The original craft beer "Friday 5pm," created by SHIBUYA CAST, was featured on the "Shibuya Culture Project" program on the community FM station "Shibuya Radio," which aired on October 1st. Guests included Tokyu's Nanami Yoshida, Yokohama Fun Company's Hayato Yokouchi, and Aoi Kudo. The three talked about the process and thoughts behind the creation of the beer.

SHIBUYA CAST and "SHIBUYA CAST. SCHOOL」

SHIBUYA CAST is a complex located where Meiji Dori and Cat Street intersect. The lower floors house shops and shared offices for creators, while the upper floors house shared houses and rental housing, making it known as a space where "living" and "working" come together.

SHIBUYA CAST exterior

SHIBUYA CAST. SCHOOL was launched this spring with the aim of creating a place for people who live and work in the facility to interact and create new value. The first program it undertook was craft beer brewing.

Yoshida of Tokyu, who is in charge of SHIBUYA CAST recalls, "We had held social gatherings before, but there was a growing demand for everyone to 'create something together,' so we started working on a craft beer-themed initiative."

The beer seminar was run by Yokouchi and Kudo of Yokohama Fun Company. The two originally worked at Yokohama Beer, and founded the company on April 23rd last year, which was Craft Beer Day, and have been working on projects in collaboration with the local community and businesses. Kudo has an unusual background as a former nurse, and is such a lover of beer that she says, "I love beer so much that I jumped into Yokohama Beer."

Four "Beer Seminars"

A beer seminar. Participants exchange ideas in a friendly atmosphere while drinking beer.

The craft beer making took place over a total of four seminar sessions from spring to summer.

1st session (April): The lecturer was Satoguchi Sora, a brewer at the brewery Satobushi Bashamichi. Participants learned basic knowledge and participated in a tasting experience to find the beer that best suits their tastes.

The second session (May) was themed "Craft Beer and Urban Development," and involved Yokouchi introducing examples from Yokohama, and listening to Nakamura Genki, who is involved in the "NEWS PROJECT," which transforms ingredients from all over the country into new processed products, talk about his activities on Cat Street, and thinking about the relationship between beer and local communities. "Of course, I had a craft beer in one hand during the seminar (laughs)," he said, adding that people who were meeting for the first time were able to communicate through beer and come up with some good ideas.

Third session (June): The theme was "label design," and participants learned about examples from illustrator Isogai Hitoshi, who has worked on artwork for several craft beer makers, and held a workshop. "Because SHIBUYA CAST is a place where creators gather, the level of the participants' designs was very high. There were a lot of interesting ideas," said Kudo.

Each group presented a plan for "Beer you want to drink at SHIBUYA CAST in September."

4th session (July): A workshop was held in which each group came up with the name, concept, and flavor of the "beer you want to drink at SHIBUYA CAST in September." Team A proposed "C3B2," a beer with a complex flavor that expresses the diversity and creativity of SHIBUYA CAST, and Team B proposed "Friday at 5pm," a refreshing beer to enjoy while watching the sunset at the start of the weekend.

Ultimately, a survey was conducted among people who work and live at SHIBUYA CAST, and the decision was made to go with plan B, "Friday at 5pm." "5pm is a little early at the end of the week, but I hope people will go ahead and drink it and enjoy it," said Yokouchi, emphasizing the deliciousness of drinking beer while feeling a sense of guilt.

The completed "Friday at 5pm"

On Friday, September 5th, a launch event was held at SHIBUYA CAST, where seminar participants, lecturers, and other related parties gathered. Unfortunately, the day was hit by a direct typhoon and it rained, but Kudo said, "We had a toast with everyone who had gathered after work." At the event, a natural exchange took place as people looked back on the history of the project.

Participants will be involved in the actual brewing and labeling processes, experiencing the entire process of making beer.

The beer was brewed by Satoguchi-san of "Sabushi Bashamichi." It's a Juicy Brut IPA style beer with an alcohol content of 5%. The Brut IPA has been given a tropical aroma, resulting in a refreshing urban taste.

Regarding the taste, Yoshida said, "As an IPA lover, it was perfect for me. It was really delicious," and added that the beer that everyone had worked together to create over six months was impressive.

The completed version of "Friday 5pm" will be sold at the cafe "Marked Shibuya" inside SHIBUYA CAST and the Shibuya Tokyu Food Show in the basement of SHIBUYA MARKCITY, as well as at restaurants "KAMERA" and "Tenki," and at the restaurant "ONDO" on the first floor SHIBUYA STREAM which will open in October.

Although some participants in this seminar were non-beer drinkers, the value of the experience was evident in everyone sharing the process and "creating something together." Regarding the future of SHIBUYA CAST.SCHOOL, Yoshida said, "We've received positive feedback that when members of the cast pass each other, they naturally start talking to each other as colleagues who worked together in group projects," and added that they will consider new themes for the second session.

This craft beer was born from the interaction of the local community. The flavor is available in limited quantities, so if you're interested, why not try it early?

★Please listen to the Shibuya Radio broadcast of "About the Beer Seminar" below.

Venue

Interviews and writing

Editorial Department: Takashi Fujii

Shibuya registrar. In addition to Shibuya of Culture information, seasonal news and topics, it will spell write that feel every day.