There are now many microbreweries all over Japan that produce beer on a small scale. There are about 20 breweries here in Okinawa, each producing unique craft beer. Miyagi Cliff has been brewing beer for six years. His flavorful beers, which are made by actively incorporating ingredients unique to Okinawa, are attracting attention.
Beer culture encountered while living in the English countryside
CLIFF GARO BREWING is a beer brewery and beer restaurant located in Okinawa City, in the center of Okinawa’s main island. The person who brews the beer and runs the restaurant is Miyagi Cliff, who grew up in Okinawa. Miyagi is a painter and designer, and he also designs the beer labels.
Cliff Garo Brewing produces a variety of beers, mainly in the ale style, including white ale, pale ale, and saison. Bottled beer is available for purchase, and the restaurant has about seven or eight types of draft beer on tap at all times, as well as a wide variety of food that goes well with beer. They also hold monthly exhibitions of works by local artists. One of Miyagi’s ideas from the beginning was to create a space where people could enjoy art while sipping beer. The “GARO” in CLIFF GARO BREWING also means “art gallery.”
After working in various jobs in Okinawa, Miyagi went to art school in London at the age of 29 to study painting. After graduating, he worked at an advertising agency while continuing his artistic endeavors. He married his wife, who is also from Okinawa, and had a child. They moved to Wales to live in a place rich in nature.
At the time, pubs in London were popular for their clear lager beer, which was served well chilled, just like in Japan, but in Wales, many locals preferred real ale, a traditional British beer, and there were many breweries, both large and small.
Real ale is a type of ale beer with a rich aroma and flavor, and is lightly carbonated and drunk at room temperature. The production method is also different from that of regular beer, and it is aged in a barrel laid on its side, like wine and whiskey, in the traditional British style.
An inspiring real ale festival
Though real ale is a local beer, it was being overshadowed by lagers and consumption of real ale was on the decline at the time. Meanwhile, in England, events were being held in old churches and other places to enjoy real ale in each region. He was deeply impressed by the efforts to preserve the culture, with adults and children alike enjoying these traditional places of relaxation for locals. One memorable scene was the sight of an old lady running a small brewery arriving carrying a barrel.
For Miyagi, this was his first encounter with beer as a culture rooted in the local community.
Returning to Okinawa, his desire to brew beer grew stronger.
Considering their children’s growth, the Miyagis considered whether to continue living in the UK or return to Okinawa, and decided to return to Okinawa. After returning, they continued working in design while also pursuing personal art for about four years, during which time they gradually began to feel a desire to “brew beer.”
They had only visited a brewery in the UK, but didn’t know how to make beer. While working, they received training in beer brewing, obtained a liquor brewing license, and started Cliff Gallo Brewing six years ago.
At first, he wanted to make the kind of beer that first got him into this world. “They’re not real ales because the casks are different, but I’ve completed two types of beer that resemble British-style real ales. When I had my acquaintances try them, they said they were delicious, but I felt like their eyes weren’t saying that. When I wondered why that was, I realized I hadn’t yet spoken to the Okinawan climate,” recalls Miyagi.
There’s no way he could make a profit by simply making something that was popular in an area with no humidity and a much lower temperature than Okinawa. After experiencing this for himself, he began to think about how he could make a beer that was unique to Okinawa and suited the climate and environment of Okinawa.
Okinawa-grown ingredients as beer accents
The main ingredients of beer are malt, hops, and yeast. They gradually started to incorporate Okinawan ingredients as secondary ingredients, and now they make seasonal beers using plenty of Okinawan fruits and herbs. These include pineapple, guava, kabuchi citrus, shell ginger, and karaki, also known as Okinawan cinnamon. Beers using these fruits are now Cliff Gallo Brewing’s main products.
One of their standard beers, “KAMMY TYLER,” is a white ale made with Okinawan wheat, coriander seeds, and kabuchi. It has a light aroma, a clean mouthfeel, and a refreshing bitterness that is pleasant to the taste.
Most of the malt, hops, and yeast are imported, but they grow barley with the help of a farmer they know, and they use some of that malt. After sowing the seeds, they regularly mow the grass together with the staff.
Storytelling in beer product names
Many of his beer names are derived from the names of people he knows. “KAMMY TYLER” is named after farmer Kami Taira. “MANNAR SHOW,” a fruit saison made with cherries, is named after farmer Manna Shogo. He places more importance on the sound of the name than on the meaning, and gives it a similar sound to a European name.
Miyagi considers his work as a painter and designer to be the same as his work as a beer brewer in terms of “expression.” His work, which uses colorless malt to bring out the color of the fruit, is just like painting. For Miyagi, not only what is perceived visually, but also the name of the beer and the taste of the beer itself are forms of expression.
There are many points that need to be adjusted from brewing to completion, such as the type of malt, yeast, and hops, how they are combined, the properties of the water used, and the fermentation temperature and time, and even a slight difference in the amount of adjustments can make a completely different product. There are countless things that need to be cared for and controlled. However, since it is a living thing, not everything can be controlled.
When designing the flavor of a new beer, about 85% of the design is done by imagining the taste, but the remaining 15% or so is deliberately left to the discovery of the final product.
We often go to farmers’ houses and harvest together with them for the fruits we use in our beers. By doing so, we can gain a deeper understanding of the crops themselves and learn about the joys and hardships of the farmers. We feel that the level of craftsmanship is different from buying them at the supermarket and preparing them.
Okinawa has many interesting ingredients that cannot be grown on the mainland, and because we feel there is still a lot of potential, we pursue the deliciousness of Okinawa by catching them.
Through the platform called Cliff Gallo Brewing, which includes breweries, restaurants, customers, farmers, and artists, connections and exchanges grow. We want to be a place where local people can enjoy themselves together.
Cliff Gallo Brewing will continue to freely and lightly brew local Okinawan beer that is close to the land, and to create a rich place where people can grow.
