Tazawako has more than a few unique charms, including one craft brewery whose consistent excellence we can’t overemphasize. We first visited years ago and were pleased to recently discover that Tazawako Beer has only gotten better with time. Too few people beyond this quiet corner of Akita are familiar with the beer, but it’s never…

Aqula beer has made its way into the consciousness of many a Japanese craft beer drinker these days, in part because of its growing availability. We stopped in during a snowy night in March, taking a brief respite from relief efforts in Tohoku, and then again during Golden Week to make sure it was really…

Iwatekura brewer Niwa Satoshi was back and it was good to see him doing what he does best: making some of Japan’s finest craft beer. The boiler had been repaired where, weeks before, just after the quake, they had propped it up with kegs to keep its legs from buckling further and falling over. A…

Yokohama is the birthplace of beer in Japan. Present-day juggernaut Kirin was, in 1870, a small facility founded on the Yamate bluff by one William Copeland, a young Norwegian who had Anglicized his named after having naturalized in America. Called the Spring Valley Brewery for the spring from which it sourced its excellent water, it…

Launching a small brewery in Japan is not, at present, that easy to do, in large part because you have to obtain a brewers license from the tax department. This is a painfully intricate process. It starts with submitting the necessary forms to the tax department. These include a license application, a business plan, a…