Akizuki Castle Town Brewery

Have you ever been to Akizuki in Asakura City? It’s a castle town called the "Little Kyoto of Chikuzen," and there’s a craft beer brewery there.

And the brewery building is the former Akizuki Bank. They’re making beer in a building that used to be a bank.

It’s inside a mixed-use facility called "Akizuki Craft Garden," and it’s integrated with "Tsuki no Hanare Imamura Family Villa," which is also designated as a national cultural property. There’s even lodging, so you can enjoy beer on an overnight stay.

What’s distinctive about the brewing water is that they use 100% of their own spring water, "Akizuki Natural Water," from the site. It’s spring water from a castle town surrounded by mountains. They use German malt, so they’re going for a simple approach focused on water and ingredients.

Under the "Akizuki Craft" brand, they center on wheat beer, and they also release seasonal beers that use local fruits and plants as adjuncts. Since this was Asakura City’s first craft beer, they’re taking an approach that makes the most of ingredients unique to the area.

Akizuki is also famous for cherry blossoms and autumn leaves, so enjoying beer while the scenery changes with the seasons is another big part of the appeal.