Every new beer release is exciting, but there’s a little more meaning behind the latest creation from Penticton’s Tin Whistle Brewery.
A few days ago, Tin Whistle unveiled its new Cherry Blossom Japanese Lager.
The beer was dropped on Earth Day to celebrate our planet and the fact that Tin Whistle is now zero waste, making it British Columbia’s first carbon-neutral brewery.
It’s an incredible achievement that deserves to be celebrated, but let’s put that aside for a moment while we talk about this new beer of theirs.
This is a beer column after all…
The idea of creating the Cherry Blossom Japanese Lager, which ties in so nicely with Earth Day and Tin Whistle’s zero-waste status, began when Kan from Kizuna Sake walked through the brewery’s front door.
Kan was holding a bag of kasu, which is a mildly-sweet smelling, fermented rice that is left over from his sake brewing process at Kizuna Sake, Penticton’s only sake brewery.
Tin Whistle co-owner Timothy Scoon says Kan challenged them to do something with the kasu, so his team got right to work.
“On our small batch test system we trialed one version after another to get the recipe and process right,” he explained.
“There is no brewing guide that tells how to turn gummy, mushy wasted rice into delicious beer. Eventually we got there, and wow!”
The result of this interesting brewing process was a lager that is crisp, mildly sweet and gently floral, the brewery says.
It comes in with an ABV of 4.7% and 23 IBU.
Now, back to the fact that Tin Whistle sends zero waste to the landfill from its brewery operation, something co-owner Alexis Esseltine says they’ve been working toward for over three years.
“We started by doing a waste audit and digging through our garbage to see what we were sending to the landfill,” she said. “Then we worked slowly and methodically to Reduce, Reuse or Recycle all of our wastes (in that order).”
Esseltine added that being zero waste further lessens their carbon footprint and supports their work as BC’s “first carbon-neutral brewery.”
Now, I have some bad news for our readers in Kamloops, Prince George and Victoria, because it might be difficult or even impossible to find this beer outside of the Okanagan.
The brewery does do deliveries, however, and you can contact Tin Whistle to inquire about whether they’ll do that outside of the region.
For our Kelowna and Penticton readers, you can find the Cherry Blossom Japanese Lager at the brewery or in select private and BC government liquor stores around the Okanagan.
Josh Duncan is the NowMedia news director and a craft beer lover. Reach him at [email protected]. His beer column appears every Saturday afternoon in this space.
