Banriharu Brewing

There’s a brewery called Banriharu Brewing in Tondabayashi, Osaka, and its origins are amazing. They renovated the sake brewery Banriharu Shuzo, which had been operating since the early Meiji period, into a craft beer brewery.

Yes, they’re making full use of a sake brewery that’s over 100 years old. And it’s located in Tondabayashi’s Jinai-machi, which is the only Important Preservation District for Groups of Traditional Buildings in Osaka Prefecture. This town prospered as a sake-brewing center from the Edo period, so this brewery feels like a continuation of that history.

This is where it gets really interesting. The head brewer, Shzo Minami, is a former firefighter. After serving as a firefighter for seven years, he retired and then spent four years traveling through 99 countries around the world.

He was inspired by craft beer cultures rooted in local communities all over the world and decided he wanted to brew his own. After returning to Japan, he trained at Ise Kadoya Brewery, Tono Brewing, and Iwami Beer, and he also served as brewmaster at Kamigata Beer. Then, while looking for his own brewery, he met Mototaka Ishida, the sixth-generation owner, and found his way to this brewery.

Their hazy IPA is incredible. It uses four hop varieties: Simcoe, Amarillo, Citra, and Mosaic, so it’s basically an aroma bomb. They also make something called Sake Ale, brewed with rice from Tondabayashi and sake yeast. It’s irresistible how the DNA of the former sake brewery is carried on through beer.

They use underground water fed by Mount Kongo, and since the Edo period it’s been known as the famous "Golden Water." According to Minami, beer brewed with this water has an especially soft mouthfeel. They also source seasonal fruit from local farmers for fruit beer, and they buy trout from the Chihaya River fishing area to make fish and chips. Their concept is "a restaurant that doesn’t make beer travel."