Yo-Ho Brewing Company : At A Glance
- Opened : 1996
- Japanese Name : ヤッホーブルーイング
- Location : Karuizawa / Nagano
- First Beer : Yona Yona Ale, July 1997
- Brewing Company : Yo-Ho Brewing Company
- Kirin Stake : 33.3%
- Website : https://yohobrewing.com/
- Last Updated : September 2026
Yo-Ho Brewing Company : Table of Contents
Yo-Ho Brewing : Background
Yo-Ho Brewing Company is one of Japan’s best-known craft breweries and has played an important role in the development of the country’s modern craft beer culture. Based in Karuizawa, Nagano Prefecture, the company was established in 1996, following changes to Japan’s Liquor Tax Law that made small-scale beer production commercially viable.
The inspiration for Yo-Ho Brewing came from Yoshikazu Hoshino, who would later become president of Hoshino Resort. While studying in the United States during the 1980s, Hoshino encountered American craft beer and was impressed by the variety of flavours and aromas available compared with the relatively uniform lagers that dominated Japan’s beer market. He returned to Japan determined to produce beers with greater character and individuality.
Yo-Ho’s flagship beer, Yona Yona Ale, was launched on 7 July 1997. Inspired by the American Pale Ale style, it used Cascade hops to produce a distinctive citrus and floral aroma alongside caramel malt sweetness and moderate bitterness. The name “Yona Yona”, meaning “every night”, reflected the brewery’s ambition to make flavourful ale part of everyday drinking culture. Yo-Ho initially benefited from Japan’s ji-beer boom and the increased attention brought to Nagano by the 1998 Winter Olympics. However, when the boom faded, the brewery experienced a difficult period, recording losses for eight consecutive years. It eventually recovered by concentrating on distinctive beers, direct relationships with consumers and innovative marketing.
A major development came in 2014, when Yo-Ho entered into a capital and business partnership with Kirin Brewery. Kirin acquired a significant minority stake, originally 33.4% and subsequently reported at approximately 33.3%. Despite this investment, Yo-Ho remains independently operated and is not a Kirin subsidiary, with Kirin treating its stake as an equity-accounted investment.
Today, Yo-Ho Brewing produces a broad range of beers, including Yona Yona Ale, Tokyo Black, Aooni IPA and Suiyoubi no Neko. From its beginnings in Karuizawa, the company has grown into one of Japan’s leading craft beer producers while retaining its focus on flavour, creativity and making craft beer accessible to a wider audience.
Yo-Ho Brewing : Main Lineup
The following are some of the beers we’ve had:
- Yo-Ho Aooni India Pale Ale – a 7% American IPA style beer that
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer – a 5% saison that was produced in collaboration along with Lawson’s convenience store.
- 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 Tokyo Black – a 5% porter that is brewed using Perle hops.
- Yo-Ho Uchoten Aliens – a 6% hazy IPA that is only available at 7/11 stores across Japan.
- 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 Brewing : Seasonal and Limited Edition Lineup
The following are some of the seasonal and limited edition beers we’ve had:
- 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.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer – a saison style beer that comes in at 5%, brewed in collaboration with the Lawson convenience store chain.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer Joker-kun – a 4.5% session IPA which is joint effort between Yo-Ho Brewing and Lawson, Natural Lawson, and Seijo Ishii.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer Midnight Seijin – a 5.5% hoppy amber ale.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer Ryusei Radio Rye Pale Ale – a 5% rye pale ale.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer Uraniwa Invader Easy Hop Cream Ale – a 5% cream ale made with HBC 431 hops, barley malt and wheat malt.
- Yo-Ho Boku Beer Kimi Beer Yorimichi -a 4.5% dry-hopped American wheat ale made with HBC431 and Cascade hops.
- Yo-Ho Getsumen-Gaho – a 5% Belgian pale ale that was produced in collaboration along with Amazon.jp.
- Yo-Ho Konomi Nante Kiitenaize Sorry Kokugo Imperial Porter – a seasonal Imperial porter that contains a plethora of ingredients.
- 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 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 Brewing : Karuizawa Kogen Lineup
Yo-Ho Brewing also makes beers under the Karuizwa Kogen brand:
- 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 2017 Seasonal Brown Ale – a 5% brown ale brewed with six different kinds of malts as well as containing oats too.
- Karuizawa Kogen 2017 Seasonal ESB – a 5.5% American style ESB brewed using American hops.
- Karuizawa Kogen 2017 Seasonal Session Wheat – a 4.5% session wheat IPA ade using Yumekaori wheat, which is native to the Karuizawa region.
- Karuizawa Kogen 2025 Seasonal Saison – a 5% saison which uses locally grown Karuizawa “Yumekaori” wheat and Elani hops.
- Karuizawa Kogen 2026 Herbal Golden Ale – a 5% spice / golden ale brewed as a companion for food and conversation.
- 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 Craft Saurus Pale Ale – a 5.5% American pale ale
- 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.
- 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.
Articles
The following are some of the articles we’ve done:
Yo-Ho Brewing Bars
Yo-Ho Brewing also have a chain of taprooms in Japan. Here’s a list of some that we’ve been to:
- Yona Yona Beer Works Aoyama
- Yona Yona Beer Works Ebisu
- Yona Yona Beer Works Kanda
- Yona Yona Beer Works Kichijoji
- Yona Yona Beer Works Shinjuku
Details
- Address : 2148 Nagagura Karuizawa-machi Nagano-ken Kitasaga-gun, 389-0111
- Phone : 0267-66-1211
- Homepage : https://yonayonaale.com
- Online store : https://yonasato.com/ec/
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
