Dear Taproom Friend & Baird Beer Enthusiast:

An annual autumn rite of passage is the release of a deliciously down-to-earth Baird Beer best characterized by two words: Simplicity, Sophistication.

Country Girl Kabocha Ale 2008　(ABV 5.8%):

Kabocha is a Japanese pumpkin-like squash the taste of which is elegantly sweet. The kabocha we use is grown in the garden of our carpenter-partner-friend, Nagakura-san. We first cook it in order to gelatinize it, then we add it to our mash where the enzymes from the malt help to further break it down into simple fermentable sugars. Five characterful varieties of malted barley produce a hearty wort that when married to the kabocha yields a flavor partnership of great depth and balance.  After fermenatation, re-fermentation and conditioning, the result is an earthy, rustic beer that manages to deliver an extraordinarily sophisticated yet subtle complexity of flavor. It is, to many resident beer enthusiasts, the flavor of fall in Japan!

Country Girl Kabocha Ale begins pouring from the taps of our Taprooms, as well as from those of other great pubs and restaruants throughout Japan, beginning Saturday, November 15. Bottels of the 2008 batch (633 ml) are available for purchase direct from the brewery and via the wonderful network of Baird Beer retailing liquor shops in Japan. Also, we have a limited number of bottles (360 ml) saved from the 2007 batch for sale as well. The flavor comparison between the different year batches is extremely interesting.

Cheers!

Bryan Baird