Golden Harmony (Kotorin, Yuranaku)
Kyoto Brewing Company in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan 🇯🇵
Farmhouse - Saison Regular|
Score
7.01
|
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琴鱗、揺ら鳴く (GOLDEN HARMONY)
WITH THE SWEET AROMA OF OSMANTHUS, THIS IS A STONEFRUIT HEAVY, SUPER DRINKABLE SAISON
[Character]
A light golden coloured Saison with a crisp dry finish, complemented with New Zealand hops and dried "Kinmokusei" (osmanthus), giving the beer apricot and tropical stone fruit nuances.
[Food Pairing]
Fish gratin with white sauce infused with white pepper, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, chicken terrine infused with dry fruits
[Naming]
"Kinrin, Yuranaku", the Japanese name, is an evocative name that is hard to translate directly, but we felt that Golden Harmony reflected it fairly well, representing the flow of golden osmanthus flowers as they flow into the Yura river, in turn creating waves of aroma that flow through the valley.
[Brewer's Voice]
Have you ever walked by the wonderful aroma of Kinmokusei (osmanthus) flowers and wonder what that would be like in beer? Well we and our friends at Kyoto craft beer bar Miyama162 have! And it turns out it is as wonderful as one might imagine!
The guys at Miyama162 have had our beer in and on tap from their day 1, which is within a year of when we launched as a brewery. A fun place full of character, it's no surprise that they're always packed, but it still amazes us just how much beer their small number of seats manages to move through. They are, as one might suspect, from Miyama in Northern Kyoto, a beautiful town surrounded by hills known for its agriculture. It also happens to have a lot of natural osmanthus growing there. They They came to us with the idea of making a collaboration with osmanthus from their hometown, it sounded like a great challenge, and an excuse to take an idea that we had ourselves also thought of, and make it a reality.
With osmanthus offering such a beautiful aroma of apricots and stone fruit, the Saison just seemed like the perfect style for this pairing. We took the experimentation beyond the combination of saison yeast and osmanthus through using many ingredients that neither we or our head brewer James have ever used together in one beer, in true farmhouse fashion, combining flavour profiles that we felt would work together. The malt base was a blend of Pilsner and Vienna, with just a small amount of special B giving the beer a golden colour, and contributing a touch of raisin flavour to the malt. We chose Pacific Jade, Talus and Kohatu hops, giving a tropical leaning with a little flowery character to support the natural osmanthus aroma, and we intentionally kept the bitterness low. We added heaps of dried Kinmokuse flowers into the whirlpool and allowed it to soak, essentially making tea with beer using these wonderful flowers, and to finish it all off we went for a farmhouse-style yeast strain to add a touch of funk and peppery character to balance out some of the tropical sweetness, and also complement through the fruitier esters. We hope you are as happy as we are with how this beer captures the wonderful character that this unique flower has to offer.
Style: Saison
Series: Nakama
Others: Kinmokusei
Category: Beer
JAN: 4589718742311
WITH THE SWEET AROMA OF OSMANTHUS, THIS IS A STONEFRUIT HEAVY, SUPER DRINKABLE SAISON
[Character]
A light golden coloured Saison with a crisp dry finish, complemented with New Zealand hops and dried "Kinmokusei" (osmanthus), giving the beer apricot and tropical stone fruit nuances.
[Food Pairing]
Fish gratin with white sauce infused with white pepper, asparagus with hollandaise sauce, chicken terrine infused with dry fruits
[Naming]
"Kinrin, Yuranaku", the Japanese name, is an evocative name that is hard to translate directly, but we felt that Golden Harmony reflected it fairly well, representing the flow of golden osmanthus flowers as they flow into the Yura river, in turn creating waves of aroma that flow through the valley.
[Brewer's Voice]
Have you ever walked by the wonderful aroma of Kinmokusei (osmanthus) flowers and wonder what that would be like in beer? Well we and our friends at Kyoto craft beer bar Miyama162 have! And it turns out it is as wonderful as one might imagine!
The guys at Miyama162 have had our beer in and on tap from their day 1, which is within a year of when we launched as a brewery. A fun place full of character, it's no surprise that they're always packed, but it still amazes us just how much beer their small number of seats manages to move through. They are, as one might suspect, from Miyama in Northern Kyoto, a beautiful town surrounded by hills known for its agriculture. It also happens to have a lot of natural osmanthus growing there. They They came to us with the idea of making a collaboration with osmanthus from their hometown, it sounded like a great challenge, and an excuse to take an idea that we had ourselves also thought of, and make it a reality.
With osmanthus offering such a beautiful aroma of apricots and stone fruit, the Saison just seemed like the perfect style for this pairing. We took the experimentation beyond the combination of saison yeast and osmanthus through using many ingredients that neither we or our head brewer James have ever used together in one beer, in true farmhouse fashion, combining flavour profiles that we felt would work together. The malt base was a blend of Pilsner and Vienna, with just a small amount of special B giving the beer a golden colour, and contributing a touch of raisin flavour to the malt. We chose Pacific Jade, Talus and Kohatu hops, giving a tropical leaning with a little flowery character to support the natural osmanthus aroma, and we intentionally kept the bitterness low. We added heaps of dried Kinmokuse flowers into the whirlpool and allowed it to soak, essentially making tea with beer using these wonderful flowers, and to finish it all off we went for a farmhouse-style yeast strain to add a touch of funk and peppery character to balance out some of the tropical sweetness, and also complement through the fruitier esters. We hope you are as happy as we are with how this beer captures the wonderful character that this unique flower has to offer.
Style: Saison
Series: Nakama
Others: Kinmokusei
Category: Beer
JAN: 4589718742311
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7.6/10
—
Appearance 7
Aroma 8
Flavor 8
Texture 7
Overall 7.5
KBC x Miyama 162 Golden Harmony
Saison 5%
Medium bodied, deep gold brew with light beige foam. The aroma has a Belgian rich fruitiness with light peppery notes and some florality. The taste is similar, very nice brew.
Saison 5%
Medium bodied, deep gold brew with light beige foam. The aroma has a Belgian rich fruitiness with light peppery notes and some florality. The taste is similar, very nice brew.
Tried
from Can
on 01 Aug 2025
at 14:30
7.4/10
—
Appearance 8
Aroma 7
Flavor 7
Texture 8
Overall 7.5
Can. Deep golden orange, clear, with a tall, very fine head. Fruity, floral nose, rich biscuity malt, osmanthus flowers, light smokiness, bit of peach, bit of pepper. Bright, fruity flavor with lots more osmanthus, citrus and peach notes, biscuits, and a very bitter, long finish. Quite interesting. A nice juiciness comes in mid-palate, with sultanas. Bitterness is a bit too harsh, but otherwise interesting. I was waiting for someone to use osmanthus in a beer.
Tried
on 16 Mar 2025
at 08:20