Tazawako Beer's dry summer-only "Brut IPL"
Akita's Tazawako Beer has brewed its summer-only lager "Summer Brut IPL" again this year, combining hop aroma with a crisp, dry finish.
Tazawako Beer, based in Semboku in Akita Prefecture in north-eastern Japan, has announced “Summer Brut IPL” as its limited-edition beer for summer 2026. It is a repeat brew of a label that went down well last year, and shipments began on 16 June 2026. The brewery has long worked around traditional German styles, so how it has taken on a new style born in the global craft beer scene should be of interest to European beer lovers too.
Pairing “Brut” with lager
“Brut” is the term used in Champagne for the driest level of sweetness. In beer, it refers to a dry style fermented so that as little sugar as possible remains, leaving little sweetness. An IPA (India Pale Ale) is an ale that puts hop aroma and bitterness up front, while an IPL (India Pale Lager) expresses the same idea with lager yeast. According to Tazawako Beer, Summer Brut IPL is characterised by the vivid aroma of citrus-style hops and a clean, refreshing, crisp drinking quality. The design brings together the hops’ showiness, the lightness of a lager and a dry aftertaste in a single glass.
A lineage born from a 2019 project
This beer has a precursor. In 2019, as part of the Tohoku craft beer initiative “Tohoku Damashii Beer Project”, Tazawako Beer brewed “Snow Brut IPA” and “Summer Brut IPA”. Summer Brut IPL is a descendant of those two. Rather than ending as a one-off project, the style has been refined over several years, changing from ale to lager, which shows the brewers’ continuing experimentation. Tazawako Beer normally makes German-style beers as its core range, including Alt, Pilsner, Kolsch and Weizen. Thinking of this beer as a limited release that adds new elements on top of its lager-brewing experience makes its position easy to understand.
How to enjoy it in Europe
As it is a limited brew, this beer will not necessarily appear on shelves in Europe. For now, the point to note is how Japanese craft beer expresses a hop-forward IPA-style approach through the clean lager techniques of the German tradition. “Brut IPA” and “India Pale Lager” are styles also found in specialist craft beer shops in Europe, so tasting them side by side should make the different approaches to a dry finish easy to see. If you spot Tazawako Beer on the list of a specialist shop or importer handling Japanese craft beer, you might try it alongside the standard Alt or Kolsch. Served well chilled, and paired with fish or fried dishes accompanied by citrus, it may bring out the crispness and aroma of this kind of beer.
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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