Yo-ho Brewing Company was founded in 1996, soon after the abolition of the beer brewing laws, and was one of the first microbreweries to be recognized nationwide. In 2010, the Japanese Beer Association awarded Yo-Ho Brewing “Brewery of the Year” award. Unlike other microbreweries in Japan, all of their beers come either in cans, or by the barrel. In 2014, Kirin Beer company bought a 24% stake in the company with 40% of the production of the Yo-Ho Brewing range being produced by Kirin. Moreover, the brewers cooperate in shipping, procurement, product development and online promotion. Yo-Ho Brewing also brew the Karuizawa Kogen range of beers, which are not to be confused with the Karuizawa Brewery from Dover Co.
Yo-Ho Brewing Main Line up
The following beers are part of Yo-Ho Brewing’s main lineup.
- Yo-Ho Aooni India Pale Ale – a 7% American IPA style beer that
- Yo-Ho Yona Yona Ale – a 5.5% American pale ale that can be found in various forms on tap, such as on nitro.
- Yo-Ho Yona Yona Real Ale – an aged version of the Yona Yona ale that also contains a widget in the can to give it a creamy flavour.
- Yo-Ho Tokyo Black – a 5% porter that is brewed using Perle hops.
- Yo-Ho Suiyoubi no Neko – a 4.5% Belgian style witbier that is designed for hump day, or Wednesday (Suiyoubi)
- Yo-Ho SunSun – a 4.5% pilsner that is brewed in a manner that it has obtained the organic certification.
- Yo-Ho Harenohi – a premium barley wine.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer – A 5% saison that was produced in collaboration along with Lawson’s convenience store.
- Yo-Ho Getsumen-Gaho – a 5% Belgian pale ale that was produced in collaboration along with Amazon.jp
Yo-Ho Brewing Seasonal and Limited Edition Lineup
The following beers are part of Yo-Ho Brewing’s Seasonal and Limited Edition range:
- Yo-Ho Konomi Nante Kiitenaize Sorry Kokugo Imperial Porter – a seasonal Imperial porter that contains a plethora of ingredients.
- Yo-Ho Zenryaku Konomi Nante Kiitenaize Sorry Session Yuzu Ale – take the regular Sorry! and infuse it with salt and yuzu to make this 4% session ale.
- Yo-Ho SORRY Umami IPA – a 7% Experimental White IPA which used bonito fish flakes in the brewing process to impart umami, and seven different kinds of hops with Magnum, Columbus, and HBC682 being used for bittering, and Cascade, Glacier, Loral, and Cashmere being used for aroma.
- Yo-Ho Barrel Aged Barley Wine B-12 – a sherry cask-aged barley wine. It’s apparently one in a series (as the name would suggest), and at 11.5% will definitely knock your socks off.
- Karuizawa Kogen 2014 Seasonal British Pale Ale – a 5% English pale ale that was brewed in 2014 for the annual range of beers.
- Karuizawa Kogen 2015 Seasonal Wheat Ale – a 4.5% wheat ale that was re-released in 2015.
- Karuizawa Kogen Belgian White – a 4.5% witbier first released back in 2012 but strangely enough, it has been re-released in 2016.
- Karuizawa Kogen Session IPA – a 4.5% session IPA that saw its second release in 2016.
- Karuizawa Kogen Wild Forest – a 5% blonde ale where a portion of profits from each can of Karuizawa Kogen National Trust go towards maintaining the local forests in Karuizawa.
- Karuizawa Kogen National Trust – a 5% American style porter where a portion of profits from each can of Karuizawa Kogen National Trust go towards maintaining the local forests in Karuizawa.
Yo-Ho Brewing Brewery Information
Address: 2148 Nagagura Karuizawa-machi Nagano-ken Kitasaga-gun, 389-0111
Phone: 0267-66-1211
Website: http://www.yonasato.com/e/
Online store (Japanese only): http://www.rakuten.co.jp/yonayona/
