Takikawa Craft Beer Workshop

Takikawa Craft Beer Workshop is one of the places you can't leave out when talking about "Sorachi Ace."

Exactly. It's a hop variety registered in 1984 in Kamifurano, Hokkaido. What's interesting is that it first caught on in the American craft beer scene, then came back to Japan in a sort of reverse import and started drawing attention here too. And the flagship beer here is the "Sorachi Pilsner" made with that hop.

Right. And this brewery is in a pretty unusual place too, inside the hot spring facility "Fureai no Sato." You can see the brewing equipment through the glass, so after your bath you can look at the beer and head straight for a glass.

It used to be home to another brewery called "SKY Beer," but that closed in 2005. After a 10-year gap, Taisetsu Ji-Beer from Asahikawa took over and brought it back in 2015. In other words, they kept the only brewery in the Sorachi area from going dark.

"Sorachi Ale" placed 4th in the Pale Ale category at the 2019 Japan Brewers Cup, and it also won an award at the National Craft Beer Quality Judging Competition. It's a seriously well-made beer, with muscat and citrus aromas and a crisp bitterness.

They also make a fruit beer called "Apple & Dry," which uses 77% juice from Takikawa-grown "Fuji" and "Asahi" apples. It's practically somewhere between apple juice and beer.