Futako Beer

The best part of Futako Beer Brewery is how it started. In 2014, at a local event in Futakotamagawa, the theme was "things you'd like to see in the neighborhood," and that led to someone saying, "Futakotamagawa doesn't have beer or a mascot!" That's how it began.

The representatives, Naoko Ichihara and Yuka Kobayashi, are former office workers and local mom friends. They researched breweries all over Japan whenever they had time off. At first they didn't have their own brewery, so they had it contract-brewed by Kiuchi Brewery, the makers of Hitachino Nest Beer.

But Futakotamagawa is mostly a residential area, so they couldn't find a property suitable for a brewery at all. It took four years before they finally opened their current location in Yanagikoji. And their head brewer is impressive. Chris Meakanbar is originally from a brewery in Oregon, U.S., and after coming to Japan he spent nine years honing his craft at Brimmer Brewing in Kawasaki.

Their flagship, "FUTAKO ALE," is a pale ale at 5% ABV, designed so you keep wanting another glass, with bright hop aroma and rich malt flavor. "FUTAKO BLACK" is a coffee stout made with Ethiopian beans from Woodberry Coffee Roasters in Yoga. The collaboration with a local coffee shop is just perfect.

And when it comes to local community involvement, the "Setagaya Hop Project" is really interesting. They give hop seedlings to local residents, who grow them on balconies and in gardens, and then brew actual beer with the harvested hops. They learned hop cultivation from farmers in Tono with 50 years of experience, and in 2016 they distributed 400 plants.

More recently, they just released "Hassaku White," a fruit ale made in collaboration with Kinokawa City in Wakayama Prefecture. It's an ABV 5% fruit ale made with hassaku peel and juice. They also worked with JA Tokyo Chuo to make "BLUE DROPS," using Setagaya-grown blueberries. They really make beer that connects both local communities and places farther away.