Kuninocho Beer

Kuninocho Beer is absolutely one of the places you can't leave out when talking about the history of craft beer in Osaka.

It's brewed by Kotobuki Shuzo. Founded in Bunsei 5, 1822, it's a sake brewery with more than 200 years of history. Right after craft beer was legalized in 1994, they got moving, and in 1995 they started brewing the first local beer in Osaka and the ninth in Japan.

And the true highlight here is the Kijo series. Kijo GOLD is fermented with sake yeast, so even though it's beer, a ginjo-like aroma from sake rises softly from the glass. This is the kind of beer only a sake brewery could make.

Not only is it a thing, Kijo GOLD has won four straight Japan Beer Festival awards and a gold medal at the Asia Beer Cup. Kijo BROWN also won silver at the 2016 International Beer Cup. The judges have clearly recognized it too.

Kura Kölsch has a crisp noble-hop aroma and a refreshing finish, and it won gold at the Japan Great Beer Awards 2021. Kura Amber layers citrus notes with the roasted aroma of caramel malt, keeps bitterness low, and is the kind of beer that pairs easily with food. It uses Canadian malt and German hops.

In Tomita, Takatsuki, there's a direct-run standing-style tap room called 'Kuninocho Kura no Mita Taproom,' where brewing staff member Yuichi Takahashi sometimes pours from behind the taps. It's a 6-minute walk from Hankyu Tomita Station.