Marihana Factory

Marihana Factory in Kiryu has a great backstory from its representative, Sei Kurihara. He is from Iwate, graduated from the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Gunma University, and was an ordinary salaried worker before quitting his job at 40 to jump into the world of beer.

It was a simple motive: "I wanted to brew the beer I love myself." He trained at a brewery in Saitama, founded the company in 2020, and obtained a liquor manufacturing license in April 2021. By the way, the company name "Marihana" comes from the hop flower, "marihana".

The directly operated "BRYU" is right next to Kiryu Tenmangu Shrine. The first floor is a brewery and standing bar, and the second floor is a collaboration space with the hamburger shop "Ju the burger." Kurihara said he chose the location because "you can see Tenmangu Shrine, and it's close enough for university students to drop by casually."

The regular lineup includes Golden Ale (4%) and Belgian Wit (5%). The Wit is a fruity finish made with orange peel and coriander. And the biggest 특징 here is that they add an extract of "silk," a specialty product of Kiryu, to the beer. Silk's main component is amino acids, which apparently help fermentation start faster. They're conducting joint research with the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Gunma University.

On top of that, you can drink it as a tap-to-sale beer at 1.2 yen per ml, so you can try lots of different amounts little by little. Kurihara handles everything himself, from equipment investment to yeast management, and he runs such an ambitious schedule that the flavor changes every month.