Shinshu Suzaka Fruit Brewery

Shinshu Suzaka Fruit Brewery has a head brewer with an impressive background. His name is Yoichi Fukai, and he earned a doctorate in agriculture from Tokyo University of Agriculture and spent 37 years working at agricultural research institutions.

He spent all those years researching food development and quality evaluation, and was also involved in R&D for sake, vinegar, and natural cheese. He’s the kind of person who can take a scientific approach to bringing out the flavor of fruit. He took brewing training at Haneda Brewery before taking on the role.

Apple, Dry Apple, Apple & Cassis MIX, PREMIUM MIX, Peach & Cassis MIX, Fully Ripened Shine Muscat Ale, and Pale Ale. All of the fruit is grown in Suzaka, and the juice content is as high as 20 to 30 percent.

Not at all. It’s top-fermented with ale yeast, so you get the sweetness of the juice along with a light hop bitterness. It’s unpasteurized and unfiltered, so the yeast is still alive. They use German malt, Czech hops, and Suzaka’s soft water for brewing.

At the 2019 Autumn National Sake Competition in the local beer category, Apple & Cassis MIX took first place and PREMIUM MIX took third. The insight of a doctor of agricultural science really shows in the results.

This is interesting too: they renovated the former Welfare Enterprise Center building, which was built in 1970, and turned it into the brewery. It was a regional project that started in 2017 using a national regional revitalization grant, and at the unveiling event 100 people gathered and voted to decide the first product.