Nagara Kicorin Brewery

Nagara Kicorin Brewery is run by a real lumberjack. The representative is Gentaro Inoue, nicknamed "Genta the Lumberjack."

He originally worked in video production, and he ran the macrobiotic cafe Hana da Rosso in Harajuku for 14 years. He switched to forestry after getting involved with Chiba University's NPO forestry project, and spent five years self-building even his own house in Mobara.

The turning point came when he saw cedar trees in Nagara Town toppled all over by the 2019 typhoon and thought, "It's too good to just burn." He self-renovated the brewery using timber from damaged cedar, and even has a plan to make a rauchbier by smoking malt with cedar leaves. He is brewing beer together with the trees.

The base is German-style, with Altbier, Weizen, Pale Ale, and Stout in winter. He is trained by Shinichi Shibata, a former brewer at Ginga Kogen Beer, and uses a method that traps naturally generated carbon dioxide as-is.

That was limited to 300 bottles, and it's characterized by the aroma of kumquats aged for three months and a crisp finish. It comes with a wooden tag called "KICOIN," which is also made from cedar branches and leaves. When you buy the beer, you contribute to satoyama restoration.

Exactly. She's someone who spent over ten years working at cafes in Tokyo, so having an Altbier with the woodcutter couple's cooking in a satoyama farmhouse is an experience you simply can't get anywhere else.