Yuluumu Brewing

There’s a brewery in Mito, right inside a super sento. Yuluumu Brewing.

It’s inside a facility called "SPA & Gohan Yuluumu." It was originally a super sento that closed in 2021, then was renovated and reopened in November 2023 by the Ibaraki Nissan Group in response to local demand. It’s a full-scale spa with things like an eight-tier tower sauna and private saunas, and there’s a craft brewery inside it.

That’s exactly the concept, and you can drink freshly brewed beer at the second-floor "Totonou Kitchen moimoi." SESSION IPA uses four American hops - Simcoe, Amarillo, Cascade, and Crystal - comes in at 5% ABV, and has an IBU of 40. It has a strong hop aroma, but because it’s a session beer, it stays light.

White Ale is a Belgian-style beer finished with coriander and orange peel over German Pilsner malt and wheat malt. Hazy IPA is 6% ABV, includes oat malt, and has a tropical character. They also have an American Pilsner.

Yeah, UME GOZE. It’s a gose made with Mito plums, and they sold it at the plum festival in Kairakuen. Since Mito is famous for plums, it’s about as locally rooted as a beer can get. They’ve also released anniversary editions, so they keep evolving.

And that’s not all - they also collaborate with Mito HollyHock, the J2 soccer club, selling White Ale at matches and releasing a J2 championship commemorative beer set. The label illustrations were done by TOA, the illustrator who appeared in the craft beer episode of "Matsuko no Shiranai Sekai."