Upcycling unpicked wine grapes: "Far Yeast Grapevine 2," the 8th installment of the "Yamanashi Support Project," goes on sale on Sunday, November 7th

As the eighth installment of the Yamanashi Support Project, which aims to promote Yamanashi Prefecture through beer, Far Yeast Brewing Co., Ltd. will release "Far Yeast Grapevine 2" on Sunday, November 7th. The beer is made using wine grapes harvested at Mercian Corporation's Chateau Mercian Katsunuma Winery (Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture).

• ■ Utilizing wine grapes that would otherwise be "thinned" and returned to the fields
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• The eighth installment of the "Yamanashi Support Project," which aims to promote Yamanashi through beer, is "Far Yeast Grapevine 2," made with wine grapes from Katsunuma. This is the 2021 version of "GRAPEVINE," the third installment of the Yamanashi Support Project, which was brewed last fall using grapes from Nirasaki City and received positive reviews. This year, in collaboration with Chateau Mercian Katsunuma Winery, a fruity Fruit Saison has been born.　
• When cultivating grapes for wine, there is a process called "bunch thinning" where the grapes are thinned out midway through the process to ensure that each fruit receives adequate nutrients and that delicious, concentrated grapes are grown. All of the fruit that is thinned out is discarded in the field. This time, we used Cabernet Sauvignon and Muscat Bailey A, which would have been discarded.
• Additionally, we were given Concord and Niagara grapes, which were grown in small quantities in a demonstration orchard that cultivates a wide variety of grapes but are not used in Château Mercian's wines. These four grapes were used in a saison-style brew that takes advantage of the unique characteristics of each. This is an agricultural upcycling initiative that only a brewery in Yamanashi, the kingdom of fruit, can undertake. [gallery size="medium" columns="2" ids="https://fyb-assets.hatte.jp/2021/10/3C64C5BF-89D3-46DB-8A11-91B058E1D56B-12-Edited.jpg|,https://fyb-assets.hatte.jp/2021/10/5c0aa56ffb33c50f281bff85503e2b67.jpg|"]

■Uses the "cold soak" winemaking technique to bring out the aroma of grapes

This time, we used a brewing method that made the most of the characteristics of each of the four different types of grapes.
The Cabernet Sauvignon, with its strong acidity and red wine-like tannins, and the Muscat Bailey A, with its moderate acidity, are both cold soaked, a method used in wine brewing. Crushed grape skins are soaked at low temperatures before fermentation begins, extracting more pigment, aroma, and other components from the grapes. The juice is then poured into the mash kettle, giving the wort a grape flavor and complex acidity.
Concord and Niagara grapes, with their gentle acidity and rich sweetness, were juiced in a juicer and added towards the end of fermentation to impart a rich grape aroma.

For the hops, Nelson Sauvin, which has a white grape-like aroma, was added in two batches to harmonize with the aroma of the grapes used.

■ Fruit saison that tastes like wine

This fruit saison blends the aroma of natural wine from wine grapes with the aroma of white grapes from Nelson Sauvin hops. The complex fruitiness and acidity of the four grape varieties, along with the tannins in the stems of the grapes, give it a wine-like astringency in the aftertaste, creating a finish that lies right on the border between saison and wine.

"Far Yeast Grapevine 2" will be released nationwide on Sunday, November 7th, and pre-orders will begin on our online store from 1:00 PM on Tuesday, October 26th.
We will continue to work with producers and businesses in Yamanashi Prefecture to deliver a variety of Made-in-Yamanashi beers.

[Product overview]

Product name: Far Yeast Grapevine 2 Release date: Sunday, November 7th Price: Open price Ingredients: Grapes (from Koshu City, Yamanashi Prefecture), malt, wheat, oats, hops, sugar Alcohol content: 5.5% Style: Fruited Saison Product: Happoshu (low-malt beer) ( 25% to 50% ) IBU: 15 Brewery: Far Yeast Brewing Genryu Brewery (Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture) Specifications: 350ml cans, 15L barrels

*Origin of the product name: "Grapevine" means "grape vine." It also means "word of mouth" or "word of mouth" because grape vines grow in all directions and form a net. The name represents a grape beer born from the connections between people. Following last year, this year's "Grapevine 2" was also born from a connection like a grape vine.

[About Chateau Mercian Katsunuma Winery]

"Make Japan a world-famous wine-producing region." Toward the day when Japanese wine is beloved and enjoyed by people in Japan and around the world, Château Mercian will continue to preserve Japan's nature, culture, and sensibility, evolving them into something that brings joy to people. Château Mercian Katsunuma Winery originated from the Dai-Nippon Yamanashi Winery, which was founded in 1877 (Meiji 10) as Japan's first private winery. Château Mercian has three wineries in Yamanashi and Nagano prefectures, but Katsunuma Winery is the central winery of Château Mercian, producing over 80% of the company's total production and steeped in history. Toward the realization of our dream of "making Japan a world-famous wine-producing region," we will continue to move forward into the future, centered around our winery, while coexisting with the local community.
https://www.chateaumercian.com/winery/katsunuma/

For inquiries regarding this matter, please contact: Far Yeast Brewing Co., Ltd. Public Relations Officer: Sasaki Email: pr@faryeast.com Phone: 03-6849-2812 For customers, liquor stores, and restaurants, please contact us at sales@faryeast.com or by phone at 050-3135-3926.