Episode 14 of the Snow Country Stories Japan podcast takes us once again to Nagano Prefecture and the rural enclave of Omachi. Located in the shadow of the Japan’s highest mountain range, the Hida Mountains – more commonly referred to as the ‘North Alps’ - Omachi is a largely agricultural area, known for its many apple orchards and it is here we find Son of the Smith Hard Cider brewery.
Son of the Smith & The Science of Cider with Ikeuchi Takuro
Opened in 2020, Son of the Smith Hard Cider are in many ways forging a new era for cider in Japan – a country that doesn’t have a strong cider tradition despite snow country prefectures including Nagano and Aomori producing an abundance of apple varieties. In this episode, I speak with head brewer Ikeuchi Takuro about the brewery’s founding vision and the cider they are now producing – work that is redefining what is possible when it comes to cider. As Ikeuchi-san explains during the interview, his background in organic chemistry underpins brewing techniques that respond to, if not embrace, the variation in apples from season-to-season. Such methods allow Son of the Smith to utilise apple varieties typically considered unsuitable for good cider while also adapting methods used in the United Kingdom, United States – including production of hop cider - and Europe to pioneer a new Japanese tradition.
With this mind, it should come as no surprise that Son of the Smith’s range of ciders changes markedly from year-to-year, as Ikecuhi-san and the brewery respond to the specifics of the growing season and best apples to use. A visit to the Son of the Smith website immediately reflects this, with the changing ciders produced each season shown on their homepage.
During our chat, Ikeuchi-san references Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider in Portland, Oregon and the influence that brewery had inspiring the team behind Son of the Smith to start brewing cider in Omachi. Sadly, as he explains, Reverend Nat’s will soon close and Ikeuchi-san wanted to acknowledge the importance of the brewery to the Son of the Smith story – and in-keeping with that, I’ve included a link to their website .
*All above images are the property of Son of the Smith and cannot be used without their permission.
As mentioned at the beginning of the episode, Omachi and the Son of the Smith brewery is located around 20 minutes drive to the south of Hakuba Village, putting it within easy striking distance of the popular ski resorts of Hakuba Valley. From Omachi you can also access the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route from Ogizawa Station. From there, a series of mountain transports ascends to Murodo Station at 2450 metres / 8038 feet and the famous Snow Walls of Tateyama – at their best from opening in mid-April until early June – along with fantastic hiking trails around Murodo Station, to the summit to Mount Tateyama (3003m / 9852ft) or more intensive, multi-day hikes in the alpine landscape of Chubu Sangaku National Park. I plan to dedicated full episodes to both Hakuba Valley and the Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route in future.
I’d like to express my sincere thanks to Ikeuchi-san for making time to speak with me and showing me around the brewery. That extends to the whole Son of the Smith team and for their permission to use the photographs included on this page, all of which are the property of Son of the Smith and cannot be used without their permission. I hope you enjoy!
Son of the Smith Hard Cider
https://www.instagram.com/sonofthesmithhardcider/
Ikeuchi Takuro
https://www.instagram.com/hardcider.jp/
Reverend Nat’s Hard Cider
https://reverendnatshardcider.com/
Hakuba Valley
https://www.hakubavalley.com/en/
Tateyama-Kurobe Alpine Route