Kansai Special Part 1: Baird Brewing's John Chesen

As part of my work on the article in this month's Kansai Scene magazine about the craft beer scene in the region, I did an email interview with Baird Brewing managing partner John Chesen. Before we get to the interview itself, meet John, in his own words:

Bryan and I were classmates in grad school (1993-95 at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies in Washington, DC) and I was his first investor when he started Baird Brewing Company in 2000.  I joined the company in July 2010, having spent most of my career in satellite telecommunications and in manufacturing.

Now on the main interview, a small portion of which was included in the article. Keep in mind that this interview was conducted in April 2012, and obviously some of the discussion is about events which have already taken place.

Can you tell me about Baird's background up until now in the Kansai region? 

Arguably the seed for Baird Brewing Company was planted in the Kansai region. Bryan Baird spent is first three years in Japan in Izumisano, South Osaka, after graduating from Williams College in 1989. It was in Izumisano that he first fell in love with Japan, in particular its dining and drinking culture.

Fast forwarding to the present we’ve got a strong and growing number of retail partners in the Kansai region. In Osaka, these include two beer bars, Qbrick and Eni-Bru, and a superb bottle shop, Asahiya.  Recently Café Absinthe has become a Baird customer.

In Nishinomiya, Beer Café Barley, which opens every day (except Tuesdays) at 1:00 PM, is a long-time Baird supporter. 

Kyoto, too, is home to some wonderful craft beer bars that always have Baird on tap: Tadg’s, Beer Café Bakujun, and Beer Friends. Third-generation Kyoto noodle shop Omen serves Baird beer at each of its three locations, and Baird bottles are always available to take home from sakeya Yamaoka Saketen.

Last year in July we participated in the Japan Craft Beer Festival in Osaka. It was a lot of fun, so we’re looking forward to being there again this year. Next month, on May 13^th, we’ll participate in the Kyoto Ji-Biiru Matsuri. In addition, Osaka-based craft beer enthusiast and entrepreneur Ajen Birmingham has organized a couple events featuring Baird beer in the last several months. His next event, called Beer Base Live, will take place on September 22^nd in Umeda. 

What plans, if any, does Baird Brewing have to expand its presence in the Kansai region? 

We currently own and operate four Taproom-restaurants. The original one is in Numazu (Shizuoka Prefecture), where our brewery is located. There are two Baird Taprooms in Tokyo (Nakameguro and Harajuku) and one, at Bashamichi, in Yokohama. We would love to have a Taproom in Kansai!  Before we can embark on new Taprooms, though, we need to build a new brewery. All of our current resources – human and financial – will be focused on that project for the next year to eighteen months.  Our new brewery should expand our capacity by a factor of five, so once it’s operational we’ll be looking for thirsty folks in Kansai with whom to enjoy a pint or two.

While planning and analysis are important, serendipity also plays a big role in Taproom planning. We tend to move quickly when the stars align around city, neighborhood, people/partners, and food concept. A good example is our Bashamichi Taproom in Yokohama, which opened in January of last year. In the space of about ten days we decided on Yokohama; hired an accomplished and passionate practitioner of Texas-style barbeque, Chuck Morrow, to be our pitmaster/tencho; and found a amazing three-storey building in the bustling nightlife district of Bashamichi. The Taproom opened for business three months later. We’ve got a hunch that a similar alignment of the stars will happen before too long in one or more cities in Kansai.

What do you think overall about the growing scene in Osaka? 

We’re thrilled about the recent growth in interest in craft beer in Osaka. Minoh Brewing and Isekadoya Brewing are playing catalytic roles, as are the pioneering Kansai craft beer bars and retailers mentioned earlier. This energy, investment and passion notwithstanding, we think the Kansai region is significantly underserved relative to actual and potential demand for craft beer, and that tremendous room for expansion exists.

On a more sober note, sustainable growth in craft beer in Kansai and elsewhere in Japan, and the substantially greater retail investment required to support it, depend on the there being more good Japanese craft beer and significantly greater consistency in terms of product quality. Far too many Japanese craft beers are good to excellent one time and mediocre to horrid when one drinks a beer from the next batch two weeks later. Operational inconsistency is the kiss of death for any company or industry, especially those that manufacture food or beverage products. Unless brewery processes for controlling quality, (particularly on the “cold” side of the house where fermentation and packaging take place) are more rigorously understood and implemented, the current Japan craft beer boomlet risks losing momentum, just as the first, late-90s one did, as initial consumer excitement is overwhelmed by inconsistent, occasionally awful beer.

How might the growing Osaka scene compare with the Tokyo/Yokohama scene? 

Awareness of and interest in craft beer started much earlier in the Tokyo/Yokohama region than in Kansai, and the gap is growing. It seems like a new craft beer bar opens every couple of weeks in the Kanto region.  Moreover, craft beer’s penetration of the upscale dining market -- restaurants with a 10-page wine list but a single (industrial lager) beer option -- is accelerating in Kanto, albeit from a near-zero base. 

Kansai, though, is waking up, and we’re excited about some of the new projects now under way.  (Word has it that craft beer entrepreneur Ai Tani is now building a new place near Umeda that will offer draught beer on-premise and bottles for take-home. Ajen Birmingham is also rumored to be looking start a place.) 

It may only be a matter of time before Kansai’s legendary zest for good living, no where more in evidence than in its enjoyment of good food and drink, propels the availability of craft beer in the region to the same, or higher, levels as those in Kanto. We intend to play an active role in realizing this potential.

What are some of the biggest challenges facing the craft beer movement in Japan? 

The retail revolution needed to introduce more people to craft beer in Japan is in its infancy. More entrepreneurs are needed to start craft beer bars and, even more important, to include craft beer in existing and new restaurant formats, from fast casual to fine dining. 

In addition, large beverage distribution intermediaries -- tonya and gyomu oroshi -- need to study the unique attributes and handling requirements of craft beer and then make it more widely available in the marketplace. This part of the craft beer retail revolution took decades to happen in the US market, but most of the AB-InBev and Miller-Coors distributors in America now have specialty craft beer sales groups; in fact, as sales of industrial lagers like Bud and Bud Lite continue to stagnate or decline, craft beer is now the sole source of revenue growth and profit growth for these distributors.  The craft segment is fast approaching 10% of the US beer market. We’re betting that the same thing can happen in Japan.

Finally, as previously mentioned, Japanese brewers of craft beer must make more good beer and do so with greater consistency.  The “brew it and they’ll think it’s cool and drink it” phase of industry development needs to wind down at a much faster pace.  Japanese consumers are simply too sophisticated and too discerning. Fortunately, there’s more good beer this year than last year, and consistency of product quality is improving.  Japan is a country that reveres craftsmanship as well as freshness, variety and character in food and drink. We’re confident that these deeply rooted cultural influences spell a bright future for Japanese craft beer.

What challenges might be unique to the Kansai area? 

Kansai may be more culturally conservative that Kanto and therefore more measured in the pace with which it evaluates and embraces new ideas. It’s impossible to say if this is a factor in the relatively late start and slow pace of the region’s embrace of craft beer.  It’s clear, though, that there’s been awakening, and we’re delighted to be participating.

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That's it for the interview. I'll soon post a couple more interviews that fall under this "Kansai Special" label. Thanks for reading! 

Heady travels in the land of beer

During my two weeks in Oregon, I had but one (maybe more like one-half) can of Weasel Piss, the nickname my brother Phil and I use for mainline beer. In this case, it was a Pabst Blue Ribbon, partially consumed and then slapped from by hands by a smoking bartender as I (drunkenly and illegally) tried to carry it from a Pendleton bar to the sidewalk (oops).


(Disclaimer: I've been living in Japan for 3.5 years, and open container rules don't operate ... guess I was a bit rusty? Also you can drink in a car as long as you aren't driving that day, in which case it's zero tolerance.) 

Our choice to go to that bar in the first place was indeed a mistake, as we had already consumed plenty of booze from the Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub a few blocks east (this was a amid a series of mistakes that make up a larger story to be told at a later time).

But the bad decisions made on that night are overshadowed, perhaps, by the overall walk away from mainstream beer into an exclusive craft beer diet (I also did not drink an ounce of soda/pop on the trip ... a first for me).

Where better than Portland, Oregon, and a couple other Oregon towns, to stay on a The Path of good beer. On my first day in Portland, Phil and his fiancee and I went to the Hopworks Urban Brewery for a delicious pizza a couple of pints. My first choice was my first craft crush: IPA. Among the three of us, we sampled about five different offerings from HUB, and all were very nice.

HUB's claim to fame, besides the good beer they produce, is that it is an organic and sustainable operation, concepts that fit in perfectly in Portland. The place was busy on an early-vacation-period weeknight, with a 30 minute wait for tables in the dining room. Over in the bar, though, you can seat yourself if you find a table. Phil's fiancee, Julia, managed to score a table after a successful bout of hovering near a guy who looked to be almost done (he had two growler's full of delicious-looking beer).

We tapped in to the growler scene ourselves down Interstate 84 in Pendleton. My mother recently moved from 10 minutes out of town to a loft overlooking downtown. Imagine a loft, then think bigger. The cascading space features high ceilings with vents snaking across them, gaping windows looking out on a snow-covered main street, and a loft-within-the-loft to break up the vast real estate spanning from the kitchen to the eastern wall.

And to top off the beautiful surroundings, the apartment sits a few minutes away from the freshly opened (well, fresh as in it opened in 2010) Prodigal Son Brewery and Pub, at present Pendleton's only craft brewery (bar chat revealed rumors of a possible brewery in the works, though noting is official). The large seating area, though rarely full when we visited, has a very homey ambiance, and we felt very comfortable sitting down on chairs and couches around what we might call a coffee table if it wasn't in a brewpub.

In all we made three visits here, plus one growler fill for the road (the road back to the apartment, not the one back to Portland -- I haven't totally forgotten Oregon liquor laws).

I had a short fling with their IPA, boldly declaring it my favorite IPA of the trip so far, though this was later retracted when I met a Stone Ruination IPA at a bottle shop in Portland.

Prodigal Son is picking up steam as their beers are making the trip to Portland-area tap houses and getting noticed in the amid the crowded craft scene in Oregon.

My eventual favorite of the bunch, the Bruce/Lee Porter, was recently honored with the "Satori Award" for 2010 on an Oregon beer blog. 

The next stop on my beer journey was Corvallis, where I attended Oregon State University and where my dad and stepmother live. Corvallis now boasts two local brewpubs (in addition to a pair of northwest chain McMenamins locations). For a late lunch one day, I headed to the only one I hadn't been to: Flat Tail Brewing.

Here, I went directly for the tasting tray, which featured eight beers (seven by Flat Tail and one guest beer from Ninkasi of Eugune). I found the line-up very enjoyable, and ended up picking the Amber as my favorite owing to its wonderful balance.


One brewpub per town was not the end of my craft beer experience in Oregon. Even trips to the supermarket feature a wide selection of craft beer (convenience stores, too, stock a few varieties beyond Bud Light).

For an even larger selection, I made two trips to Belmont Station, a bottle shop with a tap room attached. Being a Japan beer blogger, I inquired about what Japanese beer they had available or have had in the past. No sign or memory of Ise Kadoya, though I believe it's available in another shop in town. Also nothing from Baird, though they guy at the register said they used to have it. He said it didn't sell very well. This was a little surprising, so I asked if he had any idea why. He did not. My guess could be that if people are looking for a beer from Japan, they want something that screams "JAPAN" - and perhaps the Western name isn't Japanesey enough. Or something. I could be way off. For whatever reason, only a small selection of Hitachino Nest shares space with Asashi Super Dry in the Japan section of the "other" category in the world beer area.

Now, it's back to a rotation of Yona Yona, Ise Kadoya, and whatever else I can get my hands on without dropping too much cash.

Today, it shall be exactly that at a sukiyaki dinner. We got six Yona Yonas and a host of Ise Kadoya options, ranging from the standard pale and brown ales to a seasonal maple cinnamon offering. 

I'll return later with a post looking ahead to the new year, which may reveal a bold New Year's resolution that will probably be impossible to keep. Cheers!

Baird Brewing in The Huffington Post

Baird Brewing gets plenty of attention in the Japan craft beer universe, but once in a while the spotlight shines from afar. Today, The Huffington Post features an interview with Bryan Baird himself.

Among other things, Baird says that 10 years deep, "we seem to have gained real traction and
achieved that magical sort of critical mass. Our three gold medals in the 2010 World Beer Cup certainly didn't hurt things either."

So things are going well. Reading more of the interview, it's not hard to see the ingredients of success, like Baird's commitment to character, which he describes as "the interplay of balance and complexity." Too many craft beers in Japan, Baird says, have complexity, but lack balance (while the big brewery offerings have balance but ... you know the rest).

Another interesting comment from Baird was in response to a question about the "Japanese"-ness of Baird beer:

We enjoy lovely soft water in Numazu that really contributes a round and balanced house character to our beers. In the Japanese aesthetic, harmonious balance is greatly prized. I think Baird Beer is a liquid embodiment of that Japanese aesthetic value

Looking ahead, Baird sees good things for the craft beer market in Japan. He says he can picture the market share for craft beer in Japan jumping from less than 1 percent (today's figure) to something more akin to the numbers in the U.S. (4 percent by volume and 7 percent by dollar) within 10 to 20 years.

The full interview has a lot more interesting items to digest, so give it a read.