Unkai Beer Brewery

Unkai Beer Brewery is operated by Unkai Shuzo, which is known for shochu, and the location is remarkable too. It’s inside a facility called "Sakenomori" in Aya Town, which is registered as a UNESCO Biosphere Reserve.

Sakenomori is an "alcohol theme park" where a shochu distillery, sake brewery, winery, and beer brewery are all gathered together, and it even has a restaurant, hot spring, and lodging. It started brewing in 1996 as "Aya Draft Beer" and was rebranded as "Unkai Beer Brewery" in 2017, making it a brewery with a long history.

There are two pillars to the beer here. One is that it uses "Aya spring water," selected as one of Japan’s 100 Famous Waters, for brewing water. The other is that it uses the world-class Saaz Fine Aroma hops. It’s a beer made with 100% malt and live yeast.

The regular lineup includes four styles: Kölsch, Alt, Black, and Pilsner. And the one to watch is Strong Ale 10. As the name suggests, it has an alcohol content of 10%, and it’s a rich, full-bodied beer that combines fruity notes with a pleasant bitterness from the hops.

What’s more, Strong Ale 10 is a limited item sold only at Sakenomori. It won a silver medal in the Old Ale or Strong Ale category at the International Beer Cup 2024, and it also took gold at the Japan Great Beer Awards. Unkai Lager won a silver medal too.