Tsukarenaosu Brewery

The name Tsukarenaosu Brewery is already impressive: in Palauan, it means "to drink and soothe away fatigue."

The brewer, Kensuke Suga, is 35 and from Ibaraki. After working seven years at a manufacturer as a new graduate, he moved to Tamba-Sasayama, his wife’s hometown, and learned beer-making at Tamba Road Brewery. He initially planned to open in Ibaraki, but had to give up because of zoning restrictions in an urbanization control area. Then the president of the part-time job he was working told him about Minami-Awaji, and he moved there, deciding to "go with the flow."

They renovated a fishing gear warehouse that used to stand on the site of a fish farm. It’s within Setonaikai National Park, surrounded by mountains and the sea. The first floor is the brewery, and the second floor is the taproom. They operate with five 500-liter tanks.

They’re great at using local ingredients. "Fuku Lager" is an American lager made with rice from Fukura in Minami-Awaji City, ABV 4.5%. You can taste both the rice umami and malt umami, and it finishes clean and crisp. "Tsukaremon Sour" is a sour ale made with plenty of lemon peel from Hiraoka Farm’s Awaji Island lemons in Minami-Awaji, ABV 4.5%, with a subtle caramel malt sweetness left in the finish.

They also have a session IPA called "AWAICHI," and Suga came up with the recipe with the idea of drinking it after completing the Awaichi, the full-circumference cycling route around Awaji Island. It’s 3.5% ABV, with citrus and herbal notes. And it’s sold only within Awaji Island.

"Biwa Leaf Ale" is a pale ale made with loquat leaves from Awaji Island, and its relaxing aroma is a standout. The lineup is designed with relatively low IBU across the board, so even people who don’t love beer bitterness can drink it easily. Last year they also went through a hardship when a power outage forced them to discard more than 2,000 liters, but they kept brewing without giving up.