Inawashiro Local Beer Hall

Inawashiro Local Beer Hall was founded in 1997 and is a pioneer of craft beer in Fukushima. This place is thoroughly authentic German style.

First, the brewing equipment is made by Caspar Schulz, a German brewing equipment manufacturer with a 330-year history. And the beer is brewed by a brewmaster who earned official qualifications in Germany. All beers follow the 1516 German Beer Purity Law, with no adjuncts, 100% malt, unpasteurized, and unfiltered.

Five standard varieties. First, the Pilsner is a balanced beer with bitter hops and aroma hops, and it won a gold medal at the International Beer Awards in 2011. The Weizen also won gold in 2006, and in 2015 it took gold at the Asia Beer Cup.

The Golden Angel is a reddish, malty lager, and it has also won gold three times. The Brown Weizen is a distinctive beer with smoked malt and banana-like fruitiness layered on top, and it won gold consecutively at the International Beer Cup in 2014 and 2015.

Rauch. It's a dark beer smoked with beechwood, and although it's smoky, it turns out surprisingly sweet and mellow when you drink it. It won gold at the 2016 Asia Beer Cup. The hops are from Hallertau, and the malt is from the Franconia region, all imported directly from Germany.

That's the brewery's biggest strength. It uses natural spring water from Mount Bandai as its brewing water. Lake Inawashiro is the fourth-largest lake in Japan, and the clean water from that watershed is the foundation. It is attached to a sightseeing facility called the World Glass Hall, and from the second-floor restaurant you can enjoy all five draft beers and homemade sausages while looking out at Mount Bandai.