B.M.B Brewery

Matsuda Atsurou of B.M.B Brewery, aka “Atsurō,” has such an interesting background. He was born in Miyazaki, trained as a sushi chef after high school, then worked as a bartender for three years, and in 2012 opened the beer pub “Beer Market BASE.”

The name B.M.B comes from the initials of Beer Market BASE. As they served all kinds of craft beers at the pub, their desire to “brew our own beer” grew stronger, and they raised over 5 million yen from 253 backers through crowdfunding to launch the brewery in 2018.

And their DIY spirit is incredible—they did everything themselves, from the interior build-out to installing the brewing equipment. Their concept is “From beer to culture.” They use local ingredients like Miyazaki mango, hyuganatsu, and kabosu in their beers, and they’ve also created a circular system that returns spent grain to local farmers as fertilizer.

The lineup is bold. The DDH IPA “4536 / Hop Explosion,” the 8% ABV HDHC IPA “Lupulin Echo,” the barrel-aged brown porter “The Giving Oak,” the smoothie sour “ZEST PUNK”... every one of them has a strong personality.

They also actively collaborate with other breweries. Their smoothie sour “HIGASHIE,” made with Derailleur Brew Works, is an easy-drinking 4% beer using banana, apple, and mango. I feel like the palate of a former chef really shines through in those fruit combinations.

They also raised 10 million yen in a second crowdfunding campaign to build a new brewery in Kiyotake. Production capacity became about ten times that of the old brewery, and they’re shipping kegs to beer bars all over Japan. The man who started as a chef is trying to deliver interesting beer from Miyazaki to the world.