Craft sake brewed with spent beer hops: Hanakaze Gururiko

Inatoagave, a new craft sake brewery in Japan, has released a limited run of 交酒 Hanakaze Gururiko 2026, which uses hops left over from beer brewing as an adjunct. The hops were used in brewing Yona Yona Ale, the flagship beer of Yo-Ho Brewing in Nagano Prefecture. It is a circular approach in which the by-product of one brew goes into another.

Spent hops, ground to powder and brewed into sake again

The sake was developed jointly with ASTRA FOOD PLAN, a food-upcycling start-up in Saitama Prefecture. The company’s JOSEN machine combines superheated steam of several hundred degrees with hot air to dry and sterilise ingredients at the same time in about 5 to 10 seconds. It is said to cause little heat damage, so aroma and flavour are better preserved. Food powders made this way are called ‘gururiko’, a name that combines the Japanese ‘gururi’ (circulation) and ‘ko’ (powder). The spent hop residue from the brewery has been turned into a sake ingredient with this technology. This is the second year of collaboration between the two companies.

What kind of sake is Hanakaze?

Inatoagave was founded in 2021 in Oga, Akita Prefecture, on the Sea of Japan coast. ‘Craft sake’, the category the brewery works in, is a new genre that builds on sake-brewing methods and adds adjuncts such as fruit and herbs in search of new flavours. Under Japanese liquor tax law it is distinguished from sake (seishu), and this product is classed as ‘other brewed alcohol’. Hanakaze is a series in which hops are added to rice and rice koji and fermented together. The 2026 edition has a clear acidity balanced by sweetness, with light sparkle and a juicy finish. It has a citrus aroma and pleasant bitterness from the hops, said to recall grapefruit and lime. It comes in a 720 ml bottle and costs 2,600 yen before tax in Japan.

Breweries linking beer and sake

This time Yo-Ho Brewing agreed to supply the hops and approved the label design, so beer, food tech and craft sake are linked in a single bottle. Passing brewing by-products to another producer instead of discarding them is a theme that is also spreading in European craft beer and spirits.

For European readers, getting hold of this bottle itself may be difficult, as the press release does not mention overseas sales. Even so, hopped craft sake is worth watching as a way in to the world of sake for people who enjoy IPAs and pale ales. If you see ‘craft sake’ or the Inatoagave name in a specialist shop, check the label for what adjuncts have been used. For aromatic or sparkling sake, a wine glass that lets the aroma open up is a good choice. Serve it well chilled and look for the citrus aroma and faint bitterness.