Shimanami Brewery

Shimanami Brewery in Onomichi is a pretty bold brewery: even though it’s a microbrewery, it specializes exclusively in lager.

Exactly, which is why it stands out. The brewer, Kazehito Matsuoka, is from Fuchu City in Hiroshima Prefecture and graduated from Tokyo University of Agriculture with a degree in brewing science. While still a student, he was shocked by Yamada Kazumi’s book "Beer Craftsman, Talking About Delicious Beer," and then, right after graduating, joined Yatsugatake Brewery in Yamanashi.

Yes, because he wanted to handle every step of brewing himself, from start to finish. He became head brewer in 2015, and since then his lagers have won the world’s top award at the World Beer Awards four times. In 2019, a brand created with the concept of a "first pour only draft beer," called "FIRST DOWN," was named the best in the world.

What’s interesting is that when he joined Yatsugatake Brewery, he told the president, "Someday I’m going back to Hiroshima to start my own brewery." Then, after winning the world title, he went independent in 2021 and chose Onomichi, a city strong in tourism, as his base.

Their flagship "Strike Pilsner" is designed to be lager right down the middle, blending Canadian and German malts. "First Lager" follows the lineage of the Yatsugatake-era FIRST DOWN and is engineered to be perfect for the first glass. "Shimanami Silky Lager" makes use of local ingredients for a flavor that really feels Setouchi.

Lager takes more than a month from brewing to completion, and to keep quality stable you need to produce large batches at once. Those are all disadvantages for a small brewery, but Matsuoka deeply respects Germany’s lager culture and says that’s exactly why it’s worth taking on.