Hayama Brewing

Hayama Brewing, officially called Brewstars Yacht Club, has a founder, Fumitake Kikuchi, with an incredibly interesting background.

Exactly. Kikuchi originally worked for a trading company in Tokyo, but on a business trip to Germany he was blown away by the local beer-hall culture known as a "Kneipe." He apparently wanted to bring that atmosphere, where strangers become friends over a single beer, to Japan too.

What's more, his father was the former captain of the Seijo University yacht club and used to sail dinghy yachts in Hayama. That's why all the brewery's beer names are nautical terms, like "470 Tack & Tack," "Snipe Hike Out," and "Starboard Pale Ale."

Exactly. And their track record is impressive too: they've won medals consecutively at the Japan Great Beer Awards, and they also placed second in the Märzen category at the International Beer Cup. The skills he honed at breweries in Tokyo and Nagano are clearly showing results.

The "470 Tack & Tack Guava Hazy Ale," for example, has a perfect balance of pink guava sweetness and hop bitterness, and the Kölsch-style "Snipe Hike Out" is light and easy to drink. They also have limited editions made with local Hayama yuzu and matcha.

The first floor is a taproom, with 4 of the 8 taps pouring house-brewed beer, and the second floor is a challenge kitchen space for entrepreneurs. It really feels like Kikuchi is aiming to create a place where makers gather, not just a place for beer.