USA & Japan: Great Dane Brewing to open production brewery in Japan

Madison, Wisconsin-based Great Dane Brewing is going global, NBC15 reported on June 2.

The brewery announced on June 2 that after planning for several years, it will finally be making a production brewery and tasting room in Japan.

The brewery will be located in Akiu Onsen, Sendai, which is about two hours north of Tokyo. It will focus on canned and bottled beers that will be sold throughout the country, co-founder and brewmaster Rob LoBreglio explained.

“This is a dream come true,” LoBreglio said. “I get to work alongside some great people and close friends who are so dedicated to strengthening the craft beer industry in Japan. Along with featuring current Great Dane beers, we plan to create a range of new beers. We’re going to have a lot of fun with it and will certainly bring some of those recipes to Wisconsin.”

A Great Dane Brewing business in Japan has been a long time coming, as LoBreglio reminisced about visiting Japan regularly for several years and meeting Tetsuya Kiyosawa in the mid ‘90s through his brother. He said Kiyosawa was passionate about joining the craft beer industry, which was not hugely popular at the time, and Kiyosawa then trained under LoBreglio for two years.

Kiyosawa later returned to Japan, LoBreglio stated, and discussed putting a brewery in Japan together for years.

The dream came closer to a reality when LoBreglio said he met Phil Dawson, who was a former Madison-area sports radio host. Dawson became a certified brewer and moved to Sendai with his wife, who LoBreglio said was born in Japan. Dawson will work as assistant brewer at the company.

“The strength of this team cannot be overstated,” LoBreglio said. “From the beer and food to a strong respect for Japanese culture, we have a group that’s as passionate as it is talented.”

Construction is set to begin later this summer and beer is planned for distribution in the spring of 2023.

There are currently five Great Dane locations- three in Madison, one in Fitchburg and one in Wausau.

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