Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer is a 5.5% wheat ale from Yokohama Brewery, based in Kanagawa, Japan. It is part of their Summer seasonal line up and contains wheat, or komugi, that has been locally sourced from the Seya-ward of Yokohama, about 10kms west of Yokohama centre itself. It was first released in 2015 on tap only, but in 2016, found its first release in bottles. Yokohama Beer uses about 1400kg of locally grown wheat for its brewing process in making Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer.
Yes, it really was that lively.
Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer Aroma and Taste
Yokohama Brewery seem to be pushing with locally sourced products more and more since Goju-san took over – a nice little addition to the “drink local” ideology I like. It’s even more amazing with the image of Yokohama being a busy, thriving port town, though people forget that the to the west and to the south is plenty of farm land that isn’t used.
Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer poured out a hazy golden straw colour with lots of frothy white head. I tried my best to pour this properly: glass at an angle, bottle stored vertically, beer poured slowly out into the glass, but alas, no. At least one-half of my weizen glass was frothy white head, with some remnants of the beer at the bottom. It had a slight bubblegum aroma with hints of breadiness to it lying in wait. It could almost be mistaken for a weizen though.
The body failed to really live up to the promise – if you’re going to use local products, make sure that you use the best recipe available to show them off. Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer felt insipid and boring. Some hints of wheat and a large yeast flavour meant it was a tad sickly after a while. Maybe it could have been better filtered off but it would explain the liveliness of Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer out of the bottle. It finished off with a slight breadiness again in aftertaste.
Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer The Bottom Line
It’s a shame that Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer turned out as insipid as it did. Definitely not going to try this one again.
Where to Buy Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer
Yokohama Seya no Komugi Beer can only be bought at select outlets in the Yokohama area: Yokohama Sogo, Yokohama Takashimaya, Daiei, Ito Yokodo, Aeon, and some convenience stores.
