Plum IPA and 15% Barley Wine Win Top Gold Awards
A small brewery in Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, Kamado Brewery, took two top gold awards at a national craft beer competition for a ripe-plum IPA and a rich barley wine.
In Japanese craft beer, new styles made with distinctively Japanese ingredients such as plums are winning recognition. At the Craft Beer Grand Prix, held in Tokyo until 6 September 2026, Kamado Brewery in Kamado-cho, Mizunami, Gifu Prefecture, received two top gold awards and one gold award. Gifu is an inland prefecture to the north of Nagoya. More than 80 brews from across the country were judged this time.
A 15% Barley Wine to Enjoy as Dessert
The Best Dessert Beer category selects beers that can be enjoyed alongside sweets or sipped after a meal in place of dessert. The top gold award here went to “Belle Fonce”. It is a barley wine with an alcohol content of 15%, a rich, malt-forward beer with a strength close to that of wine. It was praised as a beer to savour slowly, suited to the time after a meal.
A Brut IPA Made with Ripe Plums
In the Best Nippon Style category, which judges beers that make the most of Japanese ingredients, the “Ripe Plum Brut IPA” was chosen for a top gold award. The plum is a fruit essential to Japanese food culture and is known as the base of umeshu, plum liqueur. Brut IPA is an IPA style finished dry, with no residual sugar left, much like a dry sparkling wine. It can be described as a beer that pairs the aroma of ripe plums with a crisp bitterness. Eriko Azuma, president of Higashi-Mino Beer Works, which runs the brewery, visited the mayor of Mizunami after the award to report the result. She said she feels that the skill of makers can change a region.
How to Enjoy Them in Europe
It may not yet be easy to come across Kamado Brewery’s beers in Europe. Even so, Japanese craft beers made with ingredients such as plum and yuzu are slowly beginning to appear in specialist shops and online stores in various countries. If you find a plum IPA, serve it well chilled in a slim glass. With oily fish or salty starters, its fresh acidity comes into its own. The barley wine is best not over-chilled: pour it at around 12 to 14°C into a snifter glass. Enjoy it slowly with dark chocolate or mature cheese.
Sources
This article was written by The Sake Wire editorial team, summarising the public sources listed above. Images are our own.
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