Yuki Beer Brewery

Do you know Yuki Beer Brewery? It's a small brewery in Yuki City, Ibaraki, but the founder is incredible. He used to be a junior high school principal.

Toshinori Tsukagoshi. He stood at the front of classrooms for 37 years, retired in 2018, and then launched the brewery at age 61 in 2019. Apparently, a hands-on brewing experience with Hitachino Nest Beer lit the spark.

Exactly, that's Tsukagoshi's creed, and the phrase he has kept telling his students for years. He said, "I want to leave proof that I lived." Through crowdfunding, he raised 1.76 million yen, and among the supporters were former students and their parents.

And the beer is interesting too. The flagship Yuki Style IPA uses two to three times the usual amount of hops and sells out quickly at events. Another signature is Tsumugi Ale.

Exactly. It's an ale made with mulberries, the fruit eaten by the silkworms whose silk becomes Yuki Tsumugi. A fruity sweetness spreads first, then a toasted aroma lingers at the end. It's being developed as a beer that embodies "the very essence of Yuki."

There are others too: Yuzu Ale uses locally grown yellow yuzu and is the top choice among women; Premium L.B. is the flagship in the New England IPA style. Chocolat, a stout, is an unusual one you can enjoy chilled or hot. Each batch is only 150 liters, so it's handmade to the extreme.

Right now, they're training the next generation of former students as regional revitalization volunteers, with an eye toward business succession. Eventually, his dream is to hold a beer festival in Yuki. The teacher's challenge still isn't over.