Hop Kotan Brewing

Microbrewery in Sorachi, Hokkaido, Japan 🇯🇵
Associated with 2 Venues

Established in 2017

Contact
上富良野町西8線北33号, Sorachi, Japan
Description
北海道の真ん中、美しい景色で知られる富良野・美瑛エリア。
その一部をなす上富良野(かみふらの)は、
道内で唯一、ホップが商用栽培されている町です。
そして私たちブルワーにとって、希少な地のホップを使って
ビールを醸すことは、この上ない幸せでもあります。

ホップづくりのプロと語らいながら、生きたホップとふれあい、
ビールづくりのプロとして、さらなるおいしさを追究したい。
ここでなら、それができる。だから私たちは、ここに集いました。

立ち上げたブルワリーの名は、忽布古丹(ホップコタン)醸造。
コタンとは、村や集落を意味するアイヌの言葉で、
まさに北海道のホップ集落=上富良野のことを指す名称です。
この国がもっとビールを楽しめる国になることを願い、
コタンから多種多様なおいしいビールを全国にお届けします。

ホップに囲まれ、幸せいっぱいの私たちは、FULL OF HOPPINESS!
このホピネスが、お飲みいただくみなさまにも伝わりますように。
数年先には、すべて地のホップを使うブルワリーをめざして。
そしていずれは地の大麦・小麦も…。
農作物のように成長する忽布古丹にご期待ください!

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Partial translation:

The name of the brewery that was launched is Hop Kotan Brewing. Kotan is an Ainu word meaning a village. It is a name that refers to the hop village of Kamifurano on Hokkaido.

I hope this country will become a country where you can enjoy more beer. We deliver a wide variety of delicious beers nationwide from Kotan.

Surrounded by hops, we are full of happiness, FULL OF HOPPINESS! I hope this happiness will be conveyed to everyone who drinks it. A few years from now, aiming for a brewery that uses all the hops of the earth. And eventually, the local barley and wheat.

     Show


7.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 6
Tap at the Bungalow Tap Takeover. Hop Kotan Soushu Pale Ale 5.3% IBU 35 Nice copper gold with a light beige head. Medium to full bodied round but with an edge carbonic bite. Balanced minty herbal fruit with light caramel malts. Balanced and nice. 3.6
Tried from Draft on 03 Feb 2019 at 11:16

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
Shared by KyotoLefty at the Bungalow event. Very pale gold with a sort of wheat cream and white pepper flavor.
Tried on 03 Feb 2019 at 11:14

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 8
Tap at Bungalow. Stinky tropical fruit, biscuits, honey. Hazy deep gold. Big rich tropical fruit and berries in the flavor, with a bit of resin. Rich, oily, not too sweet or too dry. Nice.
Tried from Draft on 02 Feb 2019 at 00:36

7.3/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
Tap at Bungalow. Pretty orange-gold. Nice sweetness, lemon, orange, rich biscuity malt. Slightly oily body. Nicely done.
Tried from Draft on 02 Feb 2019 at 00:35

6.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 7
Tap at Bungalow. Pale golden color, clear. Malty and slightly lager-like, sweet lemon, rather thin body. Decent but too light and insubstantial for me.
Tried from Draft on 02 Feb 2019 at 00:28

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Tap at Bungalow. Pale gold, oily. Malty crackers, ripe tropical fruit, citrus and light piss in the nose. Slightly sweet, lemony, a bit pissy and tropical. Very bitter.
Tried from Draft on 02 Feb 2019 at 00:27

5.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 4 Texture 6 Overall 5
Tap at Bungalow. Hazy bright gold with a thick head. Kind of minty, lemony nose. flavor os tea, mint, cabbage, kind of like tooth paste. WTF? Seemed slightly infected bit according to the brewer it was just a weird batch of Apollo hops! Wow, these hops suck. Looking forward to trying a different batch, as the rest was decent.
Tried from Draft on 01 Feb 2019 at 23:43

7/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 8
Tap @ Beer Boy, Nakameguro. Light golden and crystal clear. Some thick bubbles on top, not a thick head but stays for a while. Light dry but sweetish nose there, fruity and fragrant. Tastes dry, light hops and light body, kind of a brut version of the IPA although its not really specified here. Clean and drinkable, just not too much character there.
Tried from Draft on 27 Jan 2019 at 18:50

7.3/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Tap at Bungalow. Pale gold with a touch of haze and a fine, low head. Fruity, lemony nose, apple, peach, noble hops herbalness. Sweet, bread and crackers, peppery finish. Very bitter finish. Authentic and enjoyable stuff.
Tried from Draft on 24 Jan 2019 at 01:21

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7
Hop Kotan Alpha Holic Double IPA 92 IBUs 7.6% Slightly opaque gold with 1cm of dense creamy foam. Bright juicy citrus with mild pine notes throughout. Full bodied and the finish is semi-dry. It starts with a sweet hit then goes bitter piney while the aftertaste is spicy-sweet. Really good and interesting, I think this would pair well with Japanese traditional desserts.
Tried on 10 Jan 2019 at 06:35