Meinohama Brewery

There's a brewery with a rather unusual backstory just a 3-minute walk from Meinohama Station: Meinohama Brewery.

It's on the first floor of a five-story mixed-use complex called MEINOHAMA STEPS. The company running it is Sawarise Co., Ltd., a long-established business founded in 1914 with more than 100 years of history. What's interesting is that a company that has worked in real estate, healthcare, and education has entered the craft beer world.

On the first floor, there's the wood-fired grill restaurant "kubelto," and the brewery is attached to it. Through the glass, you can see 500-liter fermentation tanks. You can drink beer alongside wood-fired dishes made with seafood from Meinohama Fishing Port and vegetables from Itoshima.

There are three standard brews. The IPA combines four kinds of American hops, giving it a bright aroma of apricot and grapefruit. The White Ale is brewed with equal parts barley and wheat, with orange peel and coriander added. The Amber is characterized by the toasty sweetness of caramel malt and chocolate malt. The recipes are based on the U.S. West Coast style, and the hops are imported directly from the United States.

Soft water from Meinohama. It has low mineral content and no strong character, so it's well suited to brewing. Another fun one is the Coffee Brown Ale, made by combining coffee from the self-roasting coffee shop "stong coffee lab" on the same floor with six kinds of malt. It's a collaboration beer born inside the same building.

You should also pay attention to the logo. The rabbit is modeled after Meinohama's "Ryuo Usagi Legend." According to the old story, during the Kamakura period, a monk returning from Song China helped a rabbit, which was actually an incarnation of the Dragon King, and thanks to that protection he was able to cross the Genkai Sea safely. I like how the brand carries a local story with it.