Nara Brewing

Did you know Nara Brewing? The representative, Yasunori Namioka, is someone who originally graduated from Kyoto University's Faculty of Engineering and then worked as a civil engineering officer at the Nara Prefectural Government for 13 years. While traveling around the world as a backpacker during his university days, he was so struck by Belgian beer and thought, "There are flavors this fruity and gentle," that he never forgot it, left the prefectural office, and switched careers to become a brewer.

No, no. In 2015 he first joined Kyoto Brewing as an assistant brewer and trained hard for two years. Then he founded Nara Brewing in 2017. It had been about 20 years since a new beer manufacturing license had been issued in Nara Prefecture.

The first interesting one is UNDERWATER, a Sake Yeast Beer. They teamed up with Yucho Shuzo, the brewery behind Nara's famous sake Kaze no Mori, and use sake yeast, brewing water, and even a fermentation water called so-yashi water, while using zero hops. At 11.5% ABV, aromas like apple, pineapple, and strawberry burst out, but it's neither beer nor sake. It's a glass that pushes the boundaries of fermentation.

I’d also recommend PHILHARMONY, a Belgian witbier. It uses Yamatotachibana, a native Nara citrus, and layers its tartness with the sweetness of wheat and the refreshing notes of coriander and lemongrass. Because it’s a citrus that has grown wild in Nara since ancient times, it has a flavor unlike any other witbier.

This is where it gets exciting. At Japan Brewers Cup 2026, SUN, a smoky amber, took first place in the Amber Beer category, an INTEGRAL variant took second in Strong Beer, and the brewery was chosen as Champions Brewery overall out of more than 1,022 entries. At the World Beer Awards 2025, INTEGRAL also won Country Winner in the Belgian Style Strong category. And what's more, they have a policy of never using deer, the Great Buddha, or any other Nara tourist imagery in their branding.