Hop Kotan Brewing

Microbrewery in Sorachi, Hokkaido, Japan 🇯🇵
Associated Venue: Tap Room Beer Kotan

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


8/10
The very last of the barrel, but delicious.
Tried on 17 Nov 2018 at 21:39

7.5/10
Tried on 17 Nov 2018 at 21:37

7/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 6 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Tap at Bungalow. Lemon, grapefruit, coffee in the nose. Roasty and minerally. Black. Light licorice and chocolate sweetness, roasty coffee, citrus. Too burnt and roasty for my personal taste, but well done.
Tried from Draft on 17 Nov 2018 at 02:06

7.5/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Tap at Bungalow. Nose is chocolate, caramel, rye bread, toast. Deep amber orange, clear. Mild, rich and malty flavor. Lovely malt, bread, toast, caramel and chocolate. Leafy, spicy hops with a pleasant bitterness in the finish. Great malt character. Nice one. I am more impressed with their malt driven beers than the hoppy ones, which often seem just a bit overdone.
Tried from Draft on 17 Nov 2018 at 02:03

6.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 4 Overall 7
Tap at Bungalow. Pale-ass yellow with a low, fine head, and effervescent. Crackery malt nose, lemony, herbal hops. Grassy, herbal, and bitter, the malt is nice saltine crackers. Way too fizzy and sharp this time. Tasty and well made but slightly too bitter, as many of their beers are for me.
Tried from Draft on 17 Nov 2018 at 02:01

7.3/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 6 Overall 8
Tap @ Beer Boy, Nakameguro. Pours clear yellow, white foam. Resiny nose, light sweetness but goos hoppiness there overall. Tastes light but not watery, nicwly hoppy but also remains crisp. Not too sweet actually. Liking this.
Tried from Draft on 16 Nov 2018 at 11:57

7.5/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 8 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 8
Tap at Bungalow. Big, grassy nose, lemon, lager malts. Clear pale golden color. Dry and crisp flavor, hoppy and bitter as expected. Some warming sweetness is nice, melons, touch of honey and biscuits. Nice.
Tried from Draft on 14 Nov 2018 at 02:04

8/10
Happy to finally try this up and coming Hokkaido brewery. Good one! This pale ale was darker than the three IPAs on the beer flight.
Tried on 31 Oct 2018 at 20:41

7.3/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 8 Overall 7
Tap at Bungalow. Crystal clear orange, fine head. Big stone fruit nose, tropical fruit, orange, grapefruit. Honey malts. Very bitter, funky tropical fruit flavor, grass, crisp. Somewhat too bitter for my taste.
Tried from Draft on 29 Oct 2018 at 04:48

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 6.5
Tap at Bungalow. This is a fresh hop golden ale, I was torn between ordering this and the fresh hop ESB from Iwate Kura (though that Ise Kadoya Comfortable APA also looked good). Clear brassy gold with a dense white head and a mild herbal hop aroma. Light crackery malts with herbal fruity flavor but a dry finish that features soda bread. A good golden ale but it doesn’t really feature fresh hop that much and so slightly let me down. 3.6
Tried from Draft on 20 Oct 2018 at 12:17