Mizonokuchi Brewery

Mizonokuchi Brewery was launched by Local Dining Co., Ltd., which has shaped Mizonokuchi's dining scene for the past 12 years. Its president, Koji Sakakibara, is a pro in restaurant management.

The head brewer is Masashi Yasukawa, a former bartender. It's an unusual duo: a restaurant veteran and a former bartender, making beer with plenty of customer feedback baked in.

The flagship "Nokuchi Beers" series includes an IPA, pale ale, hazy IPA, and saison, and the pale ale won silver at the Japan Great Beer Awards 2022. That was in their first year of operation, too.

What makes it even more interesting is that they have their own farm. The farmhouse sour called "Actias" uses yuzu peel from that farm, and the "Utauto" series has included beers like a white peach sour ale and a Shonan Gold milkshake IPA. More recently, their Kveik IPA called "Skål" has also been getting attention. It's 6.0% ABV and 40.4 IBU.

They're located on the first floor of BOIL, a mixed-use complex renovated from the NTT Mizonokuchi Building. They have a 13-tap taproom, a bottle shop, and even original bread made from malt. You can enjoy it with pizza from their sister pizzeria.

They also regularly host a live music event called KAMOSU NIGHT, built around the concept of "brewed sake, brewed music, brewed connections." They really are trying to build a warm community where locals gather.