Honjo Ginza Brewery

Nakata Sho from Honjo Ginza Brewery has a dramatic backstory. He graduated from Toyo University, worked as a company employee, then switched to a local cram school, and when he had nose surgery at 25, his sense of taste awakened.

While studying in Australia, he realized beer's power to attract people. After learning at a beer workshop in Tokyo, he spent three years training in English-style brewing at Preston Ale Brewery in Tochigi. His family has run a long-established joinery shop since the Meiji era for more than 100 years, and he said, "I want to launch a business that can last 100 years too."

The biggest feature of this brewery is that it brews with Honjo City's hard water. It's rich in calcium and minerals, which really brings out the malt's umami. They also use rice koji from within Honjo City in every beer.

Exactly, that's what makes Honjo Ginza unique. Its flagship "Rin to Shite" is a blonde ale with a clean, lemon-like flavor. "DOLCE" is a stout made with cacao and hazelnut syrup, and it won gold in the dark ale category at JGBA 2024. It also has "Honjo Golden Bitter" and the smoked-malt "Rauchbier".

On Ginza-dori, a 5-minute walk from the north exit of Honjo Station, there's a taproom with around 10 seats, and Nakata himself pours the beer. Their crowdfunding campaign drew over 2 million yen from 225 people, and they opened in a property owned by a classmate, so it's deeply rooted in the local community.