A new release: Kokutama

Nomendo Brew Stand is a craft beer bar and brewery located about a three-minute walk from Koshigaya Station in Saitama. The brewery obtained its brewing license in January 2024 and became Koshigaya City’s first brewery. With its standing-style taproom, it offers a setting where fresh beer can be enjoyed right in the neighborhood.

The new beer, Kokutama, is a bread saison brewed with bread crusts supplied by Okada Seipanjo, a bakery in the same city. In its announcement, Nomendo explained that the beer was designed by pairing the bread ingredient with a saison base rather than a weizen. The idea was to bring out the toasted character of the bread and the soft sweetness of wheat through a style that stays bright and easy to drink. It is a practical example of upcycling turned into beer.

The beer’s specs are ABV 5.0% and IBU 16, which suggest a light, approachable profile. Even with the bakery ingredient at the center, the beer is meant to remain balanced and drinkable rather than heavy. Knowing the story behind the ingredient should make the flavor more legible: this is a beer where the context is part of the tasting experience.

Nomendo Brew Stand continues to release original beers rooted in Koshigaya, and Kokutama fits that approach well. By connecting with a local bakery and transforming bread crusts into beer, the brewery has added another locally grounded release to its lineup. For beer drinkers, it is a straightforward but appealing kind of new product: local, collaborative, and built around a clear brewing idea.