Baird Natsumikan Summer Ale is an extraordinarily unique beer that was an immense challenge to brew. Wheat and barley combine in equal proportions as the base malt; Japanese candy sugar contributes five percent of the fermentables; and freshly peeled and crushed natsumikans (Japanese summer mikans) from both Shizuoka and Fukuoka are added to the kettle at the end of wort boiling (approximately 33 kg of natsumikans per 225 liters wort). The natsumikans from Shizuoka (the Heda garden of our carpenter friend, Nagakura-san) are quite large, grapefruit-like mikans with a distinct grapefruit-like tart and sour character. The Fukuoka mikans (from the Kita-Kyushu orchard of beer enthusiast and friend, Tago-san), on the other hand, are smaller, sweeter and more orange-like in character. Aprroximately 75% of the natsumikans we used come from Shizuoka and 25% from Fukuoka
