Kyoto Brewing Company

Commercial Brewery in Kyoto, Kyoto, Japan 🇯🇵
Associated Venue: Kyoto Brewing Company

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南区西九条高畠町25-1, Kyoto, Japan
Description
A wise friend once told us to “brew the beers you want to drink.” We took that advice to heart. While there are many great beers brewed in Japan, we still felt that there was something missing--no one brewery that fully satisfied all of our beer desires. We started KBC to fill that desire, believing that there were many others out there who felt the same way and would rally behind our products.
For our inspiration, we looked to the two brewing traditions that excited us the most: American and Belgium.

American craft beer has done more to change the face of the brewing world in the last 30 years than anything else out there. New hops, new styles, new hybrid beers, new extremes of high (and low) ABVs and IBUs. This is what we aspire for; never being afraid to try something new just because it hasn’t been done before or someone tells you that it can’t be.

Belgium is much more steeped in history and tradition, but is just as willing to continue doing what works for them, not what others tell them they should do. Effects from different yeast, both selected and wild; different taste sensations from the sweet, to the dry, the light, the heavy, the bitter and the sour, Belgian beer has been hugely varied and complex in both its methods of production and results.

While beers from both of these traditions are interesting on their own, we feel that combining our favourite aspects from both produce a more unique and rewarding product.
Our house yeast is a Belgian strain. The majority of the hops we use are American. Combining both in interesting and unique ways makes for inspired beers, flavourful products, and a really fun brewing experience. This is our starting point. Where our journey will take us and what beers we will make in the future, we do not yet know.

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7.3/10 Appearance 6 Aroma 7 Flavor 7.5 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
Can, bb 8/25. Golden amber with a brief wisp of white. Aroma of doughy bread, some old apricots, tea, oranges. Full bodied, lowish carbonation. Rich and sweet with smoky tea cutting big doughy sweetness. A little peppery bitterness enhanced with the tea makes sure the sweetness doesn't hang around. Another way to balance. Not trying to be too complicated.
Tried on 10 Apr 2026 at 13:04

7.5/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7.5 Flavor 8 Texture 7 Overall 7.5
Can from Isetan. Bright gold, quite hazy, with a thick head. Bright citrus and tropical fruits in the nose. Lightly wheaty. Rich fruit flavor. Pineapple, passion fruit, grapefruit, white grape. Rich and luscious. Crisp biscuit malt. Slightly sweet in the finish. Close to NE style but not quite. Good stuff.
Tried on 06 Apr 2026 at 08:24

6.6/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 6 Flavor 6.5 Texture 7 Overall 7
Can from Loppia. Nice dark brown with reddish tints and a low, off-white head. Clear. Rather faint nose, malt, some caramel and a bit of chocolate, some cherry, toast. Nice but a big sugary and thin. Nutty, malty flavor, caramel and chocolate, less fruit, toast, grains. Almost dunkel-like, but lighter and dryer. Light and thin, which it's supposed to be, but not really my thing. They did a good job with a boring style, and it's better than Negra Modelo.
Tried on 05 Apr 2026 at 09:50

7.8/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 7.5 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
KBC x Inkhorn Rashikaranu Against Expectations Barleywine 9%

Beautiful burnt orange amber color with thick beige foam that didn’t linger. It’s got a great aroma of light candy notes and rich fruity malty caramel. It’s full bodied and velvety smooth with a touch of booziness.

Nice solid Barleywine.
Tried from Can at Kyoto Brewing Company on 25 Mar 2026 at 15:32

7.6/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 8 Flavor 8 Texture 7 Overall 7.5
KBC x Inkhorn Per Expectations
Hazy Double IPA 8%

Hazy orange gold that’s darker in color than most hazies with thick dense light beige foam. It’s got a great rich hop character with a touch of booziness. Full bodied but with a fairly dry finish.

I would personally prefer something smoother but this was eminently crushable.
Tried from Can on 24 Mar 2026 at 15:11

8.3/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 8 Flavor 8.5 Texture 8 Overall 8.5
Can, picked up in late January at Seijo Ishii. Pours a deep, dark golden orange, hazy, with a huge, fine, rocky head. Yeasty, bready, estery aroma. Stone fruit, orange and lemon, biscuits, honey and spices. Very rich and fruity. Tangy, fruity, bready and bitter flavor.Big malt, big hops, lots of fruit. Full bodied but not heavy.Very similar to the Bon Vouex I remember. Great stuff.
Tried on 23 Mar 2026 at 09:02

7/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7.5 Flavor 7 Texture 6 Overall 6.5
Can from Isetan. Bright reddish copper, clear, with a low head. Big hop nose, also malty, citrus, ginger, spice, esters, caramel, raisin, brown sugar. Fruity and bitter flavor. Brown sugar, raisin, dates. Light resin. Dry and bitter finish. Not heavy or cloying, but also not full bodied or malty either. A strnge barley wine. Lacks depth and not malty enough.
Tried on 22 Feb 2026 at 14:53

7.6/10 Appearance 7 Aroma 7.5 Flavor 8 Texture 8 Overall 7.5
KBC Hop Idol Eggers Nelson
West Coast IPA 6.5%

Matte gold with white foam and an orange blossom aroma. Honestly, it looks more like a hazy IPA than a West Coast IPA. The taste is of a modern IPA midway between juicy and west coast. It’s like what they call a mountain IPA sometimes. The taste starts off citrusy sweet, then you get pithy grapefruit and tangy citrus before a cleaner bitter finish more evocative of a west coast IPA. Fun beer.
Tried from Can at Kyoto Brewing Company on 17 Feb 2026 at 14:34

7.1/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7 Texture 7 Overall 7
Can from the brewery. Very hazy, pale orange-golden with a fine, tall head. How is this not NE style? Resiny nose, citrus--grapefruit and orange--and some white grape. Biscuity malt. Lots of tropical fruit and citrus flavor. Resinous, slightly dank, sour in the finish with mild bitterness. Tasty but I have like some of the other hops more.
Tried on 16 Feb 2026 at 07:47

7.4/10 Appearance 8 Aroma 7 Flavor 7.5 Texture 7 Overall 7.5
Can from the brewery. Very cloudy and hazy pastel orange-gold with a medium, bubbly head. Juicy nose is grapefruit, pineapple, and orange mainly, with some guava, a touch of coconut, and some resins along with wheaty malt. Rich fruity flavor of citrus and tropical fruits. Dry, crisp, resiny. Not as fresh as could be but still tasty. Not over the top in the hazy sense.
Tried on 11 Feb 2026 at 07:40