Ground Tap Brewery

Ground Tap Brewery in Saijo, Ehime has an interesting origin story. It was launched by a metalworking company called Daitech.

Actually, Daitech also handled piping maintenance for Asahi Beer’s Shikoku factory, so they were pros when it came to tanks and piping. They used that expertise to get into brewing. And the brewing specialist who joined them was Daiki Yamane.

He’s from Saijo. In college, he studied abroad in Ireland and was so impressed by Guinness that it changed his path. After that, he trained at six breweries in Japan and then returned home. He also has a parallel career as a director at a design company, and that sensibility shows up in the labels and branding.

Their signature beer is a pale ale called "Flying Tabi." It uses four hops, Columbus, Cascade, Amarillo, and Citra, for a burst of citrus aroma. It’s 5.5% ABV, and the tabi sock on the label is a motif from the Saijo Festival.

Their standard "GROUNDTAP LAGER" is a lager brewed with rice from Saijo and uchinuki water. Uchinuki is Saijo’s famous natural spring water, selected as one of Japan’s Top 100 Famous Waters, and all of their brewing water comes from it. The natural soft water that rises from the Shikoku Mountains gives the beer its clarity.

Ehime is also Japan’s top producer of naked barley, and they’re developing beers that make use of it too. Their lineup is built around three axes: water, craftsmanship, and local community, and they keep releasing new beers that combine regional agricultural products, so it never gets boring. You can drink them at the taproom, just a 5-minute walk from Saijo Station.