Abunai Deka at 40: 11 Yokohama breweries release a series of beers
In Yokohama, seen as the birthplace of Japan's beer industry, 11 craft breweries will release beers until May 2027 to celebrate 40 years of Abunai Deka.
First round: classic German and British styles
Abunai Deka is a popular Japanese television drama that began in 1986. Set in Yokohama, it follows the exploits of two detectives, Taka and Yuji, and later continued as a film series. For this project, 11 Yokohama breweries will each brew a beer themed on one work from the series. The first round, released on 3 October 2026, consists of two beers. “Abunai Deka Pilsner” from Yokohama Bay Brewing is a German-style pilsner (5.0% ABV) made with German hops. It has a showy aroma and a distinct bitterness, yet is meant to be easy to drink. The other is an English dark mild themed on the first feature film, brewed by Yokohama Beer, founded in 1999. Although it looks black, the roasted aroma and bitterness are restrained, and the flavour recalls dried fruit and caramel. At 3.5% ABV, it is on the low side. Both were available in limited quantities.
Nine more to follow until spring 2027
The remaining nine breweries will release their beers in turn from November 2026 to May 2027. The sequence begins with 254BeeR in November, followed by Yellow Monkey Brewing and TDM 1874 Brewery in December and Roto Brewery in January 2027, and ends with Minami Yokohama Beer Kenkyujo in May. The themes are assigned in the order in which the works in the series were released. The style and details of each beer have not yet been announced; each brewery will reveal them once decided. According to the announcement, Yokohama currently has 18 breweries, and more than half of them are taking part in this project. This effort, in which local brewers gather around a single work, hints at the depth of Japan’s craft beer scene.
What European readers should look out for
The first round was sold only at taprooms and liquor shops in Yokohama, and no plans for shipping to Europe have been announced. Even so, what makes it interesting is how Japanese brewers have interpreted traditional German and British styles. Pilsner and mild are styles familiar to European readers, so there is a clear benchmark for comparing them with local beers. If you come across the names of Yokohama breweries at a specialist shop for Japanese craft beer, keep an eye out for them. The styles chosen for the nine upcoming beers will also offer a clue to what Japanese brewers are interested in right now.
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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