Sankt Gallen Brewery

Sankt Gallen's story is basically the history of Japanese craft beer itself. They call themselves the "original local beer brewery," and that isn't just empty boasting.

In 1994, the Liquor Tax Act was revised and small-scale brewing was legalized in Japan, but Nobuhisa Iwamoto of Sankt Gallen had already started making beer in San Francisco back in 1993, before that happened. Since they couldn't brew in Japan, they got a license in the U.S., made it there, and imported it back to a dim sum restaurant in Roppongi.

Yes, it started when his father, Mitsuo Iwamoto, opened the brewpub "Cafe Pacifica" in San Francisco. This activity was featured in TIME and NEWSWEEK, which then spread to Japanese media and, in the end, helped push the lifting of restrictions on local beer.

After they built the factory in Atsugi in 1997, the local beer boom faded and they were no longer able to produce beer in 2001. They revived as a new company in 2003. I like how they climbed back up from rock bottom.

First, "Imperial Chocolate Stout." It was a seasonal Valentine's beer, and when it was released in 2006, 6,000 bottles sold out in one week. In 2008, it won the Grand Gold Medal at Monde Selection. Then there's "Shonan Gold," a spring and summer seasonal beer made with off-grade citrus fruit developed by Kanagawa Prefecture, and every brewing season they post on Instagram when the fruit arrives.

They also make brown sugar sweet stout and sweet vanilla stout, so they're pioneers of dessert beers too. They've opened the door not just for regular beer fans, but also for people who don't usually like beer. You can buy them at Aeon Liquor in Atsugi, and you can send them as gifts on LINE Gift, so they're pretty easy to get into.