Yokosuka Beer's ESB wins world title at British competition

Yokosuka Beer, a craft brewery in Yokosuka, Kanagawa Prefecture, has achieved a remarkable result at the World Beer Awards 2026, an international competition held in the United Kingdom. Its Yokosuka Red Brick, brewed in a style that originated in Britain, was named “World’s Best”, the top award, in the category for bitters above 5.5% ABV. Yokosuka is a port city on the Miura Peninsula, south of Tokyo. It was the brewery’s first time entering, and all four of the beers it submitted won awards.

A British style, crowned at a British competition

The World Beer Awards is an annual international competition covering beers from around the world. The brewery entered in June and was notified of the results on 20 August. On 1 September, its representative Toshiya Shimosawa and colleagues visited Yokosuka’s mayor, Katsuaki Kamichi, to report the win.

The winning Red Brick is classified as an ESB (Extra Special Bitter). ESB is a style born of British pub culture, enjoyed for the balance between malt body and hop bitterness. Red Brick is characterised by a rich flavour in which the hops’ vivid aroma and bitterness sit on top of a solid malt sweetness. It is a new beer that debuted in May this year, and according to head brewer Yuki Tamura, the name comes from the red-brick exterior of the brewery’s restaurant and the reddish-brown colour of the beer.

Three core beers also win awards

The brewery’s core beers were also recognised across the board. Yokosuka Beer Saison, a Belgian-origin farmhouse ale, took Gold; Yokosuka Beer IPA, with its hop aroma at the forefront, took Silver; and Yokosuka Beer Weizen, a German-style wheat beer, took Bronze. Together they show a skill in brewing a wide range of styles, from Britain, Belgium, Germany and the United States, that will be familiar to European readers.

The head brewer’s focus, and reuse of spent grain

Tamura moved into brewing from the food and drink industry and is now in their ninth year. They aim for beers with a distinctive character that satisfy from the first sip, and put considerable effort into pairings with the dishes served at the restaurant. The brewery is also pursuing environmentally conscious initiatives, such as processing the spent malt from brewing in its own large dryer and turning it into cookies to go with drinks. On the Miura Peninsula, brewery tours and tasting events are held frequently and craft beer is growing in popularity, and this award is likely to add to that momentum.

What is interesting for European readers is that a small Japanese brewery has reached the top of a competition in the home of the style, with a traditional British recipe. The primary source says nothing about export plans, but if you have a British ESB to hand, try focusing on the balance between malt sweetness and hop bitterness, and the meaning of this award becomes clear. The head brewer recommends pairing it with pub food such as fish and chips. As this is a style suited to slow drinking, try not to over-chill it, and enjoy how the aroma opens up as it warms a little. If you see the Yokosuka Beer name at a shop specialising in Japanese craft beer, do pick one up.