Summer of suds: Make your own beer at Kiuchi Brewery

If one good thing came from Japan’s post-bubble era slump, it was the birth of ji-biru (micro-brews). Licensing limits were lowered from 2,000 kiloliters to 60 kiloliters for brewers, as “part of what you could call Hosokawa’s new deal,” explains Toshiyuki Kiuchi director of Kiuchi Brewery in Ibaraki Prefecture.

A sake brewery since 1823, Kiuchi branched out into beer in 1996 to offer constant (rather than seasonal) work to its brewers. It is now one of the largest microbreweries in Japan. Perhaps more importantly, it’s the only one in the Kanto area where you can brew your own.

Since the average visitor is better versed in consumption than creation, the brewery provides expert tutelage. In the first step, you’ll hash out which malts to use and the brewmeister will create a recipe based on your tastes. The malts determine the color, body and alcohol content of your beer: base it on a dark-roasted chocolate malt and you’ll come up with a stout; choose a lighter malt and you’ll end up with a pale ale.

Fermentation to your delectation

Next you chose the hops, which look something like radioactive hamster pellets. These potent herbs were originally included for their antiseptic properties in ales brewed at a warm temperature. Traditional lager was cold-brewed and used fewer hops; their bitter taste and distinctive fragrance is all but absent in most of Japan’s factory lagers even now.

From there you grind the malts and put them through several distinct processes including soaking, showering, removing the liquid from the bottom of the tank and pouring it in the top, and stirring. It gets to be a pretty steamy affair, so it’s not a bad idea to partake of some of Kiuchi’s specialties while you brew, provided it doesn’t keep you from introducing the hops at just the right moment. There is also a restaurant on the premises which does a great soba lunch set. The brewery takes over the final fermentation and bottling, and prints out labels which you design. 

The smallest batch possible makes 45 bottles and costs ¥27,180, or ¥604 a bottle: if you brew more you pay slightly less (i.e. 180 bottles at ¥532 each). Reservations are essential. The brewery is located in Naka city, Ibaraki, around a two hour drive from Tokyo on the Joban expressway, or a two to two-and-a-half hour train ride on the Joban and Suigun lines (Hitachikonosu station).

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