Otama Brewing

Otama Brewing is run by Take from Miyagawa, who is 46 years old. He spent about 20 years in Tokyo as an IT freelancer, then returned to his hometown of Joetsu when the COVID-19 pandemic shifted him to remote work.

What’s interesting is that, through an introduction from a real estate agent, he became the successor to Omiya Shoten, a long-established liquor store in Sanwa Ward that has been around for more than 60 years. He took over the liquor store and then started brewing craft beer there too.

Miyagawa was influenced by Portland’s brewery culture, and he has a vision of bringing world-class craft beer to the local area. While taking advice from a brewer in Gifu and honing his skills, he began brewing in July 2023.

"MAGIC TIME IPA" is a West Coast-style beer with citrus hop aromas and a clean bitterness. "YAWAYAWA Pale Ale" uses the Joetsu dialect word "yawayawa," meaning "slowly," and is an American pale ale with a nice balance of deep flavor and hop aroma. It’s great that they use local words in the product names, right?

"UME NO HANA Hazy IPA" is a hazy IPA made with sake lees from Maruyama Shuzo, the brewery behind the local famous sake "Sekishu Bai." "999 Saison" is a saison dry-hopped with Mosaic and Citra using local rice. Their latest release, "Small Green Apple Sakekasu Sour Ale," is a sour ale combining thinned-out apples from Iizuna, Nagano, with sake lees from Kimi no I Shuzo in Myoko.

In August 2025, they also opened a taproom in Naoetsu, so now you can enjoy fresh draft beer delivered straight from the brewery. It’s nice to visit both the brewery in Sanwa Ward and the taproom in Naoetsu.