Yahiko Brewing

Yahiko Brewing is seriously interesting. The brewing manager, Kumiko Hanyu, actually used to hate beer.

Exactly. Kumiko used to work in sales administration at an auto dealership, while her younger brother Masakatsu studied brewing at Tokyo University of Agriculture and took over the family liquor store, Yayoi. One day, they came across a small-scale brewing method from Iwami, Shimane, using freezers at an antenna shop in Nihonbashi, Tokyo, and were blown away. That led the siblings to launch the brewery in 2019.

You know your stuff. Before opening, Kumiko trained for six months at Echigo Beer and Riot Beer, and because she herself dislikes beer, she has been relentlessly pursuing a "not bitter, fruity beer." The flagship, "Iyahiko Ale," is a rice ale that uses "Iyahiko Rice," a specially cultivated rice from Yahiko Village -- Koshihikari grown with 50% less pesticide and chemical fertilizer -- as an adjunct. It has a fruit-juice-like aroma and an elegant sweetness.

Exactly. And this Iyahiko Ale won silver at the Japan Great Beer Awards in both 2020 and 2021, and bronze at the International Beer Cup in 2020 and 2023. For a 40-square-meter brewery, that’s incredible.

What’s amazing is that every beer uses agricultural products from Yahiko Village or the surrounding area. The "Yahiko Shiitake Stout" includes locally roasted shiitake mushrooms, and the "Iyahiko Edamame Ale" uses edamame from "Yahiko Musume," a native variety cultivated since 1965. They also make beers with grapes, pears, kiwifruit, yuzu, and a sakura yeast IPA... more than 16 varieties in total.

Yeah, they actively buy what are called "hane-mono" -- agricultural products that can’t be sold because of their shape -- and that helps reduce food waste too. There’s a small taproom along the approach road right in front of Yahiko Shrine, with 10 counter seats where you can drink in, and eventually they want to use locally grown barley as well and become fully "Made in YAHIKO."