Kiuchi Family Moves From Brewing Sake to Hitachino Craft Beer
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MyBeer Buzz
A success story as the Kiuchi Family switches from a history of brewing Saki to the very successful Hitachino craft brewery. This from NPR:
From a dusty country road about 100 miles north of Tokyo rises the white-washed facade of a sake brewery. Here in the quiet town of Naka, the Kiuchi family has been brewing Japan’s ancient rice wine for seven generations, since the time of the shoguns.
But these days, the beverage rolling off Kiuchi’s production line would make its 19th century founders squirm. The brewery is now a leading maker of micro-beer.
"That building furthest away used to produce sake," says vice president Youcichi Kiuchi as he shows me around. "Now it’s only for brewing beer."
The humid air inside the newly expanded plant is fragrant with malt and wheat. After being in the beer business for just 15 years, the company will produce more than 250,000 gallons of craft beer this year, earning about $8 million. Half of that is destined for pubs and supermarkets in the United States.
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