I was reading this over a lukewarm coffee in Oakland this morning. Kirin Holdings — the Tokyo-based giant — has handed off brewing of its flagship Ichiban beer to HiteJinro in South Korea. Not importing. Not licensing. Just saying: 'Here’s the recipe, brother — make it here.'
HiteJinro is no stranger to scale. They run the biggest brewery in Korea, probably the noisiest, and definitely the one with the most unpaid overtime. Kirin Ichiban is delicate — first press only, all malt, no shortcuts. Whether that survives the transfer from Yokohama to Anyang remains to be seen.
No one’s saying why. Maybe shipping got expensive. Maybe someone in Tokyo got tired of explaining the word 'Ichiban' to customs. Or maybe it’s just samsara — everything circles back, even lager.
