Imagine the ultimate beer fairy tale. You're a college student, out for dinner with your family. On the way home, your father, owner of a chain of liquor shops, stops in front of a small warehouse. When you ask why he stopped, your dad replies: "That's the brewery I just bought! You start making beer tomorrow!"

Like all fairy tales, the truth is a little more complicated, but that's essentially the origin story of Minoh Beer, an Osaka institution and vibrant part of the Japanese craft beer community since 1997.

Facing lower profits due to an ongoing discounting war between liquor stores and grocery chains amid declining consumer spending, Masaji Oshita believed that brewing and selling an original beer would cut costs and increase profits.