Biwako Brewery

Biwako Brewery is basically the culmination of owner Yukiharu Makino's life.

Makino has loved beer since he was young, and for decades he drank his way through German, American, and domestic craft beers. While working in a different industry in Osaka, he kept studying beer, and in his 60s he decided, "I'm going to do what I love," and launched the brewery.

What's more, it opened in the summer of 2021, right in the middle of the pandemic. He chose Takashima City because he saw its potential as a water source area, where one-third of Lake Biwa's water flows in from Takashima.

The scale is impressive too: four fermentation tanks and eight lagering tanks. It's one of the largest craft breweries in Shiga Prefecture, and it also has a brick-built beer hall attached. It feels just like a German beer hall.

Six in total: pale ale, Kölsch, Weizen, stout, alt, and Adberry. Adberry is especially interesting: a fruit beer made with boysenberries grown in Azumigawa-cho, Takashima City, as a secondary ingredient. It has a rosé-wine-like mouthfeel, and the color is beautiful too.

And the retail price is only 440 yen a bottle. That's almost unheard of for craft beer. Even at the beer hall, it's 500 yen. A four-beer tasting set is 1,800 yen, and all six is 2,700 yen. You can enjoy it with Omi beef or tonchan-yaki.

Makino's wish was to let people casually enjoy good beer, and that shows in the price. Since he's spent decades drinking his way through beer, I think he wanted to lower the barrier. It's a great stop to make if you're traveling around the west side of Lake Biwa, just a 15-minute walk from JR Omi-Imazu Station.