Dragon Brewing

Dragon Brewing has a truly wild founding story. Five current teachers from the prestigious Tokai Junior and Senior High School in Nagoya launched a beer company. The team includes science, English, and Japanese teachers, plus two working adults.

The representative, Yuu Sugimoto, is a part-time biology teacher with knowledge of agricultural fermentation. He went on inspection visits to Belgium and Germany, and also spent a month training at Iwami Beer, a microbrewery in Shimane.

It all started in 2023, when they formed a business club at the school. Then in March 2024, they won the Startup Dragon-Gate entrepreneurship contest at the Nagoya Innovators Garage. In a sense, they passed through the Dragon Gate themselves.

The brewery itself is amazing too. It was renovated from the former company housing of the Nagaikenshinkan photo studio in Izumi, Higashi Ward, Nagoya City. The building has a history too, since it was originally a place where shamisen was taught to geisha. On top of that, the physics teacher even modified the brewing equipment himself and built the refrigeration system. It's all very DIY.

Their signature Mixed Berry Ale uses eight kinds of fruit, including grape, cassis, raspberry, cranberry, lingonberry, and blueberry, and has a wine-like taste. It is aimed at people who do not usually like beer, with a sweeter and lighter profile.

They also upcycle leftover cut fruit and thinning waste. Their Apple Pie Ale is brewed using processing byproducts from bread-crouton production at Hotei Shokuryo in Konan City. They are also pushing a botanical line with beers like Botanist Ale and Ginger Botanist Ale. You can buy it at Matsuzakaya Nagoya, and they are also scheduled to appear at TOMO MARCHE at Hoshigaoka Terrace in April.