Okuyamato BREWING

Okuyamato BREWING in Uda City, Nara, is a brewery founded by a former professional musician.

The brewer, Yoshinori Yoneda, left his hometown at 17 and spent about 20 years in Tokyo doing band activities and composing music. He is also a guitarist who once made his major debut, and later returned to Uda to start the brewery.

And Uda has been known as a "town of medicinal herbs" for more than 1,300 years, dating back to 611 in the Asuka period. Yoneda himself holds a medical herb coordinator qualification, and the concept is "BOTANICAL & HERBAL." They brew beers blended with more than 10 kinds of herbs and spices.

For example, their stout SPICE DARK includes rosemary, bergamot, cardamom, black pepper, and licorice, and it won gold on its first entry at the International Beer Cup 2019. He learned brewing largely on his own, so that result is impressive.

Yoneda himself says, "Brewing is the same as live performance. The same beer is never born twice." For example, MASALA BLOSSOM, an abbey-style beer, is like masala chai turned into beer, with nine spices including fennel, cinnamon, clove, star anise, ginger, and Assam tea.

They also make a beer called ANGELICA using the roots of Yamato toki, which has been cultivated in Uda for more than 1,300 years. The history of this land is packed into every glass. There is also a guesthouse called TAP to BED next to the brewery, where you can stay overnight, drink at the taproom, and even watch the brewing process through the glass.