sushi rolls, chicken karage, tempura. But many other things as well. The great thing about Pilsners are they are very versatile.

Biru 101

Biru 101 is a Taiwanese-style Rice Lager, inspired by the vibrant food culture in Taiwan, from night market street vendors to Michelin star establishments.

It is brewed in a Munich Helles style, which means, the malts are highlighted more than the hops. (though there is a very nice noble hop presence to balance things) It uses Taiwanese Rice, similar to the famous Taiwan Beer. Like Nagoya Nights, it uses malts from Admiral Maltings, and a noble hop. Noble hops, for those unfamiliar, are classic hops from continental Europe that provide a characteristic herbaceous citrus and light spice.

We also incorporate tea in this beer as well, this time oolong tea. The oolong tea is from the Alishan region. Similar to wine, terroir matters with tea, and Alishan is like the Napa of tea country. This tea is lightly oxidized, which provides a delicate aroma that you can catch in the finish.

The inspiration for the artwork is of course the Taipei 101, which is also the rational for the name. "Biru" is what beer is often called in Taiwan, which is a Japanese borrow-word (along with "pi jiu" the Mandarin word for beer). The fireworks in the background recalls the celebratory nature of Taipei, and the colors are of jade and coral, which are prized stones in Taiwan.

This beer goes with a lot of the foods found in Taiwan, such as "bao" meat buns, braised meats, dumplings, noodle soup, stir-fries and more.

Like the Pilsner, Munich Helles lagers, are super versatile beers. And are great warm day sippers as well.

Both beers are 4.9%, to keep things lively and light.

We package in 22oz (650ml) bottles. These are much more common in Taiwan and Japan, though they used to be quite common for craft beer in the States. We're hoping to help it make a comeback. Bottles have a much different experience than cans, especially for dining.

Where to Find Sugoi Beers?

Aside from the aforementioned, we're working on several locations at once. (This past week for instance, famously good Taiwanese Beef Noodle restaurant, Duan Chun Zhen in Cupertino has signed up) So there's more news on this soon, as well as a website and webstore.

If you know good Japanese, Chinese, Taiwanese, other other restaurants featuring Asian or Asian-inspired dishes, feel free to mention Sugoi! Also, we're looking for bottle shops, and specialty stores to partner with as well.

In the meantime, you can ping info@sugoibrewing.com or message on instagram to purchase directly.

Upcoming News

We're planning to be at 365 Night Market in San Jose March 28 and 29th, details here: https://www.365nightmarket.com/​

For this, we're also going to be releasing a new beer. A Kolsch-style ale with a Korean/American take. Excited to say more soon!

-Boris

For past newsletters, please visit: https://sugoi-brewing-company.ck.page/profile/posts​