Tochigi Micro Brewery

Tochigi Micro Brewery calls itself "probably Japan's smallest brewery," and the brewing space is only 7 tsubo. Tank capacity is 100 liters.

Not only can they make beer, they release more than 50 original varieties a year. The owner, Sadao Yokosuka, is a fascinating guy too. He originally ran a record shop in Utsunomiya. During the shift from records to CDs, he thought, "I don't just want to sell things, I want to make things," and when craft beer was legalized in 1994, he jumped into the beer world.

He went straight to the president of Nasu Kogen Beer and secured a place to train, then also trained at Echigo Beer and was involved in launching Nikko Beer. He finally opened his own brewery in 2008.

There's "Tochigi Blessings Premium," a fruit ale made with all of Tochigi Prefecture's strawberries, apples, pears, grapes, and passion fruit. It ferments with the brewery's own original yeast and is bottle-aged for over six months, at 9.5% alcohol. It's a limited release sold only twice a year, and it won gold at the 2021 International Beer Cup.

There's "Utsunomiya Garlic Chive Gyoza Beer," a beer with garlic chives in it; "Nikko Sansho Premium," made with Nikko-grown Japanese pepper; and even habanero beer. Their concept is to change what beer can be.

What's more, this guy also trains young brewers and has sent out about 30 brewers so far. There's also an in-store request board, and if a beer idea gets 10 votes, they actually brew it. Customers can help plan the beer.