Love BBR, also CBR.
Do you do all grain or extract? I'm still an extracter (extractor?), myself. It's hard to get equipment in Japan. But I met a guy online who lives here and does all grain, and I'm hoping he can be my sensei. Also, no one uses central heat/air over here, each room is heated/cooled individually. So that means each room has wild temperature swings for much of the year, which makes our precious precious yeast unhappy, and we cannot have that. However, my wife doesn't like the idea of leaving the air conditioner blasting 24hrs for a tub of microorganisms.
I got into homebrewing because the choice of beers here is so limited, and imports are expensive. US$4 for a bottle of Sam Adams in the supermarket. Forget about finding Sierra. Unlike the US, Japanese people like Japanese beer, so there isn't much variety in the market.
Also, the tax laws discourage craft brewing, though some are popping up anyway. I went to the Yokohama Craft Brew festival, and it was very cool. I do not recommend the wasabi beer, though <shudder>.
I tried listening to CBR, but couldn't get past the "beer snob" factor. I think Budweiser and some of the macrobrews do some amazing things with their beer, and from what I heard they use them as the butt of their jokes. I just know what I like and don't like in beer. I also like brewing for the history of it. I really want to make a George Washington porter. It would have been nice to make for his birthday yesterday, but ah well. Maybe next year. I also have done a hard cider that was very sour to start (like granny smith apples), but is mellowing in its old age. There are no shortage of apples and fresh cider places here in Michigan during the fall, so it makes sense to use as much as possible. Plus, you can freeze cider and drain off the liquid that doesn't freeze to get apple jack, which is pretty much apple vodka. Or so I hear.
I usually do extract with some steeped specialty grains to add unique flavors. I was in Japan in 2005 and was craving anything that wasn't Kirin or Asahi. They are okay, but variety is the spice of life.
As far as temperature goes, I try to brew the style with the time of year. I keep the beer in my basement which in the summer is a perfect 67 degrees most of the time. In the winter it gets down to 50 or so, which is okay for lagering. Ale yeast will work at lower temperatures, but it just takes a lot longer for them to do their thing. If possible keep them warmer for the first week so the yeast can really take hold, then move them somewhere colder if you need to.
That is great they have Sam Adams there. I never used to like SA until I tried their 2006 patriot pack. It consisted of George Washington's porter (which had licorice in it..awesome), a hard root beer, a hard ginger ale, and I think James Madison's rye stout. All of the beers were absolutely fantastic. I would love to get my hands on a bottle of their Utopias too, but it's over $100 per bottle. :-(
