Tsuyama Brewery

Tsuyama Brewery is a somewhat unusual brewery. Its parent company is Tago Honke Sake Brewery, a long-established sake brewery founded during the Kanbun era in the 1660s.

Exactly. It is the brewery known for the sake "Kamo Goyo," led by its president, Masanao Tago. That brewery entered beer brewing in 1996, and "Sakushu Tsuyama Beer" was born.

But the strengths of the sake brewery really carry over into the beer. The brewing water is soft groundwater from the source of the Kamo River, flowing from the Chugoku Mountains, with a hardness of 70. They use this naturally mineral-rich water for both sake and beer. The hops are fine-aroma hops from Saaz in the Czech Republic and Hallertau in Germany, both from world-class regions.

It uses 100% malt with no adjuncts, and it is unpasteurized and unfiltered, so the yeast is still alive in the bottle. Based on German brewing methods, it aims for a taste that suits Japanese meals, and it has won a gold medal at the international World Beer Championship.

There are four standard beers: "ITSUHA," a Kölsch; "MERC," a Weizen; "ALT," a Weizen Alt; and "STOUT." The building is interesting too: the first floor is a beer factory of about 230 square meters, and above it on the second floor is a tasting room with about 40 seats. You can drink freshly brewed beer right above the factory.