Brewer's Note: Space Q

Kumiko-san from Lakes Farm is the person who sparked our interest in farmers. Alongside growing rice and other crops in the same city of Yasu, she had been cultivating pesticide-free blueberries for many years.
Every year, she produced a naturally fermented mead named "Kumiko," but 2024 marked the end of her blueberry cultivation. Growing blueberries without pesticides is, quite simply, incredibly labor-intensive.

Helping with the harvest was hard work, and the increasingly hot seasons only made it more demanding. I thought that for these final blueberries, instead of a standard natural fermentation, I wanted to create a flavor so interesting it would send them blasting off into space.

That is how Space Q was born. The Q stands for Qumiko-san. It sounds like "Queen," doesn't it? Wonderful, right?

〈Yasu→Universe〉
There is a tea farmer in Shizuoka whom we adore, named Mohei-san. His dream is "to grow tea on the moon." Inspired by him, we decided we wanted to send our favorite farmers into space, too. And our first target was Kumiko-san.

The moon is cool, gravity is low so the physical burden would be lighter, and best of all, there are no pests. It seems she could continue her blueberry cultivation there.

Simply using Kumiko-san's blueberries wouldn't create a product with the impact needed to fly to space. So, we decided to use herbs grown in our own field.

Fennel, basil, and lemon verbena.

〈Tasting Note〉
A red-purple hue overflowing with fruitiness, with some cloudiness. The aroma brings out blueberry and cassis, followed by the scent of basil. On the palate, the acidity, sweetness, and exotic aromas fill the mouth. It can also be enjoyed well-chilled.

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Style: Speciality
ABV: 8%
Carbonation: Yes
Volume: 500ml
Ingredients: Honey, blueberries, herbs
Sweetness (1-10 scale): 6 (Sweet)
Recommended Serving Temperature: Well-chilled (4-8℃)
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〈Mead making〉
We finely chop the herbs freshly picked from our field and extract them as a herbal tea. We then mix this with honey and blueberries for the primary fermentation. The blueberries are left in the mix during fermentation for a few days. Finally, we remove the blueberries, apply heat treatment, and then carbonate to finish.