On December 15th, 2012, Oshita Masaji, the president of Minoh Beer, passed away. The Masaji Beer Project brings together ten fellow breweries from the craft beer industry to create beers in his memory. As an expression of deep thanks for the outpouring of support from countless others, and as a way to further celebrate the craft beer industry as a whole, Minoh Beer will also be participating to round out this project at eleven breweries.

The theme is simple: a special beer inspired by President Oshita. There are no style guidelines and each brewer designs this limited beer from his or her own memory of Oshita. The beers will be released with names inspired by Oshita, or related to him in some way. For details and updates, see the Minoh Beer homepage: www.minoh-beer.jp

The brewing has already begun and kick-off events will be held on March 2nd in both Osaka and Tokyo. Close on the heels of those two big events, beer pubs all across Japan will have their own individual kick-off events starting from the 3rd. Minoh Beer is grateful for the support of all these beer pubs and their cooperation in serving these original, unique beers from the eleven participating breweries.

President Oshita loved such gala. We want more than anything for beer fans to simply have a blast—so grab a delicious glass of beer in one hand and reminisce about old Masaji.

Sale period: from March 3rd until the beer runs out
-Different breweries will be making different amounts; please inquire with individual breweries.
-The beers will primarily be served from kegs, but six breweries will also be bottling; please inquire with individual breweries about availability.
-The sale launch will be later, but sets with all six will be available from the Minoh homepage.

Participating breweries:
Isekadoya (Mie)
Iwatekura (Iwate)
Sankt Gallen (Kanagawa)
Shiga Kogen Beer (Nagano)
Johana Beer (Toyama)
Swan Lake Beer (Niigata)
North Island Beer (Hokkaido)
Fujizakura Beer (Yamanashi)
Baird Beer (Shizuoka)
Harvest Moon (Chiba)
Minoh Beer (Osaka)

Kick-off Event Osaka
3/2, 3pm to 12am
Beer Belly Tenma
Those brewers that are able will be in attendance to pour their Masaji beer, tell stories of Oshita and interact with beer fans. There will be live music between 5pm and 6pm.

Kick-off Event Tokyo
3/2
Beer Bar Ushitora (Shimokitazawa)
Ushitora will be holding their event the same time as the Osaka event, serving Masaji Beers to fans in the big metropolis. It will also be Ushitora’s anniversary party!