KIRIN BEER FACTORY TOUR !!!

　キリンビール横浜工場見学体験記

6月4日にキリンビール横浜工場へ見学に行きました。

チケット発券

チケットは券売機のようなマシンで発行可能でした。２０歳以上の方は５００円、２０歳未満の方は無料で工場を見学する事ができます。（工場見学の際には事前予約が必須です。土日は早く予約が埋まるのでお早めに！）

ツアーへの参加

期待に胸を膨らませ、案内されるがまま進むと、最初は大きなスクリーンでビールの歴史に関する動画を視聴しました。日本語音声に英語と中国語の字幕がついており、周りを見渡しても外国人観光客の方が多い印象でした。

次に、案内されたのはビールの原材料コーナー。ホップの香りを直に嗅ぎ、麦芽というビールの原材料は試食することもできました。ホップの香りは少々きつかったですが、麦芽は食べやすく、お腹が空いていた筆者はついついおかわりしてしまいました。

次は仕込みの過程を見学しました。原材料を４種類の大きな窯で順番に煮込んで一番搾りビールの元になる麦汁を作るそうです。スタッフさんの説明中には、説明している窯がライトアップされ、非常にエキサイティングな演出でした。また解説は非常にわかりやすく、キリンさんがビールにかける思いがひしひしと伝わってきました。

お次は麦汁のテイスティングです！一番搾り麦汁と二番搾り麦汁を飲み比べしてみました。一番の方が濃厚な味で、二番の方は優しい味わいでした。どちらも美味しく、メンバーの中でもどちらが好みか分かれる結果となりました。

次の過程はビールにとって一番重要である発酵の過程です。モニターには可愛い酵母のキャラクターが登場し、実際に手をかざしてみるとなんと動き出しました！遊び心のある仕掛けで大人だけではなく、子供も楽しめるようなブースでした。

そして次はビールの出荷過程です。回転するベルトコンベアにビールが乗せられ高速回転することで、短時間で大量のビール缶を製造する事が可能になるそうです。

そして最後はお待ちかねの一番搾りビールのテイスティングです。３種類のビールはそれぞれ異なった味で、ゆっくりとそれぞれの違いを楽しむ事ができました。美味しいのでついつい飲み過ぎないように注意です！また未成年の方はビールの代わりにジュースが渡されるようです。後方にはお見上げコーナーもあり、工場限定のストラップやお見上げなどを購入することができます。

また、ビール工場の近くにレストランも隣接しており、美味しいビールとともにご飯も食べることが可能です。

メンバーの体験感想まとめ

Louisa

Kirin, a Japanese beer and beverage manufacturer, has over the years proved itself to be a ubiquitous name known to every household. In particular, there is hardly any beer drinker who has not heard of “Kirin Ichiban”, possibly the most popular among the brand’s abundance of products. During Mita Campus’s visit to the Yokohama Brewery in June 2024, Kirin showcased its advanced and meticulously managed manufacturing processes, its continuous strive for excellence and creative flavours, and its commitment to bringing joy and happiness to its customers.

By simply paying a JPY500 coin, you will have access to an hour of informative tour with immersive experience, during which you can smell the beer hops, taste the malt, deepen your understanding in the brewing ingredients, and appreciate the highly organised factory lines. One impressive feature of the manufacturing processes is that in order to support the huge demand of the Kirin devotees, the efficient packaging machinery can fill and pack 2,000 cans of beer every minute. At the end of the tour, the participants will have the chance of having all three wishes satisfied – they can savour three key beer products of Kirin straight from the production lines and be brought sheer bliss.

Kirin has successfully demonstrated its capabilities through the brewery tour and the reasons contributing to its immense success as the industry leader. From the professional tour guides, the carefully designed tour activities, and the good value for money ticket that enables a visitor enjoy glasses of beer, Kirin lives up to the commitment to bringing joy and happiness to its customers. For those who are Kirin supporters, they will certainly remain loyal to the brand after the tour and for those who are new to the brand, they may become immediately converted!

Lin

When I visited the KIRIN factory this time, the first thing that struck me as very considerate was the fact that there are instructions in various languages in the factory for people from different countries. In addition, the service staff at the factory also confirmed everyone’s age and whether they were driving. It made me feel that in addition to the Japanese people’s emphasis on obeying the law, it can also be seen that the company is quite strict in its attitude towards work.

As for the content of the visit, in addition to letting us understand the company’s beer making philosophy and manufacturing process through a video, and also let us actually taste the wheat they use to make beer and smell the floral aroma of the hops they use, as well as the first the difference between wort and second wort, and it shows that KIRIN ICHIBAN only uses the first wort. In the packaging part, we mainly use mechanized processing and manual inspection to improve packaging efficiency and reduce errors. I discovered that there are so many details that go into making a bottle of beer. Finally, after the entire guided tour, we were also allowed to taste the beers produced by their professional staff and provide different flavors for everyone to taste.

I thought the whole visit was a really good experience at a very cheap price, and I was able to learn a lot and taste the fresh beers there. In addition to the above things I learned and experienced in the factory, since beer requires a large number of aluminium cans, I am also very curious whether KIRIN has relevant solutions on resource recycling and sustainability issues.

Takumi

Today, I went to the Kirin Beer factory. When I entered the factory, I was surprised that Kirin Corporation was very strict about age. Those under 20 had to wear a card around the neck that stated that you are underage. While I was downing on apple juice and Kirin lemon soda, a member of staff was watching me from behind at all times, making sure I would not consume alcohol even accidentally. Although I was worried that I would not enjoy the experience due to me being underage, I had a fun time touring the facilities and drinking soft drinks for free.

Mahiro

I had a really enjoyable experience at the Kirin Beer factory. During the tour, I got to see the entire process of beer production, from brewing to shipping. While I love drinking beer, I didn’t have much knowledge about it before. Some of the specialized terms used in the beer tour were a bit difficult to understand, but there were plenty of videos and activities that made the experience enjoyable overall. One particularly valuable experience was the tasting comparison between Kirin’s unique “First press wort” and “Second press wort “.

At the end of the tour, we got to taste freshly poured beer, expertly poured by a Draft Master , Beer “Sommelier” in Kirin company. It was incredibly delicious! After that, we even got to do a tasting comparison of three different beers, including some that I wouldn’t usually try, like black beer.

Considering the entrance fee was only 500 yen, I couldn’t believe how satisfying the factory tour was. I gained a deeper understanding of beer, and I now feel like I’ll enjoy drinking beer even more in the future!

Stella

Exploring the Kirin Brewery in Yokohama is an amazing experience for every beer lover and those who are just interested in beer production. This facility tells about the history and work of one of the most renowned beer producers in Japan. Immediately after entering the facility, equipped with modern interior, the friendly staff guides you through the entire process, elaborating each step of beer brewing with educational exhibits and captivating stories.

One of the interesting stages is that you can taste the many phases of beer manufacturing, from the raw ingredients to mid-processed barley juice and the final product—Kirin beer, served in a special glass. Also, visitors get the chance to see all the brewing equipment as if from the top of the factory, and learn about the selection of ingredients that make up the unique taste of Kirin. The tour ends in the tasting room, where you will be able to taste the fresh crispy flavors of Kirin’s different brews. It is, in fact, both an educational and enjoyable experience, making it a good outing for individuals and groups.

執筆者：Louisa Wong, Wei-Han Lin, Takumi Otani, Sung-ah Min, Mahiro Nojiri, Rento Kawakami

編集者： Tomoya Takahashi