CraftBank
- Address
- Fukuchiyama City, Kyoto, 264-5 Minamihonmachi
- Area
- Kyoto Fukuchiyama City
What kind of brewery is CraftBank?
Hop BroCraftBank is a place where a former IBM employee and a former community-development consultant turned an abandoned bank in Fukuchiyama into a full-scale brewery.
MugiWhat? A bank? Beer and banks don't seem connected at all!
Hop BroThat's what makes it great. Brewer Daichi Haseboshi spent five years working in sales at IBM, but one moment of toasting craft beer with colleagues at a brewpub in Tokyo made him think, 'This is it.' After that, he pulled off the unusual feat of working at IBM in the mornings while spending his afternoons exploring the beer business.
MugiIBM in the morning, beer in the afternoon? That's a way to work?
Hop BroHis partner and CFO, Shoda, is impressive too. He studied architecture and urban planning at Hokkaido University, then worked at a community-development think tank in Osaka. After helping launch around 50 businesses in the revival of Fukuchiyama's shopping streets, he researched craft beer culture on the ground in Portland and San Diego. Both of them also trained as brewers at Miyazaki Hideji Beer.
MugiI see, it's an IT x community-development combo. So how is the beer itself?
Hop BroTheir flagship BANK IPA is a West Coast IPA made with nine kinds of American and New Zealand hops, including Citra, Mosaic, Centennial, and Idaho 7. It hits hard with citrus and tropical aromas, but finishes so clean you can keep drinking glass after glass. It really embodies the concept they promote, 'DRUNKABILITY' - beer with personality that you can drink endlessly.
MugiDRUNKABILITY! That's a great word! Do they use local ingredients too?
Hop BroThat's another great thing about them. KUROMAME BLACK is a black IPA made with soy milk from Tamba black soybeans, where coffee-like bitterness and creamy black bean character meet hop-driven citrus aroma. KURI GOLD is a golden pilsner made with chestnut paste from Tamba chestnut farmer Okuda. AZUKI RED is a red wheat ale with Tamba azuki beans. It feels like they're turning every agricultural product in Tamba into beer.
MugiBlack soybeans, chestnuts, and azuki beans? That's a full Tamba feast! And didn't they recently release a coffee stout too?
Hop BroThat's a collaboration with Shiritsu Coffee Elementary School, a roastery in Kinshicho, Tokyo. They use fair-trade beans from Indonesia and aim for a restrained sweetness that brings out the oily richness of a French press. They also do bold experiments, like a saison brewed with KIOTO yeast from Kyoto and raised while listening to music.
MugiThe bank vault is a VIP room now, right? And it's only a five-minute walk from Fukuchiyama Station. I definitely want to go!
Craft Bank to Hold Four Events in March Across Osaka, Kyoto, Kobe, and Nakameguro
Craft Bank releases "YUZU BRUT" 6-bottle set scented with Mizuo yuzu
Craft Bank unveils new Kyoto Mizuo yuzu-scented "YUZU BRUT"
Kyoto Craft Bank unveils SAKE IPA "DOPPEL GANGER" made with sake yeast "Kyo no Haku"
articles about bars serving beers from CraftBank
The Beer Shop Hirakata city adds two Thornbridge beers and refreshes its draft board
The Beer Shop Hirakata city receives four Hino Brewing beers from Shiga
The Beer Shop Hirakata city posts its June 11 tap list, with Black Label on draft
YELLOW APE CRAFT opens three new taps and previews a double takeover
The Beer Shop Hirakata city posts June 9 draft lineup with Sapporo, Trademark, Craftbank, and Hirakata Beer
YELLOW APE CRAFT updates its tap list with three new beers on June 5
YELLOW APE CRAFT Adds Three New Taps on June 5
The Beer Shop Hirakata city taps Trademark Brewing’s Codebreaker
The Beer Shop Hirakata city posts June 3 draft lineup
