COEDO Brewery The Restaurant, operated by Kyodo Shoji in Kawagoe, Saitama, is starting a collaboration project with Bio'c titled "A challenge to update the history of beer with koji." The campaign will run on Makuake from August 26, 2026 through January 8, 2027, with a funding goal of 1 million yen.

At the core of the project is a new brewing process that does not rely on traditional malting. Instead, it uses barley and koji mold to carry out saccharification. Trial brewing has been underway since November 2025, using recipes based on COEDO's regular lineup to test reproducibility and flavor. The team says the goal is to achieve a beer with quality comparable to conventional COEDO beers.

The broader aim is to expand the use of domestic barley, support the use of fallow farmland, and connect beer production more closely with Japan's fermentation culture. In that sense, the project is also a practical take on "Farm to Glass."

COEDO has roots in Kawagoe's agricultural landscape and launched its brewery in 1996. In 2020, it opened `COEDO BREWERY THE RESTAURANT`, an attached brewpub where freshly brewed beer can be enjoyed on tap with food. The new koji beer project extends that local, craft-driven approach into a new technical direction.

A presentation and public tasting event is also scheduled for August 26, 2026 from 1:00 PM to 3:30 PM at Shibusawa MIX in Saitama New City. It will be the first chance to see how this brewing method translates into the glass.