Sapporo Breweries

Koyoen might be best known for yakiniku and its beer garden, but in 2023 the KOYOEN Brewery opened on the grounds, so you can now drink house-brewed craft beer there.

And this place actually started in 1931, Showa 6, as a directly operated beer hall for Dai Nippon Beer’s Nagoya factory. It’s land that has been pouring beer for more than 90 years.

It actually comes from the name of a garden that the 11th shogun, Tokugawa Ienari, created by the Sumida River during the Edo period. Dai Nippon Beer is said to have named it after that famous garden.

They’re also serious about the brewing setup. They use a special copper kettle that brings out the beer’s character, and each batch takes about a month to produce 1,800 liters. You can even see the brewing tanks from inside the restaurant.

There are three craft beers: Golden Ale, Weizen, and India Pale Lager. They follow the philosophy that “beer is a living thing,” and the brewers use all five senses to finish each one.

It’s a style that brings out the hop character of an IPA with the crispness of a lager. On the site of Sapporo Beer’s former Nagoya factory, the current brewing team is building on history while taking on new challenges.