Hopdog Brewing

Hopdog Brewing is a place in Akita City where the long-running 85-year-old public bathhouse "Hoshi no Yu" was completely renovated into a brewery.

Exactly. They installed brewing equipment in the bath area, turned the changing room into a factory tour space and tasting corner, and made the old reception desk into the office. Traces of the bathhouse days still remain, and you can drink freshly made beer at the end of the tour.

Brewer Shin Hasegawa. He actually spent 17 years as the head brewer at Akita Acla Beer. During his time there, he won a gold medal at the World Beer Cup and three consecutive gold medals at the International Beer Cup, making him a legend in Akita's craft beer scene.

He founded it in 2023 with the desire to "create a richer beer culture using ingredients from Akita," and launched it as the seventh craft beer maker in Akita Prefecture. The philosophy they promote is "FARM to YOU" - using Yokote-grown hops and apples from Akita Prefecture to bring products directly from the farm to you.

They have DDH Hazy IPA and DDH IPA made with plenty of Yokote-grown hops, and they also make a Golden Ale using Akita Komachi rice from Akita. Another interesting one is hard cider. It's made with apples from Akita Prefecture, so there's a lot more variety than beer alone.

Exactly. Bathhouses used to be neighborhood gathering places, right? Turning that into a beer venue and making it a place where people gather again is such a great story.