Chichibu Beer, also known as Bear Meets Beer, is a craft beer brewery located in Chichibu, in Saitama, Japan. Chichibu is more famous for its fruit and steam trains, rather than breweries, but the husband and wife couple made the move from Hokkaido to start the brewery back in November 2017. They also operate the Mahollo Bar, which is essentially the taproom for Chichibu Beer. The brewery uses English and German malt and American, German, and French hops while the water is taken from the Yoshida River. The brewery does not pasteurise its beer nor do they filter out the yeast.
Chichibu Beer Lineup
The following are some of Chichibu Beer’s that we’ve tried.
- Chichibu Kireina Shirokuma – a 7% NE-IPA collaboration beer with Chiba-based craft beer bar Beer O’Clock.
- Chichibu Naminori Kuma – a 7% West Coast IPA and a collaborative effort with Abbot’s Choice Ikebukuro. The name roughly translates to “The Bear That Rides The Wave”.
- Chichibu CCB Grizzly IPA – a 7% Brut IPA brewed using Sabro, Mosaic, and Polaris hops.
Chichibu Beer Details
Address: 17-14 Banbamachi, Chichibu, Saitama 368-0041
Phone: 050-3692-3895
Homepage (in Japanese): http://www.chichibu-lab.jp/
Brewery Store: N/A
Social Media: Facebook