A town in Japan's Nagano Prefecture where apples are principle local products says it plans to produce a craft beer using small sour apples normally used to pollinate full-sized apples for consumption.

Iizuna Town jointly planned the project with Shinshu University in the prefecture and a beer maker in Saitama Prefecture.

Generally, to bear good fruit apple flowers need to be pollinated by another apple variety. But the variety used for the purpose bears small fruit and tastes very sour, so uses of it are limited.

The town says the new beer will use the apples used for pollination as a raw material. A natural pigment will be extracted from them, using the university's patented technology.

Town officials say the addition of the pigments gives the beer a slight red color, good acidity and an apple's scent.

The beer will be sold by the beer maker from January in Nagano, greater Tokyo and elsewhere.

Amano Yoshihiko, professor at the university's faculty of engineering, expressed hope that the use of untapped resources would lead to the establishment of a local brand.

Iizuna Town Mayor Minemura Katsumori said he hopes the new beer will improve his town's name recognition.