Pecora Beer, a small craft brewery in Asao Ward, Kawasaki, Kanagawa, has announced on Instagram that it will be harvesting hops. The post signals the arrival of the seasonal work surrounding one of beer’s most important ingredients.

The brewery runs HOP CLUB, a community-based initiative focused on growing hops with local residents. Its predecessor, the Asao Hop Project, began in fiscal 2022 as a citizen-proposed collaborative project in Kawasaki’s Asao Ward. The project aimed to promote greenery in residential areas and create opportunities for community interaction through hop cultivation. After Pecora Beer opened in 2024 as the first craft brewery in Asao Ward, the activity continued as a brewery-led club.

HOP CLUB members grow hops in home gardens and on private properties, where the plants can also serve as green curtains. The group also maintains two small hop plots near Maydai Station. Harvesting takes place from early summer through late autumn, and some of the locally grown hops are donated to Pecora Beer for brewing.

Most commercial beer is made with hops that have been dried and processed for stability. Fresh hops, by contrast, can contribute vivid green, plant-like aromas and a sense of freshness. Because fresh hops are highly perishable, the distance and timing between the field and the brewhouse matter. This makes local hop projects particularly well suited to fresh-hop brewing.

Pecora Beer is led by a brewer who holds a beer-judging qualification and focuses mainly on clean yet expressive American-style beers with restrained bitterness. The brewery also operates Pecora Beer Kitchen, a taproom serving up to nine house-made beers alongside food.

The harvested hops may eventually become a beer that captures the character of Asao’s growing season and the work of its local community. The exact date of the harvest was not confirmed in the available Instagram and official brewery information.