SUNAO Brewery New Arrivals at Sekimachi Cellar: Four Distinctive Beers Debut
Sekimachi Cellar in Nerima, Tokyo has added four craft beers from SUNAO Brewery, based in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture. The lineup spans a wide range of styles, including Golden Ale, Saison, SAKE KOJI Lager, and Honey Ale.
Hop BroFour beers from SUNAO Brewery have come into Sekimachi Cellar. It’s a brewery in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture, and the lineup of Golden Ale, Saison, SAKE KOJI Lager, and Honey Ale is just the kind of range that feels great.
MugiWhoa! You mean all four are distinctive? If they’re that different, I’d be totally lost on which one to drink first!
Hop BroStart with the GEM^2 Golden Ale. It’s the first beer in the brewer and hop farmer’s birthday series, and they even put in sweets from Saitama and Akita, so the phenolic aroma and malt sweetness come together in a slow, layered way.
MugiPhenolic? What is that! I thought a beer with sweets in it would be super sweet, but that aroma sounds kind of complicated?
Hop BroPhenolic just means a slightly spicy aroma, more or less. It adds sharpness and dimensionality, not just sweetness, so GEM^2 has depth even though it’s a Golden Ale.
MugiI see! So next is Hoppy Birthday Saison, right? Saison sounds stylish, but what does it taste like?
Hop BroThis is the second release, and the hop aroma from dry hopping really comes forward. DH stands for dry hopping, a technique where hops are added after fermentation to boost aroma. That combines with the yeast’s spiciness and sweetness, so the drink feels light but leaves a strong impression.
MugiWait, I thought dry hopping meant drying the hops! So it was a technique for adding aroma? Beer suddenly looks like craftsmanship to me!
Hop BroAnd the unusual one is Daikokuten SAKE KOJI Lager. It uses black koji, but it doesn’t push the sake-like character too far; instead, the gentle aroma of citric acid, plus sweetness and bitterness, ties it together properly as a beer.
MugiBlack koji sounds intense, but it still tastes like beer! A lager made with koji is such a wild idea!
Hop BroLast is Feel yoUr KArma Honey Ale. It uses maple syrup and honey generously, so the aroma comes in softly at first, then malt sweetness carries through at the end. It’s the kind of beer that can get dangerous if you sip it slowly at the standing-drink counter.
MugiA tasting comparison at Sekimachi Cellar’s kaku-uchi would be so much fun! If we go from the Golden Ale to the Honey Ale in order, we might not make it home today!
What’s New
Sekimachi Cellar in Tokyo’s Nerima Ward has received four craft beers from SUNAO Brewery, based in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture. One of Sekimachi Cellar’s charms is that you can enjoy draft beer at the kaku-uchi counter right as you enter the shop, and you can also drink canned or bottled beer purchased in the store on the spot. It is a shop where the easygoing feel of kaku-uchi blends with the selection of a liquor store.
The four bottles now on display each have a different flavor direction.
- GEM^2 / Golden Ale / ABV 7.0%
- The first beer in a birthday series for the brewer and a hop farmer. It is designed with sweets from Saitama and Akita added in, layering phenolic aromas, malt sweetness, and a sense of alcohol.
- Hoppy Birthday / Saison / ABV 5.0%
- The second beer in the same birthday series. Compared with the first release, the hop aroma from dry hopping stands out more, combining with sweetness and yeast-derived spiciness in a refreshing drink.
- Daikokuten / SAKE KOJI Lager / ABV 8.0%
- A beer made with black koji. Its sake-like character is not pushed too strongly; instead, the gentle aroma of citric acid from the black koji, along with sweetness and bitterness, supports a distinctly beer-like balance.
- Feel yoUr KArma / Honey Ale / ABV 7.0%
- A collaboration beer with Fuka Kitagawa, who lives in Akita Prefecture. It uses maple syrup and honey generously, opening with aromas of maple and honey, followed by malt sweetness on the finish.
SUNAO Brewery is a brewery that aims to make beer in harmony with nature. This new arrival is notable for the individuality of how it uses ingredients such as fruit, sweets, koji, and honey, with each glass offering a different impression. If you are comparing them at Sekimachi Cellar’s kaku-uchi counter, this is the kind of lineup that makes you want to work through them one by one while checking the contours of each flavor. It is a fitting new addition from a shop that can make broad, liquor-store-style recommendations centered on craft beer.
Information may be inaccurate. Please refer to the venue’s official channels for the latest details.
Hop BroFour beers from SUNAO Brewery have come into Sekimachi Cellar. It’s a brewery in Yokote City, Akita Prefecture, and the lineup of Golden Ale, Saison, SAKE KOJI Lager, and Honey Ale is just the kind of range that feels great.
MugiWhoa! You mean all four are distinctive? If they’re that different, I’d be totally lost on which one to drink first!
Hop BroStart with the GEM^2 Golden Ale. It’s the first beer in the brewer and hop farmer’s birthday series, and they even put in sweets from Saitama and Akita, so the phenolic aroma and malt sweetness come together in a slow, layered way.
MugiPhenolic? What is that! I thought a beer with sweets in it would be super sweet, but that aroma sounds kind of complicated?
Hop BroPhenolic just means a slightly spicy aroma, more or less. It adds sharpness and dimensionality, not just sweetness, so GEM^2 has depth even though it’s a Golden Ale.
MugiI see! So next is Hoppy Birthday Saison, right? Saison sounds stylish, but what does it taste like?
Hop BroThis is the second release, and the hop aroma from dry hopping really comes forward. DH stands for dry hopping, a technique where hops are added after fermentation to boost aroma. That combines with the yeast’s spiciness and sweetness, so the drink feels light but leaves a strong impression.
MugiWait, I thought dry hopping meant drying the hops! So it was a technique for adding aroma? Beer suddenly looks like craftsmanship to me!
Hop BroAnd the unusual one is Daikokuten SAKE KOJI Lager. It uses black koji, but it doesn’t push the sake-like character too far; instead, the gentle aroma of citric acid, plus sweetness and bitterness, ties it together properly as a beer.
MugiBlack koji sounds intense, but it still tastes like beer! A lager made with koji is such a wild idea!
Hop BroLast is Feel yoUr KArma Honey Ale. It uses maple syrup and honey generously, so the aroma comes in softly at first, then malt sweetness carries through at the end. It’s the kind of beer that can get dangerous if you sip it slowly at the standing-drink counter.
MugiA tasting comparison at Sekimachi Cellar’s kaku-uchi would be so much fun! If we go from the Golden Ale to the Honey Ale in order, we might not make it home today!
