Manchin Brewing in Hokuto unveils OPTICAL TOMATO sour ale
Manchin Brewing in Hokuto, Yamanashi, has introduced its new beer, OPTICAL TOMATO. Built on a dry-hopped sour base, the beer was brewed with 500 kg of tomatoes, with the team testing how fermentation changed the aroma, color, and balance of the finished beer.
Hop BroI want to talk about OPTICAL TOMATO from Manchin Jozo in Hokuto, Yamanashi.
MugiWhat! Tomato beer? Are we basically toasting with a salad now!?
Hop BroThat is very Manchin Jozo. It uses OPTICAL PATH as the base, a dry-hopped sour at 5.0% ABV and 14 IBU.
MugiHold on, you said dry-hopped sour like I was supposed to know that already!
Hop BroBasically, it is a tart, refreshing beer with hop aroma added after fermentation, so it becomes an aroma-forward sour.
MugiWow, and they used 500 kilograms of tomatoes? That sounds less like brewing and more like farming!
Hop BroThe wild part is they spent two days juicing them and refermented the beer, but fermentation stripped the aroma and the color did not stay the way they expected.
MugiNo way, that is main-character vanishing energy! So what did they do next?
Hop BroThey focused on the green aroma from tomato stems and leaves, sanitized everything carefully, and kept running blending experiments right up to the edge of harshness.
MugiOhhh, so instead of a Red Eye-style cocktail, you still get a pale beer with savory tomato character? That sounds really good.
Hop BroExactly. Sourness, hop aroma, and tomato umami together is the kind of thing that makes me want a glass now.
MugiSame, that is officially my first pour. I want to drink it and freak out all over again.
A new sour ale built with tomatoes
Manchin Brewing in Hokuto, Yamanashi, has unveiled a new beer: `OPTICAL TOMATO DRY HOOPED SOUR WITH TOMATO`. The beer comes in at 5.0% ABV and 14 IBU, and is based on the brewery’s `OPTICAL PATH` dry-hopped sour.
For this batch, the brewery used 500 kg of tomatoes with support from the nearby large tomato plant, Agrimind. The team pressed the juice themselves over two days, added it to the tank, and let it referment. After fermentation, however, most of the tomato aroma had volatilized, and the color also did not come through as expected.
To adjust the profile, the brewery shifted to using tomato stems and leaves, focusing on the compound responsible for the green, fresh aroma. The stems and leaves were collected from the factory, carefully sanitized, and steeped until just before off-flavors would appear. The team then ran blending trials to find the right balance.
The result was not a red-eye-style beer cocktail, but a pale sour beer with tomato umami. Manchin Brewing says the final beer came from the interaction of tomato enzymes and fermentation, and from the way sour beer and hops interacted with the fruit.
Based in Hokuto, Manchin Brewing is known for making beers with a strong experimental edge. `OPTICAL TOMATO` fits that approach well: a technically curious beer that still stays grounded in drinkability.
Information may be inaccurate. Please refer to the brewery’s official channels for the latest details.
Hop BroI want to talk about OPTICAL TOMATO from Manchin Jozo in Hokuto, Yamanashi.
MugiWhat! Tomato beer? Are we basically toasting with a salad now!?
Hop BroThat is very Manchin Jozo. It uses OPTICAL PATH as the base, a dry-hopped sour at 5.0% ABV and 14 IBU.
MugiHold on, you said dry-hopped sour like I was supposed to know that already!
Hop BroBasically, it is a tart, refreshing beer with hop aroma added after fermentation, so it becomes an aroma-forward sour.
MugiWow, and they used 500 kilograms of tomatoes? That sounds less like brewing and more like farming!
Hop BroThe wild part is they spent two days juicing them and refermented the beer, but fermentation stripped the aroma and the color did not stay the way they expected.
MugiNo way, that is main-character vanishing energy! So what did they do next?
Hop BroThey focused on the green aroma from tomato stems and leaves, sanitized everything carefully, and kept running blending experiments right up to the edge of harshness.
MugiOhhh, so instead of a Red Eye-style cocktail, you still get a pale beer with savory tomato character? That sounds really good.
Hop BroExactly. Sourness, hop aroma, and tomato umami together is the kind of thing that makes me want a glass now.
MugiSame, that is officially my first pour. I want to drink it and freak out all over again.
