Tsukuba Brewery

Tsukuba Brewery's brewery at the foothills of Mt. Tsukuba has a really interesting origin story. Its founder, Takayuki Nobutoki, originally ran a video production company.

When Tsukuba City was designated as a wine special zone, he helped out in a winery's vineyard. He says the idea started at the after-party after the harvest, when he thought, 'I wish there were beer made in Tsukuba.' In 2020, he launched it as Tsukuba City's first brewery.

Then, in spring 2024, he moved the brewery to the foothills of Mt. Tsukuba, where they use natural water pumped from about 90 meters underground as brewing water. It's medium-hard water with a hardness of around 150 mg/L, rich in minerals. That boosted production capacity by about six times, letting them make over 120,000 bottles a year.

'Shihō Amber Lager' is named after 'Shihō,' another name for Mt. Tsukuba. Then there's 'Kagai IPA,' which is inspired by Tsukuba, the site of the uta-gaki mentioned in the Manyoshu. More recently, 'Konjiki-hime IPA' was selected for Tsukuba City's certification program, 'Tsukuba Collection,' and it's been getting attention.

They've won awards two years in a row at one of the country's biggest craft beer judging events, and they also use local ingredients like Oda rice and Fukure mikan as adjuncts. What's more, the spent malt from brewing is turned into feed at a chicken farm in the city, and that chicken then appears on restaurant menus again. They're building a circular model.

Mr. Nobutoki himself says he wants it to become a job rooted in the community that lasts 100 years. They're also planning to start growing their own barley and hops, and their products are sold in about 100 stores nationwide, so I think they'll only get bigger from here.