Golden Brewery

There’s a brewery in Fukutsu City started by a company president who used to import and sell baby products. It’s Golden Brewery.

President Takashi Kodama is the founder of Cherry Bell, which imports and sells overseas baby products. He traveled often to the U.S. and Germany, and visiting beer bars wherever he went became a hobby, which is how he got deeply into craft beer.

What’s more, he had already started a blueberry tourist farm in Fukutsu. He was growing about 400 plants using natural energy, trying to create a local specialty. At that point Fukutsu still didn’t have a locally made alcohol, so he thought, ‘Then let’s make beer.’ He learned brewing through technical instruction at Vector Brewing in Tokyo.

Their flagship, ‘Fukutsu Beer,’ is a Golden Ale and an easy-to-drink style with a pleasant crispness and smooth finish. ‘Chilirira’ is a Belgian White made with orange peel and coriander. And the one to watch is ‘Creamy Rich,’ a Hazy IPA that won silver at the Japan Great Beer Awards 2025.

Also interesting is ‘Fukutsu Zero,’ a non-alcoholic beer. It uses only malt, hops, and carbonation, with no artificial sweeteners at all. You can even buy it at the JR Fukuma Station tourist information center, so it works as a souvenir too.

Also, I want you to notice the labels: students from the Faculty of Art and Design at Kyushu Sangyo University spent about a year designing them. They’re based on Fukutsu legends, and when you shine a light on the bottle, the malt and the owl’s eyes light up. They also use malt from Munakata, so it’s a brewery deeply connected to the region.