Background
Nomcraft Brewing is a Japanese microbrewery located in Aridagawa, in Wakayama, Japan. The brewery was founded by three people: Ben Emrich from Portland, Adam Baran from Chicago, and Takumi Kaneko, a PR manager from Aichi. Due to a local event in Osaka, Adam became interested in Aridagawa because of the Portland Fair being held in Hanshin Department Store, Osaka.
Both Ben and Adam had experience with craft beer and brewing back in the USA. Ben obtains the Certified Cicerone license and worked at a number of taprooms around Chicago. At the same time, Ben started out as a homebrewer with brewing experience at some of the local breweries Portland.
It gave them a point of contact with Aridagawa Town, and Ben contacted the staff of the town development group of Arita River and gave a presentation on the brewery. Nomcraft Brewing is located in an old nursery school in Aridagawa that has been renovated and is being used as a complex facility , besides the brewery. Nomcraft Brewing started brewing in May 2019.
In 2022, Ben Emrich moved on to Open Air Brewing in Kobe, Hyogo Prefecture. Moreover, from 2023, Nomcraft Brewing have begun packaging their beers in cans, so the following beer reviews, often found in bottles, may not be around for much longer, or at all.
Standard Lineup : Beer Reviews
The following are some of the standard lineup of beers we’ve had:
- Nomcraft Golden Ale – A 5.5% golden ale brewed with 5 different hops: Hallertau Blanc, Magnum, Mandarina Bavaria, Mosaic, and Summit.
- Nomcraft IPA – A 7.5% American IPA brewed using Cascade, Comet, Magnum, Mosaic, and Simcoe hops.
Limited & Seasonal : Beer Reviews
The following are some of the beers we’ve had:
- Nomcraft All Together – A 6.5% American IPA brewed as part of the global “All Together” beer range that was instigated by Other Half Brewing, based in The USA
- Nomcraft 5 Strings – A 6.5% NE-IPA brewed in collaboration with Len Kyoto Kawaramachi in Kawaramachi Kyoto and was brewed for their 5th anniversary.
- Nomcraft Bright Skies – A 7% West Coast IPA brewed using a blend of 5 different hops: Azacca, Denali, El Dorado, Galaxy, and Magnum.
- Nomcraft Calypso & Bravo – A 6.5% American IPA brewed using Calypso and Bravo hops.
- Nomcraft Daimao – A 7.5% hazy IPA which uses HBC 630 hops.
- Nomcraft Dinosaur Zoo – An 8% West Coast double IPA brewed with Centennial, Columbus, Comet, Strata, and Zappa hops.
- Nomcraft Double Jump – A 7.5% double IPA that uses Falconer’s Flight, Comet, and Nugget hops.
- Nomcraft Pink Dynamo – A 4.5% fruited sour that contains raspberry puree and pineapple puree.
- Nomcraft Ebbegarden V3 – A 4.5% session IPA brewed using a strain of Kveik yeast called Ebbegarden. It uses with Cascade, Citra, El Dorado, and Idaho 7 hops.
- Nomcraft Family Ties – A 7% American IPA that uses Mosaic, Nugget, and Simcoe hops.
- Nomcraft Fancy Spoon – A 7% American IPA brewed using Cashmere, Huell Melon, Idaho 7, and Mosaic hops.
- Nomcraft Hedgehog Socks – A 5% kölsch brewed with HBC 472, HBC 630, and Mosaic hops.
- Nomcraft Hoppy the Barbarian – A 7% American IPA that uses the Conan strain of yeast – the same one that is rumoured to be contained in The Alchemist’s Heady Topper, the infamous NE-IPA that perhaps started off the haze craze.
- Nomcraft Let’s Go West – A 6.5% West Coast Pale Ale brewed using 7 different kinds of hops: Cascade, Citra, El Dorado, Galaxy, Halletau Blan, Topaz, and Yellow Sub.
- Nomcraft Nordic Funk – A 6% farmhouse IPA brewed using two different kinds of Kveik though which hops uses are unknown at the time of writing.
- Nomcraft Sansho Ebbegarden – A 4.5% session hazy IPA brewed using a strain of Kveik yeast called Ebbegarden. It uses Cascade, Citra, El Dorado, and Idaho 7 hops and Japanese sansho pepper.
- Nomcraft Sansho IPA – A 5.5% American IPA that uses Japanese peppers though what hops used is unknown at the time of writing.
- Nomcraft Sansho Skies – A 7% West Coast Pale that contains sansho, also known as Japanese Pepper, but this beer uses a locally found variant known as “budo sansho” is used in this beer with the base recipe being the same as the Nomcraft Bright Skies.
- Nomcraft Space Melon – A 5% American pale ale that uses Huell Melon, Galaxy, and Apollo hops.
- Nomcraft The Pits – A 5% session IPA brewed using kveik though which strain and what hops used are unknown at the time of writing.
- Nomcraft Triskelion CIPA – A 6.5% cold IPA brewed with Amarillo, Cascade, Izabella, Motueka, and Simcoe hops.
- Nomcraft Unicorn Drift – A 5.5% American IPA that uses four different kinds of hops and also use the Nomcraft All Together as the base recipe.
Articles
The following are some of the articles we’ve done:
- Golden River (Aridagawa / Wakayama) – the taproom for Nomcraft Brewing which is located next door to the brewery itself.
- TBT Part 1 with Nomcraft Brewing – Part 1 where we sit and talk about some of their beers.
- TBT Part 2 with Nomcraft Brewing – Part 2 where we sit and talk about some of their beers.
Details
- Address : 546 Nagata, Aridagawa, Arida District, Wakayama 643-0854
- Phone :
- Homepage : https://nomcraft.beer/
- Online store : https://nomcraftbrewing.stores.jp/
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram
