Woodmill Brewery Kyoto

There’s something interesting about Yamato Tsujimoto of Woodmill Brewery Kyoto. He was originally the third-generation head of a Kyoto Yuzen dyeing workshop.

As the times changed, the Yuzen workshop was closed. From there, he spent four years at Kotobukishuzo in Osaka - the company famous for 'Kokunonaga Beer' - learning sake brewing and craft beer brewing from scratch, and opened his own brewery in 2018.

This is a nice story too: the neighborhood name where it’s located is 'Kobiki-cho.' 'Wood' and 'mill.' Tsujimoto’s wish to cherish his local neighborhood became the name itself. It really reflects someone who was born and raised in Kyoto as the third-generation successor to a Yuzen workshop.

The most popular one is 'Hassaku White.' It’s a Belgian-style white ale made generously with Hassaku from Uji, Kyoto and Wakayama, and its citrus aroma and gentle acidity are refreshing. Another one, 'Yawaragi IPA,' as the name suggests, is an IPA that pairs well with Japanese meals: it has a firm bitterness, but finishes clean and doesn’t get in the way of food. Tsujimoto’s philosophy is beer as a drink for meals.

There’s also a bold line called the 'Okite Yaburi' series, and 'Mosaic Punch,' made with CRYO hops, hits hard as a hazy IPA. It won gold in the honey beer category at the International Beer Cup 2025 and also took multiple awards at the Japan Great Beer Awards 2026. For a microbrewery that can make only 500 liters at a time, that record shows serious skill.

It’s true. He has run every day for more than 2,300 days, and calls himself 'the most-run brewer in the entire universe.' A third-generation Kyoto Yuzen artisan who trained at a sake brewery and started making beer, carrying the name of Kobiki-cho, running through Kyoto every morning. He himself is basically craft, isn’t he?