Hiruzen Brewery Tsuchitomizu

Do you know Hiruzen Brewery Tsuchitomizu? It's a microbrewery in Hiruzen, Okayama, run by just one person.

The brewer, Mr. Sugi, was originally a city employee at Maniwa City Hall for 20 years. He quit at 48 and launched the brewery.

When he was in charge of regional revitalization at city hall, he worked on a rapeseed-oil specialty project. That's where he discovered the fun of making things, and he began nurturing the idea of brewing beer.

And this is what's really unique. The two pillars are the wild-yeast sour ales in the 'S Series' and the oak-barrel-aged vintage ales in the 'V Series'. V-1, for example, scored 4.4 on a review site.

He collects it from waterfalls and forests. And for the sour ales, he uses levain starter - natural bread yeast - in the brew, drawing out a gentle acidity with lactic acid bacteria derived from the levain starter from the Hiroshima bakery 'Durian'.

He grows his own hops too. He naturally cultivates an aromatic variety called 'Tea Maker' in volcanic-ash black soil on abandoned farmland. The malt is organic from Germany and Austria as well. That commitment to sourcing ingredients entirely with his own hands is incredible.