Hikone Beer

Hikone Beer’s Kojin-yama Brewery has a rather unusual origin. It didn’t start with a brewer saying, "I want to make beer here"; it began with Professor Osamu Ukai of the University of Shiga Prefecture taking on the challenge of finding a way to make use of the long-abandoned non-agricultural land on Mount Kojin.

Exactly. In 2017, a "brewery as an agricultural product processing facility" was proposed, and the local community, the university, and the local company Hashimoto Group invested to establish Hikone Beer Co., Ltd. in 2019. It opened at the foot of Mount Kojin in May 2021.

The head brewer is Nagisa Kojima. She says, "Because the flavor can change easily with temperature and humidity, I check the conditions every day and make adjustments," so she’s the kind of craftsperson who values daily fine-tuning. She runs it side by side with director Kaori Mizuno.

The five core beers are Pale Ale, Red Ale, AOZORA IPA, Porter, and Ishidera Weizen. The Porter won gold at the 2022 Japan Great Beer Awards. It is characterized by roasted aromas like coffee and chocolate, and pairing it with chocolate is recommended.

It’s a wheat beer made with raw wheat grown in Ishidera Town, where the brewery is located. It has a mellow, gentle taste. Another special beer is "Shisei," a university-industry collaboration beer brewed entirely from 100% Hikone-grown ingredients.

They’ve launched a project called "ALL HIKONE BEER," in which local residents and university students grow barley and hops together. They also conduct joint yeast research with Nagahama Institute of Bio-Science and Technology, and their limited-edition ale "Chayu Ichie Ale," made with hojicha from a Japanese tea specialty shop, was also well received.

The building is impressive too: it’s a single-story wooden structure with exterior walls made from reeds from Lake Biwa, and it’s designed to ventilate using natural light and breezes from Lake Biwa. It won the Sustainable Space Award at the 2021 Japan Space Design Award. There’s also a terrace seating area and a dog run, so you can drink while looking out over the rural landscape at the foot of Mount Kojin.