Ise Kadoya Microbrewery-Part II

Of course by now you know that I went to Ise Kadoya's brewpub, Biyagura, to drink the brew last weekend. What a great trip it was. I wrote a bit about the beers and food here, and I was lucky to meet the master-brewer when we finished our food and beers.

The master-brewer at Ise Kadoya is Masakazu Nakanishi-san, and he joined them in 1999. He is great at what he does and makes some tasty brew. You can read more about him and his bio from Ise Kadoya's English site. I got the chance to ask Masakazu a few questions, and here is what he had to say (by way of my lovely girlfriend):

Masakazu, when did you start making beer here?

We started making beer in 1997, and I joined the company in 1999. The company had been making mochi, miso, and soy sauce for over 400 years prior to our venture into beer.

Why did you get into ji-beer?

All of us here have always been interested in flavorful beer, and it being that the company was already making miso and soy sauce, it was an easy transition.

Currently ji-beer only has less than a 1% market share in the Japanese beer market. What can we (brewers and drinkers!) do to promote ji-beer in Japan?

We can continue to make good beer. One main thing is to increase our production and where our beers are sold. Actually, just yesterday we started exporting our beer to America. We are sending 20,000 bottles to New York that will be available on the East Coast--at first.

The Good Beer Country Boys were at The Real Ale Festival last month and we will be at the Grande Biere Festival in March, will you be coming?

We were at The Real Ale Festival, and while we will not be attending the Grande Biere Festival, we will be sending our beers.

Last and most importantly, what is your favorite style of beer?

My favorite beer that we brew is our Brown Ale. [DH agrees] I really like the taste of roasted malt, and I really like many American amber ales!


Many thanks to Masakazu Nakanishi-san for taking time to answer a few of my questions! You have got to check out Ise Kadoya's site--it's written in perfect English (a rarity here in Japan) and has tons of interesting information. For example, it seems that Ise Kadoya is the ONLY brewery in Japan that imports all of its brewing ingredients from America.

We did find out that only the Brown Ale, Pale Ale, and Stout are brewed at Ise Kadoya. Their Sinto Beer and the Kumano Koda Ale (the only one I didn't try--limited availability) are brewed at a brewery in Nigata-ken.*

If you are in the area, you have to visit this joint for some great beers and great food. It seems that on Wednesdays in March (maybe more according to a fella down in Ise) they have an all you can drink speical that costs only 1000yen for one hour. That is the best deal I have seen in Japan.

All in all, this was a great trip with great beer, and we got to meet great people. I can't wait to meet up with Masakazu-san again--and this time we will have to talk over a few pints!!

* We speculate that they maybe use Echigo Beer's brewing and canning facility? Anyone out there verify this?