The Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company sets up in Sendai

On 19 January 2024, Great Dane Brewing Japan held the official grand opening of its new brewhouse in Sendai, Japan. The brewery is owned by the Great Dane Pub & Brewing Company from Wisconsin, United States.

The Japanese operation has launched with two locally brewed beers: Amber Ale, and its flagship brew, Great Lager. With an ABV of 5.1%, Great Lager has a light caramel flavour with a dry finish, and features floral and citrus notes from a unique blend of European and American hops, complemented by Briess malt from Chilton, Wisconsin.

Great Dane Brewing Japan is the first foreign-owned brewer in Japan with a bricks-and-mortar brewery. Finance for the project was provided in part from a successful crowdfunding campaign at the end of 2023, which soon exceeded its initial target of JPY5 million (USD33,810) , and hit 170% of that figure after just two weeks, according to a company social media post.

The Japanese outfit is the brain child of Japan aficionado Rob LoBreglio, Great Dane’s co-founder, and his friend and former brewing apprentice, Tetsuya Kiyosawa, who is originally from Sendai.

LoBreglio believes in addition to his love of Japan there are sound business reasons for the investment. Only a few years ago, craft beer made up only 1.5% of Japan’s beer market: now, it is between 3% and 4%, and LoBreglio expects it to reach 8% in the next decade. “That’s double what they have now, and they honestly just don’t have enough producers for all of that extra beer. In Sendai, they closed their big brewery, making us the only real packaging craft brewery in the city,” says LoBreglio.