Berlin is a place where the ghostly carapaces of old edifices find new life. This is especially true in Mitte, the city’s historical and cultural center, where former department stores and factories have been converted into offices and residences.
Some tenants aren’t entirely conspicuous, though. In the basement of a long, monochromatic former bowling alley tucked in a corner of Gerichtstrasse Street, Germany’s first sake brewery, Reigen, is quietly brewing a Germanized take on Japan’s national drink.
Opened in August 2024, Reigen is the brainchild of Sebastian Mrohs, 44, a Berliner who first became interested in sake when he tried a bottle of Daigo No Shizuku, a doburoku (unpressed or unfiltered sake) from Chiba Prefecture’s Terada Honke brewery while he was living in Japan.
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