Hops

Hop fields don't define the landscape around Kyoto and Osaka. Japanese hops grow mainly in the cooler north of the main island of Honshu, in areas such as Iwate and Akita. According to BarthHaas, nearly 52,660 hectares were under hop cultivation worldwide in 2025, and Japan accounts for only a small share of that.

One variety has nonetheless put Japan on the map. Sorachi Ace was bred by the Sapporo brewery and stands out for its lemon and dill aromas. It shows just how far hop aromas can diverge, and craft brewers in other countries have been using it ever since.

Bitterness comes from the alpha acids that dissolve into the water as the wort boils. It's measured in IBU, the scale of International Bitterness Units. Aroma, by contrast, comes from the essential oils and is preserved when hops are added late or during cold conditioning.

Kyoto Brewing, by its own account, brews everything from Belgian-inflected hybrid beers to IPAs to robust dark beers. IPA, short for India Pale Ale, is a heavily hopped pale beer. US or New Zealand hops are typical for this style, which is why many Japanese craft brewers source theirs from abroad.

The pale lager that dominates the Japanese market, by contrast, is only lightly hopped. There, the hops are meant to balance the sweetness and provide a clean bitter finish without drawing attention to themselves. This contrast between restrained everyday beer and bold craft beer is a piece of Japanese beer culture. Craft beers like those from Kyoto Brewing or Minoh Beer deliberately set sharper accents than the everyday lager.