Kyoto Brewing Co. Was founded by 3 friends, Ben, Paul, and Chris, who first met in Aomori in 2005. Driven by the feeling that beer’s immense variety was sorely lacking in Japan, we looked to help establish a diverse beer culture, and invigorate the domestic craft beer scene through brewing our own unique beers.

Starting as the first brewery to use a Belgian yeast as their house strain, we developed a broad beer lineup from modern Belgian hybrids to IPAs to intense dark beers and beyond. For several years after founding, Kyoto Brewing sold draught beer to beer bars and restaurants nationwide, and were an almost exclusively keg-only brewery. We realised, however, that doing this was mostly limiting ourselves to craft beer fans, and we wanted to help introduce less familiar people to what beer can offer. As a result, in 2021, we commenced full-scale production of canned products better suited for wider distribution. 

In the first half of 2024, we added an experienced head brewer, James Fox, to our team. A graduate of Stone Brewing and Ballast Point, and with further experience in building up smaller breweries, we brought him on board to help him take our beer stability and consistency to the next level, as well as to bring more of the latest techniques and ingredients to the Japan beer scene.

In May of 2025, for our 10 year anniversary, we held our first festival in front of Higashihonganji, inviting 20 of our brewery friends to come down to the city and make a huge celebration of beer in the old capital. 

While the 10 year mark was a big one for us, we are not resting on our laurels. We have both looked to take our Belgian-inspired beers to the next level through secondary fermentation – much like champagne – to allow them to evolve just like authentic classic Belgian beer does. On the flip side, we have also diversified our lineup further, made more experimental beers than ever, and significantly improved our hoppy beers through hop selection and direct hop contracting.