Collaboration with Tangerine, a citrus farm in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture. Upcycled gin distilled from Ross beer and ponkan peel. "Off Trail - Azeotrope Serendipity" will be released on April 16th (Tue).
Far Yeast Brewing Co., Ltd. (Head office: Kosuge Village, Yamanashi Prefecture; CEO: Shiro Yamada) has collaborated with Tangerine ( NIA Inc. Head office: Uwajima City, Ehime Prefecture; CEO: Yuichiro Wakamatsu) a citrus farm in Uwajima City, Ehime Prefecture, to release a limited quantity of " Off Trail -Azeotrope Serendipity," an upcycled barrel-aged gin that uses the peels left over from squeezing the juice during the juice production process as botanicals for rosé beer distillation, on Tuesday, April 17, 2024.
"Off Trail - Azeotrope" was launched in 2021 as a spin-off project of the brand "Off Trail," which is committed to brewing beer using microorganisms, primarily through barrel aging (aging in wooden barrels). It is a crossover brand between beer and distilled spirits, leveraging the fermentation and barrel aging know-how cultivated through beer brewing to take on the challenge of creating innovative spirits and liqueurs.
The new product is an upcycled, barrel-aged gin created in collaboration with Tangerine, a citrus farm in Uwajima, Ehime Prefecture. In addition to his family-run farming business, CEO Wakamatsu also runs Tangerine, a mandarin orange juice and apparel brand. At Tangerine , the peels left over from squeezing the juice are not discarded, but rather returned to the fields for reuse as fertilizer. Wakamatsu, who shares our commitment to distilling rosé beer and upcycling it into gin, has teamed up to launch a distilled spirits project using the peels left over from squeezing Ponkan juice and rosé beer.
We were given 20kg of Ponkan peels after the juice was squeezed . The mesocarp was carefully removed to extract the Ponkan aroma while reducing astringency and bitterness. We then used the peels as botanicals in our "Off Trail - Azeotrope" Beer Distilled Gin. Additionally, we added a small amount of the Ponkan leaves and branches that were also sent along with the juice, giving it a green, woody aroma reminiscent of being in a Ponkan field. Aged for 11 months in whiskey barrels, this gin achieves a smooth, amber color and a luxuriously savory aroma of fresh citrus fruit and a hint of oak character.
The label artwork was created by ASOTA, a collage artist who also designs the labels for Tangerine's Ponkan juice. Off Trail - Azeotrope's unique worldview, which differs from previous uniform labels, is inspired by the idea of "serendipity , " or the luck brought about by unexpected coincidences, born from a new encounter we had with this brand. We hope that when you take a closer look at the flavor and label, you will sense the connections and coincidences that come together through shared values, as well as the passion of the producers.
" Off Trail -Azeotrope Serendipity " will be available for purchase in limited quantities on the Far Yeast Brewing official web store from 12:00 on Tuesday, April 16th. Purchases on the official web store and shipments to beer bars, restaurants, and liquor stores nationwide will begin sequentially from Wednesday, April 17th.
[Product overview]
Off Trail -Azeotrope Serendipity
(Off-Trail Azeotrope Serendipity)
About Tangerine
Using citrus fruits grown in Yoshida-cho, Uwajima City, Ehime Prefecture, we produce and sell five types of fresh produce and additive-free pure juice throughout the year. People who have no experience with agriculture may not imagine it as being connected to other industries. However, what we produce here is food that is familiar to everyone. We have people who normally create art or clothes draw the labels, and we hope that by seeing them, people who feel that agriculture has nothing to do with them will realize that agriculture is something close to them and that this can be one way for them to discover the appeal of agriculture.
About ASOTA (Art Work)
Born in Hayama, Kanagawa Prefecture in 1995, currently lives in Osaka.
He started his creative career as a skateboarding filmmaker at the age of 16.
At the age of 19, he started creating collages on skateboard decks, which led him to gradually take his analog collage creations seriously, a practice he continues to this day.
By sprinkling countless contradictions into precise techniques, he creates a "world that fits together but doesn't make sense," expressing the wisdom of skate culture for having fun in urban life and a positive perspective of "noticing awareness."
[Off Trail – What is Azeotrope?]
Launched in October 2021, this craft spirits brand crosses the boundaries between beer and distilled spirits. As a spin-off of "Off Trail," a cutting-edge beer brewing project that utilizes microbial barrel aging techniques, the brand is exploring innovative spirits and liqueurs. Focusing on genever-style spirits, which are malt-derived distilled spirits aged in barrels, the brand aims to bring a breath of fresh air to the distilled spirits world by leveraging the fermentation and barrel aging know-how cultivated through beer brewing. "Azeotrope" refers to the phenomenon of two liquids with different boiling points boiling together while maintaining their composition when mixed in a certain ratio, creating an azeotropic mixture. The name evokes the symbiosis of beer and spirits, our core businesses.