Voyager Brewing

In Tanabe, Wakayama, there is a brewery that converted an entire former ironworks into a brewhouse. It’s called Voyager Brewing, and the name comes from NASA’s Voyager space probe launched in 1977. They see their own challenges as something to share in that same spirit of romance that still carries Voyager onward.

The space covers about 500 square meters, with brewing equipment directly imported from Canada. A large iron door with the logo stands prominently at the entrance, and the taproom has an open layout where you can look down on the brewing area from the second floor. Fresh beer is poured from brass draft towers.

The representative is Koji Manabe. He’s a veteran with more than 20 years of brewing experience, and he originally helped launch Nagisa Beer in Shirahama with his older brother.

After brewing there for 18 years, he and his wife Shima went independent in 2015 to create beers under their own brand. The Manabe family has a three-generation "Nagisa" shop name, starting with their grandmother’s Nagisa Ryokan and their father’s Nagisa Barber. Nagisa Beer was the third-generation successor to that name.

Their flagship is COPPER, and it’s a great one. It sits stylistically somewhere between a pale ale and an IPA, with a strong body from dark malts, but the bitterness is restrained and easy to drink. It also won the Dark Beer category at Beer One Grand Prix 2018.

GOLD is a pale ale with a bright, fruity character, and IPA is an American classic style with bold hop flavor. THRUSTER is a 4.5% session ale, making it a good entry point. They use hops from the U.S., Germany, and the Czech Republic depending on the beer. Another unique detail is that they upcycle the spent malt grain from brewing into granola bars.