Naginone Brewing

You know Kushima City in Miyazaki? There are several shochu distilleries there, but there had never been a craft beer brewery. Then someone opened the city’s first brewery there.

Takashi Tamura. He was originally a shochu master distiller. His fermentation and brewing skills are top-notch, but beer is a completely different world. He deliberately jumped into it anyway.

What’s more, the brewery itself is unique. It’s housed in a renovated former nursery school building that had been closed down. It’s in the Ohira area of Kushima, and just like the name “Nagi no Ne” suggests, it’s a quiet place close to the sea.

Their flagship beer, "Yamabiko Ale," is distinctive too. It uses bottle-conditioned secondary fermentation, the same method used for champagne, and lemon grass and orange peel as adjuncts. It’s known for its fine, delicate foam, refreshing aroma, and the soft umami of grain.

It comes in a large 750 ml bottle, and there’s no expiration date. The flavor changes over time, so you can enjoy aging it like wine. Its compatibility with Japanese cuisine is a perspective that really reflects Tamura’s background as a shochu master distiller.

They also make a seasonal beer called "TOIMY," inspired by the scenery of Misaki horses, a protected natural monument in Kushima. It’s fermented at ambient temperatures, and his son Keijiro also helps with production, so it’s truly a family-run brewery.