Ibaraki barrel-aged stout wins top international prize at German beer competition

A small brewery in a Japanese town has impressed the judges in Germany, the great beer nation. The dark beer “Barrel Aged United Stout” from Sakai Kawagishi Brewery, in Sakai, Ibaraki Prefecture (a town on the Tone River, about 50 kilometres north-east of Tokyo), was named “Beer of the Year International”, the top prize in the international category of the Finest Beer Selection 2026, held in Germany. The Yomiuri Shimbun reported the news on 19 September 2026.

Joint top of 843 entries with 98 points

Breweries from around the world submitted 843 beers to the competition, which is divided into an international category and a German domestic category. A panel of 50 judges scored each beer out of 100. The winning stout received 98 points, a score that tied for the highest rating among all entries, including those in the German domestic category. The judges reportedly praised its layered aromas of espresso, dark chocolate and fruit, as well as its pleasant mouthfeel.

The brewery is run by Yasui Shoten, a long-established company that started out in 1915 as a liquor wholesaler and began brewing beer in 2018. In just eight years, it has reached the top of an international competition.

Seven months in whisky barrels, an idea from a liquor wholesaler

The key to the award-winning beer lies in how it is matured. After fermenting in stainless-steel tanks, it was moved into wooden whisky barrels and left to rest for seven months. Yasui Ken, the head brewer and eldest son of company president Yasui Masahiro, explains that the wooden barrels added a vanilla-like aroma to the stout’s natural roasted character.

Behind this lies the fact that the company has also been making whisky since 2023 in Oyama, in neighbouring Tochigi Prefecture. Ken wanted to add extra value to the company’s beer and came up with the idea of combining barrel-ageing know-how with brewing. The result was this stout, released in January 2026 in a limited run of 300 bottles. In Japan, a growing number of sake and shochu producers are branching out into whisky and beer, and this success on the international stage shows what can come from the outlook of a maker working with several kinds of alcohol.

The brewery’s regular range consists of six beers in 330 ml bottles, with annual production of about 70,000 bottles. Following the award, Ken says he hopes to use it as encouragement to raise quality still further.

For readers in Europe

With only 300 bottles made, it will be hard to find this particular beer in Europe. Even so, two points are worth noting. The first is that a Japanese craft beer has earned the highest rating under German judging standards, which may change how you look at Japanese beer when you spot it on a shelf. The second is the style itself: the barrel-aged stout. Imperial stouts matured in bourbon or whisky barrels can sometimes be found in European craft beer shops, so use the judges’ words (espresso, dark chocolate, vanilla and fruit) as a guide, and follow the layers of aroma slowly at a temperature close to room temperature. It will also be worth watching to see whether the brewery’s regular beers catch the eye of European importers.

References and sources

Yomiuri Shimbun, “Sakai’s beer reaches the world: layered aromas and mouthfeel praised” (19 September 2026)