Kiri no Kura Brewery

Kiri no Kura Brewery is a beer brand produced by Kirishima Shuzo, the company best known for its shochu "Kuro Kirishima." They have been brewing since 1998.

It’s located inside the sprawling Kirishima Factory Garden complex in Miyakonojo. A restaurant, shop, and brewery are all integrated there, and a beer garden is held in summer too.

The lifeblood of these beers is "Kirishima Rekkasui." It’s natural groundwater filtered over many years through the shirasu plateau of the Kirishima mountain range, the same water that has supported the quality of shochu production, and they use it in their beer too.

There are five standard beers. A German-style pilsner with a firm hop bitterness, a pale ale lavishly brewed with aroma hops, an amber beer with a blend of several malts, a stout with the aroma of roasted malt, and a fruit beer made with Hyuganatsu, a specialty of Miyazaki.

The awards are impressive too. The pilsner won gold at the International Beer Cup 2017, and at the Brussels Beer Challenge 2019 the pilsner and amber both won double gold. The amber also won gold at IBC 2021, and the Hyuganatsu beer won gold at IBC 2020. They’ve been winning consistently in international competitions.

There’s also a limited-batch brewing series called "FUN FAN BREW." It’s an experimental line packed with the brewer’s playful spirit, featuring beers like IPA, Belgian IPA, Ponkan ale, and red ale. The red ale uses Nelson Sauvin hops, giving it an elegant white-grape-like aroma.