At Fuji music fest, brewer will keep on rockin' in the beer world

Asahi Shimbun

01-07-2025

TOKIGAWA, Saitama Prefecture—As a craft beer brewer, Daichi Mori has often dreamed about serving the sprawling crowds at the Fuji Rock Festival, one of Japan's largest outdoor music events.
But as a musician, he has longed to actually take the stage at the annual festival held in the Naeba ski resort in Niigata Prefecture.
This summer, both of his dreams will come true.
COLLABORATION WITH BREWDOG
Mori, 45, who hails from Wako, also in Saitama Prefecture, has been attending the Fuji Rock Festival since his late teens.
The music lover was 28 when his indie band, Aureole, released its first CD. Making a clear departure from J-pop, the band pursued alternative rock music but without much success.
Mori decided to give beer-making a go during the COVID-19 pandemic when he was 40 because he found similarities between beer brewing and music.
'They both rock the heart,' he said.
Mori founded Teenage Brewing in Tokigawa in 2023 to produce original craft beers under the brand name Teenage, even collaborating with a major department store.
The concept of Teenage Brewing is 'Music is Beer.'
The brewer's idea of introducing beer that pairs well with music drew attention overseas and eventually led to a joint project with Scottish craft beer maker BrewDog.
This year, Mori sold a beer brewed in collaboration with BrewDog's main offering, Punk IPA.
And when a collaboration between BrewDog and the Fuji Rock Festival became a reality, Mori was entrusted with brewing a special beer.
His creation is called Fuji Rock Lager.
By adding hops at the end of the brewing process, the craft beer boasts a citrusy aroma and a sharp and clean aftertaste.
'As a Fuji Rocker, I made it as I thought about drinking it on hot summer days while listening to music in the great outdoors,' Mori said.
Teenage Brewing released a limited number of 350-milliliter cans of Fuji Rock Lager in late May. The beer will be sold from kegs at the rock festival.
SUPPORT MEMBER OF DOWNY
Mori never retired from live music.
In February, at a concert in Tokyo's Shibuya district, he was playing the sampler, an electronic instrument, on stage with downy, an influential alternative rock band formed 25 years ago.
Mori added unorthodox effects to the sounds by overlapping audio tracks edited from external recordings. The result was a rhythm with a complicated and irregular meter.
Last autumn, downy leader Robin Aoki asked Mori to join the group as a support member.
Although Mori was worried about whether he could double as a brewer and a musician, he practiced hard to get the tracks right before live performances.
'I've always had exchanges with the band members and respected them for many years,' Mori said. 'It's an honor, but it felt so otherworldly.'
Two days before the concert in Shibuya, it was announced that downy would perform at the Fuji Rock Festival.
'I had almost given up hope of standing on that stage as a musician, but a miracle happened,' Mori said.
The band released a new album and has been touring the nation since late May.
Mori has basically given up on sleep to continue rehearsing while thinking about recipes and ideas for his craft beers.
The group will perform on July 26, the second day of the Fuji Rock Festival.
After the performance at the big event, Mori intends to raise a toast to himself with his own beer.