Matsudo Beer

At Matsudo Beer Yagiri Roastery, I want you to pay attention to brewer Yukiko Watanabe.

Right. And her grandfather ran a sake brewery in Niigata, so she has brewing DNA. She studied at a brewing school in Tokyo and trained at a microbrewery in Tochigi. She started a shop called Eidai Brewing in 2017, but it closed because of the building, and she relaunched in Matsudo in 2019.

The brewery is interesting too. It's in a renovated 53-year-old traditional house about a 3-minute walk from Matsudo Station's east exit. It has white plaster walls and the warmth of wood, with counter seating, table seating, and standing room. They brew on a super small 130-liter scale, so it really feels handmade.

Pretty small. That's exactly why they're so nimble. Their regular Matsudo Pale Ale, nicknamed UKON, is an American Pale Ale, and their IPA, Benitobi, is also popular. They also keep releasing seasonal happoshu made with fruit and rice harvested locally in Matsudo.

It does. Matsudo is a bedroom town about 20 minutes from central Tokyo, but it's an area where a lot of pears and vegetables are grown. Also, Takaiichi Yamada, known as the "Beer Old Man," brews with them too, so they work as a two-person team. They also set up at events like the Ryutetsu Beer Train and the Tokiwa-daira Sakura Festival.

It's an event where they charter a local line called Ryutetsu and enjoy beer. A brewery in a traditional house, ultra-small production, seasonal beers made with local ingredients, and beer events on a local train. Breweries that are rooted in the community like this make you want to support them, don't they?