Kirizumi Brewery

Kirizumi Brewery is still pretty new, but its location is incredible. It's a 4-minute walk from JR Yokokawa Station, right next to Oginoya, famous for its tōge no kamameshi.

Exactly. From the second-floor balcony you can see the whole back side of Mount Myogi, and inside it's a stylish space where the warmth of wood and modern design coexist. You can see the brewing tanks through the glass. Apparently there's a French phrase on the wall that says, "Great beer is born here."

I think that's exactly the idea. And as for the beer, the flagship is "YOKOKAWA STEAM." It's a California Common style, where lager yeast is fermented warm, almost like an ale.

It has the rich malt character and crisp bitterness of a lager, with a gentle hop aroma floating through it. It has both the sharpness of a lager and the depth of an ale. The label design draws on the Shinetsu Main Line, featuring Mount Myogi, the Megane Bridge, tōge no kamameshi, and a yatagarasu, so they're packing the railway heritage and local memory into the beer.

They've already expanded to seven taps, and they've also released a limited ESB called "#923xESB." It has a gentle, real-ale-like character, and the number 923 probably refers to something connected to Usui Pass. For a brewery that's been open less than a year, that's an aggressive pace.

Exactly. Having a new destination like craft beer added to Yokokawa as a sightseeing spot is a big deal.