Shimane Beer Company is a brewery located in Matsue city, Shimane prefecture. The brewery was founded in 1998, soon after the deregulation of the alcohol industry license. It’s a small brewery, with only four employees that perform the roles of sales and also brewing and somehow though they manage to produce a wide range of year-round and limited edition beers. At the time of writing, the brewery was the only one located in Shimane prefecture with an aim to produce beers that promote the local area. All of their beers include an image of Patrick Lafcadio Hearn, better known as Koizumi Yakumo, who was an international writer and best known for his books about Japan. His great-grandson now runs the brewery.
Shimane Beer Company Main Lineup
The following beers are part of the all-year round lineup:
- Shimane Weizen – a 5% German style hefeweizen that won gold medal at the International Beer Competition for two years running.
- Shimane Pale Ale – a 5% English pale ale brewed using
- Shimane Pilsner – a 5% Czech style pilsner.
- Shimane Enmusu Stout – a 5% dry stout brewed to a traditional Irish recipe.
Shimane Beer Company Limited Edition and Seasonal Lineup
The following beers are part of their limited edition and seasonal lineup:
- Shimane Apple Barley – a 9% barleywine that is made using locally sourced dried apples in the fermentation stages.
- Shimane Zakuro Arils – a 5% fruit beer that contains pomegranates and brewed in conjunction with the local women’s drinking team.
- Shimane Shinjiko Moon Honey Weizenbock – an 8% weizenbock that is released annually in the summer.
- Shimane Beer IPA – a 7.5% British style IPA that is part of their limited edition range of beer.
- Shimane Rihaku Orochi – a 9% barleywine that uses two different kinds of sake yeast in fermentation. A limited edition beer.
- Shimane Chocolate No. 7 – n 8% stout that is a part of their winter lineup of craft beer. It is brewed with Belgian saison yeast in the primary fermenter and then fresh Belgian chocolate in the secondary fermenter.
- Shimane Yuzu Fresh – a 5% saison which contains locally sourced fresh yuzu and also plenty of dried yuzu as well.
- Shimane Zeus Bitter – a 4.5% English bitter which uses 100% home grown Zeus hops.
Shimane Beer Company Details
Address: 〒690-0876, Shimane-ken, Matsue-shi, 509-1 Kuroda
Homepage (in Japanese): http://www.shimane-beer.co.jp/
Brewery Store: http://shimanebeerh.free.makeshop.jp/shopbrand/sample1/
