In the corporate world, at 27 most people are just getting their foot on the second rung of the ladder, struggling to move up. In the craft brewing industry, the climb to the top of the ladder might be a lot shorter, but advancement still usually requires some time. 27-year-old Shoma Hata already has his hand on the top rung. He is the majority owner and head brewer of RePuBrew in Numazu, Shizuoka. Compared to others in his age group, he is years ahead in this or any industry.
Rarely seen without a warm, genuine smile, he keeps things light throughout the interview and photo shoot. His youthful exuberance never wanes and it is clear he thoroughly enjoys introducing his beers in-depth. Hata enthusiastically moves into discussing brewing science and gets geeky explaining his lab equipment. Surely there are some that will question his youth, but he doesnât let this concern him. Heâs content to let his work speak for itself.
A significant number of brewers are escapees from a previous career that they soured on. Many decided to turn their homebrewing hobby into a full-time job. Maybe itâs a sign of the times in Japan, but in Hataâs professional life he has only been involved in brewing craft beer. Unlike countless others who were dissatisfied with industrial lagers and lack of selection, he has been drinking craft beer since he was of legal drinking age. In his early twenties he often drank Coedo and purchased beer from Antenna Americaâs and Belgian Beer Japanâs websites, educating himself on a wide range of styles. But initially it wasnât the great taste or variety that steered him into the industry. It was the science behind it.
As an 18-year-old he was working at an izakaya and thought making shochu or nihonshu (sake) would be a suitable career choice. To pursue this course, he entered the Tokyo College of Biotechnology, a trade school offering a three-year curriculum in brewing. The majority of students begin their studies at age nineteen. They spend the first year focused on biotechnology and general topics not related to alcohol since they arenât yet of legal drinking age (twenty in Japan). In the second year studies shift to fermentation research. At that point Hata was making and analyzing alcoholic beverages to determine amino acid and protein content, ABV and the like.
As his studies progressed, he found himself gravitating toward beer. Its complexity fascinated him. In his eyes it had more diversity than wine and nihonshu because of all the different ingredients that could be used to produce a myriad results. It was at that young age that he became serious about running his own brewpub and he unwaveringly pursued that goal.
As a third-year student, he interned at Oratche (Kaze no Tani Beer) in Kannami, Shizuoka. When he arrived at Kannami Station for his first visit to the company, he was a bit shocked by the surroundings. Carved into a wooded hillside, there is little around the station, not even a convenience store. For someone who had spent his whole life to that point in downtown Kawasaki, it was a big change. Itâs about fifteen minutes to Oratche from Kannami Station by car and there is no bus. He thought to himself, âCan I really work here? Maybe I should think about doing my internship elsewhere.â He opted to rent an apartment in town from the company president and commuted by car. Laughing, he recalls his first nights there in June of 2010. âThe frogs were so loud that I couldnât sleep at night. I never expected such a thing. It was like camping!â
After graduation in 2012, he was offered a full-time position at Oratche. He took it with little hesitation. While at the company he worked under brewmaster Takeshi Kimura, who studied brewing at Technische UniversitĂ€t Berlin. Hata credits Kimura for being especially helpful in answering all his questions and giving him indispensable advice. The brewery only makes organic beer and also does its own maltingâboth uncommon practices that Hata could add to his resume. Making organic beer also presented certain challenges. For example, the grain isnât uniform and this causes difficulty when milling.
At Oratche Hata was brewing a couple times a week on a 2kl systemâlarger than the majority of craft breweries in Japan. But the brewery makes only four standards and a few limited seasonals. As the beer was organic, many things were decided for him. Since he felt limited in what he could brew, what ingredients he could use, and had no real influence on recipes, he was anxious to get his own brewery started.
While at Oratche, Hata was patiently preparing for the launch of his own business. He made it clear to the company from the moment he was hired that his goal was to open his own place. He says they were supportive. Hata worked an 8-5 shift at the brewery and then worked part-time in Numazu to save money. During the year leading up to the opening, he sought quote after quote, trying to get the best price on the equipment he needed.
He ran into a wall when he went to get a bank loan. Understandably, none were interested in providing financing to an inexperienced businessman in his mid twenties. Without investors, he was going nowhere. He read a lot of books on financing and researched how to make presentations to gain financial backing. Over a year he made dozens of presentations to potential investors, and in turn, received advice from many. A handful thought his endeavor worthy of their support and when he returned to the banks with significant capital, they finally took his proposal seriously.
In February of 2017 Hata finally left Oratche to create RePuBrew. Instead of returning to his hometown of Kawasaki, he settled on Numazu as the location for a number of reasons. He cites the proximity of the Industrial Research Institute of Shizuoka Prefecture as one of the most important. The facility, which is under 6km from the brewpub, allows brewers to store yeast in its yeast bank at no cost. They also provide assistance with yeast propagation. For someone planning to make small batches of many different kinds of beer (more on that later), this was an invaluable resource. He is presently using six types of yeast, but has gone through thirty brews in the last six months and has employed eight different varieties of yeast over that time span. He has five more strains that he plans to use in the coming months.
Another reason for choosing Numazu was his desire to locate the brewpub in the downtown area of a city, especially near a station. He needed a place large enough to house the brewing equipment and, equally critical, one that wouldnât break the bank. The rent in Numazu was affordable and he was able to find a location less than five minutes from the station that satisfied all his requirements.
The pub opened on April 1st of 2017 selling all guest beers until brewing operations were legally approved. Unfortunately, it took much longer than anticipated to get the equipment (purchased in November of 2016) installed. For six months he just had a big empty room in the back awaiting completion. He finally got his brewing license in September 2017, started brewing in October and the first beer was on tap by November. The brewpub drew significant attention from local newspapers and TV programs when it opened and again when brewing operations commenced. Popularity in the area has grown quickly.
Hata brews on a 350L system and currently has three fermenters (two 350L, one 700L) and two maturation vessels (one 350L and one 700L). Large glass windows behind the bar counter allow customers to look into the activity in the brewing area.
At RePuBrew, Hata plans to go the entire first year without any standard beers. When brewing operations got underway, his idea was to make a large variety of styles and experiment with different ingredients and recipes the first year. That amounts to about sixty different beers. Keeping notes and tracking reactions to each beer, Hata will tinker with those that resonate most with customers for eventual inclusion in a standard lineup. From November of this year, he plans to decide which will become the regulars.
Hata tries to keep his taps balanced by style and this often dictates what beer he brews next. For example, if he has a lack of bold, malty beers, heâll make one to fill the gap. When creating his more experimental recipes, he often starts by considering what adjuncts he wants to use to make the beer.
On our visit, one beer of interest was Headbang (7.7%ABV), a spiced imperial gose that was kettle soured using freshly made yogurt as the starter. It was a collaboration with phantom brewery Hagane Brewing. The recipe included salt and black pepper and was fermented with a weizen yeast. For some similar brews with salt, Hata plans to use seawater salt produced by a local Numazu company that draws it from neighboring Suruga Bay.
Other beers of note during our tasting session were Jam Session IPA made with locally sourced kiwi fruit that was slightly damaged and unacceptable for the market and Mugichashu, an English-style brown ale that starts off with aroma and taste similar to mugicha (barley tea) and finishes with a smooth caramel flavor. A small amount of black malt (about 4-5% of the malt bill) is added to the whirlpool in a mesh net to produce the mugicha characteristics. Hata keeps things interesting with these types of brews mixed in with more common styles.
Due to multiple requests from customers that would like beer to take home for their family or friends, RePuBrew recently purchased a crowler machine and should be selling freshly canned brew in the next few months. Because of the wide variety of beers Hata makes, the crowler option seemed like a perfect fit. Crowlers are filled fresh on-demand and, unlike bottles, donât require a stock that needs to be moved before that freshness wears off. Since crowlers are legally considered âtake-outâ, labeling isnât required and neither is a separate retail license.
Hata is considering crowdfunding to add more tanks this year (there is sufficient space for about seven more 700L vessels). One idea he is toying with is to have a âshare tankâ to make special beers for those that contribute money. Recipes would be tailored to their requests and they would get some crowlers to take home. Five to ten years down the road, Hata envisions the creation of a larger production facility nearby with a canning line and bottling capabilities. In that plan, the current space would be used for small batch experimenting.
With a wide variety of styles pouring from twenty taps split down the middle between guest and in-house, RePuBrew easily satisfies the tastes of both the hardcore craft fan and neophytes. Together with Bairdâs Fishmarket Taproom and newly opened Numazu Craft, more and more locals are quickly becoming craft beer enthusiasts. The city is also attracting devotees from points afar and Hataâs efforts play a big role in the draw. Many more years in the industry await him. This is a story that is far from over.
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.
