Barley and Grapes Ushiku Brewery

There’s a brewery in Ushiku that makes both beer and wine. It’s Barley and Grapes Ushiku Brewery. The name alone makes it clear they do both.

The representative, Tomoyuki Kakui, originally spent five years researching pharmaceuticals at GODO SHUSEI, a liquor manufacturer, but he wanted to make beer so badly that he asked to be transferred to the brewing division.

After that, he was assigned to the wine-making division at Ushiku Chateau, Japan’s oldest sightseeing winery, where he learned techniques for both beer and wine. Then in 2019, he went independent and launched Ushiku Brewery, together with his colleague Sano.

Exactly. What’s more, Kakui positions Ushiku not as an emerging wine region, but as a revitalized wine region, and he’s aiming to revive Ushiku wine together with beer.

Here’s the interesting part: they ferment white wine in beer brewing tanks, and age beer in wine barrels. They also make beer using wine yeast, and their concept is “Beyond the border,” crossing genre boundaries. Instead of keeping a fixed lineup, they keep changing the recipes.

They also make fruit saisons, and there are usually about 10 kinds on tap at all times. The direct sales shop is open on Friday evenings and on weekends, and they also do PET bottle sales by weight, so you can take some home too.