Haneda Sky Brewing

Haneda Sky Brewing is a brewery on the second floor of Haneda Innovation City, and the location is truly one of a kind. It's brewing beer right next to the airport.

It's directly connected to Tenkubashi Station, so that's exactly the kind of place it is. And it's run by Sachiko Oya, who also runs RE.beer under the same company, Taiho Co., Ltd., and the company's history is pretty interesting too. It started in 1961 as a Chinese restaurant called Taiho in Bunkyo Ward, opened Haneda Bar in Kamata in 2016, and opened Haneda Sky Brewing in 2020.

The brewing system is made by Brewiks in Slovenia, with a 250-liter batch size. Brewing is handled in rotation by three people: Kosuke Hirai, Keisuke Ueura, and Ryo Aoki.

What's fun is that the lineup is full of beers named after Ota Ward place names and specialties. The flagship, 'Soaring Sky ~sion~', is an IPA with a surprising contrast: it smells refreshing before you sip it, but the moment you drink it, it turns into a no-nonsense pale ale. Other beers include 'Kuroyu Beer', a porter inspired by Ota Ward's black hot springs, and 'Omori Shell Mound Beer', a pale ale made with hops from Sanno.

Right. Oya said, 'If you don't insist on Ota Ward identity, there's no point in running a shop in this town,' and they've even started cultivating Ota Ward hops together with customers. They've also partnered with Tokyo Biotechnology College to collect Ota Ward yeast, and there's a beer called 'Hanaka HANAKA ~Scent of the Mountain~' brewed with yeast collected from the plum blossoms at Ikegami Baien.

They use malt from the UK, hops from Australia, the U.S., and the Czech Republic, and brewing water from local Haneda. The ingredient combination is clearly well thought out. Oya's ultimate goal is apparently to open a place inside Haneda Airport where the factory and restaurant are integrated.