Suginoya Beer Workshop

If you hear that a brewery founded in 1870 is making beer, that grabs your attention, right? I’m talking about Suginoya Beer Workshop, commonly called Suginoya Beer.

It originally started when the daikan of the Itoshima Peninsula brewed sake with surplus tribute rice to entertain guests, and the first head, Shinkuro Hamachi, named it “Suginoya” after a Noh stage made of cedar that stood on the grounds. The family creed, “Never forget a playful spirit, and devote passion to brewing,” has been passed down through generations.

And that playful spirit really exploded into the beer business. In 1996, they obtained Fukuoka Prefecture’s first beer production license. The eldest son, Shintaro Hamachi, studied at VLB Berlin in Germany and became the first Japanese craft beer maker to earn the Brewmaster qualification.

Their foundation is respect for Germany’s Beer Purity Law, and the brewing water comes from natural underground springs in the Seburi mountain range. Their most popular Amber Ale has a reddish color and a deep malt flavor that pairs well with meat dishes. The Stout uses honey malt, giving it a gentle bitterness and an elegant finish.

The seasonal releases are especially interesting. Their “Itoshima Amanatsu Ale,” made with amanatsu citrus from Itoshima, is limited to 1,000 bottles a year and sells out quickly. In winter they also release beers like “Raizan Bock,” named after Mount Seburi, and a Belgian Tripel, and because they’re a brewery, they also make limited beers using koji.

They also have a bread workshop on site, where they bake sake lees bagels and bread made with beer yeast. His younger brother, Masanori Hamachi, trained as a bread artisan in Germany. They also have an official collaboration with J1 club Avispa Fukuoka called “Avispa Ale,” which uses brewing barley called Hoshun grown in Itoshima.