In 2017 quite a few well-known breweries celebrated their 20th anniversary. These included the likes of Isekadoya, Swan Lake, Yo-Ho Brewing and Minoh. Also in that successful group is T.Y.HARBOR, founded on Tennozu Isle in Shinagawa, Tokyo. In recent years, the popularity of small brewpubs operating on a scale similar to privately run ramen shops has been growing at a significant pace in Japan. T.Y.HARBOR is the complete opposite of those places. With seating for around 350, a Japanese brewpub of its magnitude is perhaps more correctly labeled a brew-restaurant.

Tennozu Isle was developed during the boom in hotel and office building construction during the bubble economy of the late 1980s and early 90s. Where the current brewery stands was a warehouse belonging to the Warehouse TERRADA company (now a separate company), which had plans to tear it down and construct another building. As they were pondering this, the bubble burst and those plans were scrapped. The company decided to go in a different direction and use the warehouse structure as is, but convert it into a restaurant. In 1994 the laws were changed to allow small-scale brewing, and from 1996 an increasing number of new breweries began to appear in Japan. Warehouse TERRADA conducted business on the West Coast of the U.S. and then-president Yasunobu Terada was keen on the idea of building a brewpub similar to what he saw in the States. This was the route the company decided to take, creating a new business that was to eventually become TYSONS & COMPANY (the company that now manages T.Y.HARBOR and their sister restaurants and services).

When the brewpub opened in April of 1997, they were understaffed from the start. Shimpei Terada, son of Yasunobu, was a grad student at university then and worked part-time in the brewpub as a waiter. Previously he had studied as an exchange student at the University of California in San Diego so he was somewhat familiar with craft beer. Recalling those days, Terada says, “I had drunk Karl Strauss a few times. Most of the students at the university drank craft beer rather than beer from the big industrial brewers. When I went out with them, I did the same. Whenever there was a party, someone went to the supermarket to pick up a keg, and we promptly went about drinking it up.”

After grad school, in June of 1998, Terada began working for a department store company in Taiwan. Around the end of that same year things were going poorly on Tennozu Isle and the brewpub was on the edge of shutting down operations. There was a desperate need for someone that could be entrusted with the task of righting the ship. In March of 1999 Terada chose to give up the job in Taiwan in order to help his family’s business. Having previously worked there part-time, he already knew the inner workings of the company well.

Just before Terada joined the company full-time, an American team had been assembled to help with the management of the brewpub. Unfortunately, the original in-house team and the American team frequently butted heads on how the company should be run. If things remained as they were, it was going to be run right into the ground. Terada relates, “From my first day at the office I realized that there was a problem and the company was heading for serious trouble. When a company is on the verge of collapse, morale sinks and the staff begin to only look out for themselves.” It was one of those situations.

(President Shimpei Terada)

To any that have been to T.Y.HARBOR during their bustling lunchtime hours, it’s hard to believe that they weren’t open for lunch at the beginning. The profitable Sundays that they enjoy now were days that they were closed then, too. It was a dinner-only, Monday-to-Saturday operation. There was no particular reason why they weren’t open during lunchtime or on Sundays, though; the staff running the restaurant were simply happy with their shifts that way. Terada recalls, “There was no focus on how to successfully run the business. It was more a matter of what was easiest for everyone. Even though Tennozu had the offices of companies like Japan Airlines and Nike, which swelled the daytime population to 30,000, there were scant few places to eat lunch. There were a lot of potential customers.”

When asked what actions he took to remedy the situation, he says modestly, “I didn’t do anything that special. I believed that each of the staff members were capable of excellence, so I worked to be the oil that kept the engine running smoothly.”

The decision to open for lunch, made around the summer of 2000, helped generate some much needed yen. Sales picked up steadily and the business started to head in a positive direction. Consequently, the atmosphere at the company began to improve as well. In 2001 they found themselves in the black for the first time, but it was around this time that the craft beer industry was on a downturn. Like many in the industry, T.Y.HARBOR suffered during the ji-biru slump that bottomed out in 2003 (a result of many companies putting profit over quality, which caused consumers to seek other options for the price). Even through this problem, management was making all the right calls. It was at this time that Terada took over as president of the company.

When they opened in 1997 the restaurant had about 200 seats. With the significant expansion of the terrace, that increased to the 350 they have presently. It is important to note that most restaurants in Japan don’t survive more than three years (we should take some pride in the fact that most craft beer pubs have bucked that trend!). A restaurant that has lasted twenty years is especially rare. In T.Y.HARBOR’s case, with the exception of 2008 (during the Lehman shock and subprime mortgage crisis), the company’s sales have continuously grown. Terada says, “It goes to show that a company can succeed when everyone is motivated to keep improving.”

One of those motivated individuals is longtime brewmaster Kazunaga Abe. Abe joined the company (then Warehouse TERRADA) in 1991 and was working in the very same warehouse that was to become the brewery. He had always been a big beer fan, so when the company was looking for someone to put in charge of brewing activities, he thought to himself, “The chances of me getting to make beer on my own are virtually zero!” He jumped at the opportunity. For the first year he was brewing under the tutelage of a consultant from San Francisco. The consulting company was there to assist in the installation of equipment and training of staff. When they left, Abe took over as the head brewer and set about honing his skills. He now has twenty years of experience under his belt and is a well-known figure in the Japanese craft beer community.

Since brewing operations began, T.Y.HARBOR has offered a pale ale, an amber ale and a wheat ale. In addition to these, they regularly made a porter or a stout. Like many other brewers in Japan, he goes light on the hops so the characteristics of the malt take center stage. From the beginning they ambitiously acquired both a beer license and a happoshu license. It took several years before they could actually meet the annual production requirement of 66kl. (Note: The law stipulates that annual production be 60kl for a beer license and 6kl for a happoshu–or beer with additives–license.) Having both licenses allows them great latitude with recipes.

Let’s give their beers a taste. The popular Pale Ale seems a good place to start. It has a likable, bready malt flavor. It achieves a nice balance between sweetness and bitterness, with neither overshadowing the other. They are now using a higher quality malt than when they first began brewing the beer and the difference in the final product is evident.

The Amber Ale is similarly well-balanced with a fuller body. Abe says, ”It took some time to get it the way I wanted it. We use two kinds of base malt and several types of caramel malt. I struggled to find the right combination.” The aroma and slight astringency remind you a little of oolong tea. I feel it’s a good match for oilier food, striking a harmony that will allow you to enjoy more of both.

The Wheat Ale is reminiscent of a Belgian white, but neither coriander nor orange peel is used. The brew relies solely on the work of the yeast during fermentation to provide the semblance of those flavors. Fruits or spices are not used in the wheat ale. Per Abe, “I want the drinker to enjoy the natural aroma created by the yeast.”

Originally seasonal releases, the IPA and Imperial Stout have become regulars in the lineup. T.Y.HARBOR has been making the IPA since before it became a popular style in Japan. It’s an American-style IPA with an ABV of 6%. As is standard for their beers, the hop bitterness and malt sweetness are balanced nicely. The moderate citrus aroma and astringency remind you of fresh wood chips. “When U.S. brands started being imported to Japan, I discovered Anchor’s Liberty Ale. I thought it was really delicious and decided to start making IPAs,” says Abe.

The Imperial Stout goes down quite easily for a beer of this style and the 8%ABV is deceiving. The aroma is full of coffee and chocolate, and is particularly satisfying. The beer finishes with a pleasant, lingering bitterness derived from the hops and roast barley. “Making an imperial stout a standard beer is tough, isn’t it? I hadn’t heard of anyone actually doing that. So I thought, why not me?” says Abe with a grin. “For someone drinking craft beer for the first time, it’s quite easy to handle. It has the strong flavor of a dark beer, but goes down easy. It will definitely be a new experience for them.” The addition of brown sugar provides a unique aroma while softening the toasted character of the chocolate malt. (Note that brown sugar is a legally accepted ingredient for brewers with only a beer license.)

With an increased demand for its beer, the company recently acquired new tanks. The number of restaurants and related businesses under direct management of TYSONS & CO. has also increased–ten in all now. This has driven up the required production volume and given the company good reason to add to its standard lineup as well as making new seasonals. It’s been about eight years since it settled on its current lineup. At this point in time the Pale Ale accounts for almost half of the production volume.

The brewery started with four fermentation tanks and four storage tanks, 2kl each. Two years later two 4kl tanks were added. At that time, annual production was about 50kl. Currently, that number is 220kl and it has twenty-six tanks of various sizes in total. This past September T.Y.HARBOR added more tanks, a new pilot system and brewery shop next to its existing facility. The new space contains six 2kl tanks and three small tanks for 300L small-batch experimental and collaboration brews.

The first beer brewed on this system was a new session IPA, which went on sale in November. The brewery has done two collaborations with foreign breweries. The first was with Tom Palmer from London’s Mondo Brewing. It was an Extra Special Bitter due out in late December (as of this writing). The second was with Mark Hood from Sound Brewing in Washington state (see JBT #24). This one is a Belgian Imperial Stout planned for release at the end of January 2018. “We plan on rolling out a special limited beer each month. For example, November might be pumpkin beer month. We expect to really have fun with these beers,” says Terada.

Brewer Yuto Kinoshita was in charge of the production of the pumpkin beer they actually made in November. He joined the T.Y. team five years ago, starting as a waiter before transitioning into brewing three years ago. He explains, “As a waiter, customers often asked me, ‘How do you make this beer? What hops are used?’ As I studied so I could answer them, I became more interested in the brewing process. I kept pressing to become a member of the production team and finally got my wish three years ago.” Among his creations, the ones that have been the best received were a butternut spice beer, the pumpkin ale, and a spiced honey ale. Spiced beers　seem to have become his specialty so expect more in the same vein from his efforts.

(Kinoshita and Abe)

There are a total of five brewers currently on the team. Compared to other breweries in the country, that number may seem high, but having ample staff to cover all the jobs in the brewery goes a long way toward reducing everyone’s stress. Abe says, “Because of the positive environment in which we work, we can continue to consistently deliver quality product.” Providing benefits like this is critical to their or any business’s success in the present day. Relying on the hard work of the employees alone is simply not enough. In many industries today, if a business has a shortage of quality qualified employees, it’s difficult to recover.

In May of 2017 T.Y.HARBOR invited the staff of Isekadoya, Swan Lake, and Minoh Beer to Tennozu for an event celebrating their shared 20th anniversary in the business. They decided to “pay tribute to the origin of the breweries, by paying tribute to the origin of beer”. They brewed up a gruit beer (an early medieval-style brew that uses herbs to impart flavor and bittering before hops became the standard). It was made using mugwort, sage, chamomile and bergamot orange. We are looking forward to many more anniversaries from this talented group.

With 2020 approaching, the city of Tokyo will garner more attention as preparations for the Olympic and Paralympic Games ramp up. T.Y.HARBOR’s attractive complex, located on the waterfront not far from from the increasingly international Haneda Airport, makes it an enticing destination for that influx of people. We expect they will be able to attract some of that attention for themselves and are excited to see what special beers they decide to put on tap to lure the crowds. By all means, Abe and team, have fun with those specialty beers! We sure expect to enjoy drinking them.

(by Kumagai Jinya)

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This article was published in Japan Beer Times # () and is among the limited content available online. Order your copy through our online shop or download the digital version from the iTunes store to access the full contents of this issue.