Fat Barley Brewing

Fat Barley Brewing is a microbrewery in Fussa, and its location right next to Yokota Air Base is distinctive.

Yes, about half the customers are foreigners, mainly Americans. The owner, Mr. Mori, spent his 20s working holidays in Canada, the United States, the UK, and Australia, and he fell in love with overseas pub culture.

He started by opening a beer restaurant in Hamura in 2009, then expanded into an English-style pub. He's always wanted to root pub culture in Japan. Then, when the Liquor Tax Act was revised in 2018 and the malt ratio requirement was lowered from 67% to 50%, he obtained a brewing license and started brewing in-house.

Their signature beer is Hazy IPA, a style that uses a large amount of hops while adjusting the timing to keep bitterness down. They also brew beers that use hop variety names as the title, like "Muddy Hop Juice" and "Nothing But Sabro." You can directly enjoy the tropical aroma of Sabro hops.

What's interesting is "Mai Bock." It was brewed at the request of a German regular, and it takes 11 hours to brew using the decoction method, so it's extremely labor-intensive. The way the international customer base influences the recipes really fits this place.

The taproom is on the second floor, with 18 chairs on one side and standing tables on the other. You can sit and savor your beer, or stand and chat with the person next to you like in a Western pub. Another highlight is that they use groundwater from Hamura as their brewing water.