Rise & Win Brewing Company

Have you heard of the "zero-waste town"? It's Kamikatsu Town in Tokushima, where residents sort trash into 45 categories. There's a brewery there called RISE & WIN Brewing Co.

It opened on May 30, 2015, and May 30 is "Zero Waste Day." Its predecessor was Kamikatsu Hyakkaten, a bulk-sale shop that eliminated excessive packaging. Representative Tatsuya Tanaka turned it into a brewery to share the town's value with the outside world.

The building was designed by architect Hiroshi Nakamura and was constructed using salvaged materials and old fixtures gathered from Kamikatsu's waste stations. Its facade is a patchwork of old window frames, and the chandelier is made from empty bottles. This building won the world grand prize in the Sustainable Buildings category at the WAN Awards in 2016.

And the beer itself is directly tied to that philosophy. The flagship "KAMIKATZ LEUVEN WHITE" is a Belgian white made with the peel left over after juicing yuko, a citrus specialty of Kamikatsu. They're finishing the beer with ingredients that would otherwise be discarded.

"KAMIKATZ IPA" uses Awa bancha from Kamikatsu, and the porter stout uses roasted Naruto Kintoki sweet potatoes. That Naruto Kintoki porter stout won a silver medal at the Asia Beer Cup 2016. The brewmaster is a man named Ryan Jones, and his skills are solid.

They use returnable bottles, designed to be reused again and again. They also have a BBQ garden, so it's a luxurious place where you can enjoy beer and BBQ in the natural mountain setting of Kamikatsu.