Background
Kyoto Brewing Company is a craft beer brewery located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded in 2015, Kyoto Brewing Company has been a story of continued success ever since. The brewerry was founded Chris Hainge, Paul Speed, and Benjamin Falck, with the former leaving in 2024. The beers from KBC have a strong Belgian influence, from the yeast used, to the style of beer. One of the main yeasts used is Belgian Ardennes, known for its spicy and fruit notes it imparts into beers.
It also works well to produce bright beers that look good, no matter the light. The hops used at KBC also show a global connection as imported hops from the USA, New Zealand, Australia, Slovenia, and the UK are all used in some of their beers. Belgian beers have also heavily influenced the styles of beers made too, with Belgian saisons, stouts, and blonde ales being part of the core line up.
Beer Reviews : Regular Lineup
The following are some of the beers we’ve had:
- Kyoto Brewing Ichigo Ichie – A 5.9% saison brewed using Belgian yeast and hops from both the USA and New Zealand.
- Kyoto Brewing Ichii Senshin – A 6.5% Belgian IPA brewed using Pilsner Malt, Maris Otter, Malted Wheat and uses Warrior, Chinook, Styrian Goldings, Willamette, and Centennial hops with Belgian Ardennes yeast.
- Kyoto Brewing 6 Day Weekend – A 4.5% Belgian Ale brewed with Pilsner, Pale Ale, and Carapils malts along with Warrior hops, followed by Topaz and Mistral hops for aroma.
Beer Reviews : KBC 2.0 Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from the KBC 2.0 series:
- Kyoto Sharaku Imperial Porter – An 8.5% imperial porter brewed with Fuggle and Hallertau Mittelfruh hops.
- Kyoto Irotoridori DDH Imperial Saison – A 9% imperial saison brewed with Amarillo, Cascade, Mosaic, and Motueka hops.
- Kyoto Irotoridori Oat Cream IPA – A 7% Oat Cream IPA brewed with Motueka hops as the star, though it also contains Sabro hops in the background.
- Kyoto Irotoridori Tart Lime IPA – A 6.5% sour IPA brewed with Motueka, Riwaka, and Southern Cross and lime juice.
Beer Reviews : Kimagure Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from their Kimagure series:
- Kyoto Brewing Haru No Kimagure – A 6% American pale ale that includes Merkur hops for bittering and a variety of imported hops in the guise of Cascade, Chinook, Centennial, Cascade Cryo, and Centennial Cryo.
Beer Reviews : Homecoming Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from their Homecoming (kikan 帰還) series:
- Kyoto Romp & Circumstance – A 10% Belgian quad brewed with Polaris and Aramis hops and kuromitsu sugar.
- Kyoto Brewing Yosano Homecoming – A 5.5% saison brewed using locally grown Chinook hops from the Yosano area.
Beer Reviews : Mari Clan Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from their Mari Clan (Mari Ichizoku) series:
- Kyoto Brewing Mariko – A 6% Belgian IPA brewed using Merkur for bittering hops, and Mosaic, Citra, and Equinox for flavour and aroma.
- Kyoto Brewing Mario – A 7.5% Belgian Double IPA brewed using imported Chinook, Columbus, and Simcoe.
Beer Reviews : Limited Release Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from their limited release series:
- Kyoto Brewing Berugii kara – A 5% amber ale brewed using Pilsner, Biscuit Malt, Cara 50, and Special B malts imported from Belgium with Mistral, Triskel, and Barb Rouge hops imported from France.
- Kyoto Brewing Ichi – A 6.5% American IPA brewed using Columbus for bittering and Cascade, Simcoe, Citra, and Sabro used for flavour
- Kyoto Brewing Kan – A 6% American IPA brewed using imported Citra, Ekuanot, Citra Cryo, Ekuanot Cryo, and Sabro hops and also contains coconut powder.
- Kyoto Brewing Koh – A 6% American IPA with a mineral content of 324ppm and a water profile similar to a Burton water.
- Kyoto Brewing Kuroshio no Gotoku – A 4.8% stout with its name that roughly translates to “Like the Black Tide”, with the Black Tide referring to the Japan current that works its way from Japan to the West Coast of the USA.
- Kyoto Brewing Little Pleasures – A 4% table saison brewed using Pilsner and Flaked Wheat along with Aramis for bittering hops and Motueka for flavour / aroma.
- Kyoto Brewing Minori – A 6.5% American IPA which uses Merkur hops for bittering, while for flavour and aroma, Kyoto Brewing Company used Citra and Mosaic.
- Kyoto Brewing Nagoriyuki – A 4.9% hefeweizen brewed with Pilsner and Wheat malt, along with Merkur hops from Germany for bittering and Summer hops for flavour.
- Kyoto Brewing Nan – A 6% American IPA with a mineral content of 48ppm and a water profile similar to a Pilzen water profile.
- Kyoto Brewing Ni – A 6.5% American IPA with Columbus used for bittering and Cascade, Simcoe, Citra, and Sabro used for flavour.
- Kyoto Brewing Shunkashuto Spring – A 6.0% Belgian Saison with the hops being Hallertau Mittelfruh for bittering, and Styrian Goldings Bobek with Hallertau Mittelfruh for aroma.
- Kyoto Brewing Shunkashuto Winter – An 8.0% strong saison with Merkur being used for bittering hops, and Motueka with Nelson Sauvin for the aroma and flavour hops.
- Kyoto Brewing Summer Splash – A 5% American Wheat Ale that contains 33% wheat malt. It uses Merkur hops for bittering and Motueka hops from New Zealand with Summer hops from Australia being used for the flavour / aroma hops.
- Kyoto Brewing Sunset Juice – A 4.5% Belgian sour brewed using hibiscus and dried orange mikan peel.
- Kyoto Brewing Wa – A 6% saison IPA brewed using four different hops: Cascade, HBC 344, Citra, and Mandarina Bavaria.
Beer Reviews : New Frontier Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from their new frontier (Shintenchi 新天地) series:
- Kyoto Brewing New Frontier – A 5% Italian pilsner brewed using Hallertauer Mittelfruh for both bittering and aroma, and Spalter being used for aroma.
- Kyoto Brewing 6 Journeys Czech IPA – A 6% Czech IPA brewed using imported Saaz and Sladek hops from the Czech Republic.
Beer Reviews : Full Colour Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from the Full Colour (Mansai 満彩) series:
- Kyoto Brewing Indigo Skies – A 5.5% fruit sour brewed with blueberry and raspberry puree along with pilsner and wheat in the grain bill.
Beer Reviews : Breakthrough Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from the Breakthrough (Toppa 突破)series:
- Kyoto Brewing Akane – An 11% barleywine brewed with Simcoe hops and takes its name from the colour of the beer : red.
- Kyoto Brewing Easy Does It – A 12% barlerywine brewed using Pilsner, Golden Promise, and Vienna malts and unlike other Barleywines, this uses a blend of American and Belgian yeast during fermentation.
Beer Reviews : True Writing Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from the True Writing (Shingyoso 真行草) series:
- Kyoto Brewing Shingyoso Shin – An 8% West Coast Double IPA brewed using Mosaic hops as the main, with Citra in support.
Beer Reviews : Companion Series
The following are some of the beers we’ve had from the Companion (Nakama 仲間) series:
- Kyoto Brewing Double Dragon – A 5.5% stout which started out as a foreign export stout and then fermented using the in-house Belgian yeast followed by an addition of figs and was brewed with Tiny Rebel, from Wales.
- Kyoto Brewing Dream of Two Cities – An 8% imperial milk stout that was brewed in conjunction with Nara Brewing Company; Namioka-san used to work at Kyoto Brewing Company.
- Kyoto Brewing Movember – A 9% baltic porter that was brewed in conjunction with Two Rabbits Brewing Company and it is brewed with Flex alongside Hallertau Mittelfruh hops, and contains brown sugar, raw barley, and raw rye.
Articles
The following are some of the articles we’ve done about Kyoto Brewing Company:
Details
- Address : 25-1 Nishikujo Takahatacho, Minami Ward, Kyoto, 601-8446
- Phone : 075-574-7820
- Homepage : https://kyotobrewing.com/
- Online store : https://kyotobrewing.com/en/collections/kbc-multi-collection
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
