2026 Keyaki Hiroba Autumn Beer Festival opens in Saitama, with Tendo Brewery also worth a look
The 2026 Keyaki Hiroba Autumn Beer Festival will run at Keyaki Hiroba in Saitama Shintoshin from September 17 to 21. With 52 vendors and more than 300 craft beers, it is a major tasting event, while Tendo Brewery (Ichiraku) in Yamagata stands out as a spa-brewpub with a distinctly different appeal.
Hop BroI want to talk about the 2026 Keyaki Hiroba Autumn Beer Festival today. It runs in Saitama Shintoshin from September 17 to 21, and with 52 booths and 300-plus beers, you basically need a battle plan.
MugiWhat?! More than 300 beers? If I stop to admire every pint, autumn will be over before I pick my second one!
Hop BroThe brewery I really want people to notice is Tendo Brewery (Ichiraku). It's a brewpub run by a hot spring inn in Tendo, Yamagata, and the whole idea is built around that perfect post-bath beer.
MugiHold on, what is a brewpub exactly? That word just hit me like a wave of fancy beer vocabulary. How is it different from a normal beer bar?
Hop BroIn simple terms, it's a place that brews and pours onsite. Tendo Brewery goes a step further because it's inside a hot spring inn, so you can go straight from the bath to fresh draft beer. That's almost unfair.
MugiWow, a post-bath beer as the concept? That's already a winning idea. I can practically feel the towel around my neck.
Hop BroOne flagship beer to remember is Saint Cherry. It's a fruity, light-drinking beer with the aroma of cherries, and it really delivers that Yamagata character in the glass.
MugiThat name is adorable! Cherry aroma in a beer sounds like the kind of drink that starts playing travel music in your head the second you cheers.
Hop BroThe other one is Mr.A, a distinctive beer with the flavor of buckwheat. It balances crispness and richness really well, so it also makes a strong food beer. And yes, the local spring water matters too.
MugiWait, local spring water? Underground water sounds important, but my brain is currently just foam and snacks. Explain it to me like I'm holding a pint.
Hop BroThink of it as water polished by the earth. It tends to feel softer and lets ingredients show more clearly, which works really well with flavors like cherry and buckwheat.
MugiOkay, I get it now. Taste around the festival first, then visit the inn later for a deeper dive... that's a brewery worth traveling for. Now I seriously want that post-bath first sip.
Keyaki Hiroba opens on September 17
The 2026 Keyaki Hiroba Autumn Beer Festival will be held at Keyaki Hiroba in Saitama Shintoshin from September 17 to 21. The event brings together 52 vendors, including four first-time exhibitors, and offers more than 300 craft beers. Award-winning beers and festival-exclusive brews will be on hand, so visitors can enjoy it either by brewery or by beer style. From September 19 to 21, the venue will open one hour earlier at 10:00 a.m.
A spa-brewpub in Tendo
Tendo Brewery (Ichiraku) is a brewery inside Yubow Ichiraku, a hot spring ryokan in Tendo Onsen, Yamagata. It brews with local spring water from Tendo and ingredients from Yamagata, and its concept centers on a post-bath pint. The result is a place where lodging and craft beer feel closely connected, which gives it a very different atmosphere from a typical beer bar.
Beers to try
Its signature beers include `Shoseibo (Saint Cherry)`, a cherry beer with a fruity, bright profile, and `Mr.A`, a soba beer with a toasty grain character. Guests staying overnight can enjoy fresh draft beer on the terrace, and bottled beer is also sold in the shop. After drinking through a wide festival lineup, this is the kind of brewery worth visiting at a slower pace.
Information may be inaccurate. Please refer to the venue’s official channels for the latest details.
Hop BroI want to talk about the 2026 Keyaki Hiroba Autumn Beer Festival today. It runs in Saitama Shintoshin from September 17 to 21, and with 52 booths and 300-plus beers, you basically need a battle plan.
MugiWhat?! More than 300 beers? If I stop to admire every pint, autumn will be over before I pick my second one!
Hop BroThe brewery I really want people to notice is Tendo Brewery (Ichiraku). It's a brewpub run by a hot spring inn in Tendo, Yamagata, and the whole idea is built around that perfect post-bath beer.
MugiHold on, what is a brewpub exactly? That word just hit me like a wave of fancy beer vocabulary. How is it different from a normal beer bar?
Hop BroIn simple terms, it's a place that brews and pours onsite. Tendo Brewery goes a step further because it's inside a hot spring inn, so you can go straight from the bath to fresh draft beer. That's almost unfair.
MugiWow, a post-bath beer as the concept? That's already a winning idea. I can practically feel the towel around my neck.
Hop BroOne flagship beer to remember is Saint Cherry. It's a fruity, light-drinking beer with the aroma of cherries, and it really delivers that Yamagata character in the glass.
MugiThat name is adorable! Cherry aroma in a beer sounds like the kind of drink that starts playing travel music in your head the second you cheers.
Hop BroThe other one is Mr.A, a distinctive beer with the flavor of buckwheat. It balances crispness and richness really well, so it also makes a strong food beer. And yes, the local spring water matters too.
MugiWait, local spring water? Underground water sounds important, but my brain is currently just foam and snacks. Explain it to me like I'm holding a pint.
Hop BroThink of it as water polished by the earth. It tends to feel softer and lets ingredients show more clearly, which works really well with flavors like cherry and buckwheat.
MugiOkay, I get it now. Taste around the festival first, then visit the inn later for a deeper dive... that's a brewery worth traveling for. Now I seriously want that post-bath first sip.
