Ushitora Brewery

Ushitora Brewery started out as a brewery founded in Shimotsuke, Tochigi by the long-established Shimokitazawa beer bar "Ushitora." It was born in 2012, and brewing began in 2014.

The Shimokitazawa shop is a landmark bar with 35 taps, and from there it became, "We want to brew our own beer too." They brought in brewer Akiou Terasaki, and Hiromi Uetake, who had been head brewer at COEDO, was also involved.

Exactly. And the biggest 특징 here is that they have no regular flagship products. They brew with a different recipe every time, and have released more than 200 varieties so far. Their slogan is "A brewery that seriously fools around," after all.

That's right. For example, "Sanjukk" is a triple IPA monster with 10% alcohol and IBU 100, while "Hatoppoppo Ale" is an original style made with hato-mugi, a specialty of Tochigi. They even have a Belgian White called "Omoshiroi Beer." Even the names are playful, right?

IBU 100 is completely over the top. But that's exactly what makes them them. They won first place in a popularity vote at a beer festival in 2017, and they're regarded as one of the top names in Japanese craft beer. They're centered on American styles, but because they're small-scale, their strength is that they can play around freely.

Yeah, they do direct factory sales by weight on Saturdays and Sundays from 11:00 to 15:00. The live feeling of never knowing what will be available when you visit is Ushitora's real essence.