Kotokoto Beer

Kotokoto Beer is a brewery started by Tomoya Bando, who worked for 12 years at a sake brewery in Nara, and his wife, Tomomi Minsha, who served as head brewer at the same brewery for more than 20 years.

Exactly. Minsha is a female brewer. When the sake brewery's management became difficult in 2019, Bando decided to go independent, reasoning that the sake market was saturated but craft beer could still compete even as a newcomer. They opened in Kizugawa City in May 2022.

Absolutely. Minsha mixes the ingredients by hand with a spatula, watches the heat during the boil with her own eyes, and carefully filters out any off-flavors. The delicate sensibility she honed in sake brewing comes through directly in the beer's taste. In fact, 'Jet-Black Stout' won gold in the stout category at Beer One Grand Prix 2024.

It's a dark beer with plenty of richness, but not so heavy that it overwhelms a meal. In fact, it's served at Velrosier, a two-Michelin-star Chinese restaurant in Kyoto, and there's even an anecdote about a Canadian couple who tasted it there, were so impressed that they came all the way to the brewery to buy some.

'Overwhelming Hop IPA' balances bitterness and aroma with three kinds of hops, while 'GO! GO! Weizen' is a fruity wheat beer made with a 50:50 malt-to-wheat ratio. What's especially interesting is the limited fruit line: 'Jorin-chan Fig Stout' using figs from Morinishi Farm in Joyo City, 'Grapevine IPA' made with grapes from Yamashiro, and 'Strawberry Weizen' using strawberries from the 4H Club, a group of young farmers in Nara.

You know your stuff. They also make 'Kyoto Honey Ale' using honey grown by students at Kyoto Sangyo University, and they even hold craft beer classes at the JEUGIA Culture Center. The name 'Kotokoto' is a pun on Kyoto and Nara as the 'old capitals' and on the sound of a pot simmering.