Sakai Riverside Brewery

Did you know there’s a brewery inside the roadside station in Sakai Town, Ibaraki? It’s Sakai Riverside Brewery.

The representative, Ken Yasui, is the fourth-generation owner of Yasui Shoten, a liquor wholesaler founded in 1915. Then, when he visited Whole Foods Market in Hawaii in 2015, he was shocked to see hundreds of kinds of craft beer lined up.

He was especially taken with the American IPA’s "citrusy aroma and bitterness that seemed to spill out of the glass," and after returning to Japan he started brewing beer. Then, in 2018, he opened the brewery inside Michi-no-Eki Sakai.

It’s Sashima Tea Ale. It’s an American pale ale made with Sashima tea, a local specialty from the Sarushima region where Sakai Town is located, and it blends the citrusy aroma of hops with the flavor of tea, giving it a gentle taste that leaves you feeling relaxed when you drink it. It also pairs well with Japanese sweets.

And their pale ale won gold at the Japan Great Beer Awards 2020. They definitely have the skill too. Led by brewmaster Shuhei Banba, they’re also developing beers using local strawberries and tomatoes.

Also, just before opening, there was a equipment trouble that delayed the release by more than half a year. I think it really hits home how that experience made them resolve to "never cut corners." They brew with analog, handmade equipment, in a style where the craftspeople use all five senses.