A new beer brewed with the groundwater of the ancient capital, Nara

In Nara, Japan’s ancient capital, the hotel operator World Heritage Co., Ltd. has launched a craft brewery called MUGEN Brewing. On 3 October 2026, it served its first beers at a local event. The brewery is located inside the Nara Royal Hotel. The brewing water is groundwater pumped from about 200 m beneath the Yamato Basin. Nara is known as a land of sake, and this is an attempt to use the local water in beer there.

From the home of court sake brewing, starting with water

About 1,300 years ago, Nara was the seat of Japan’s capital. The brewery stands very close to the site of that palace, the Heijo Palace ruins. The palace had an office called the Miki no Tsukasa, which made the sake drunk at court, and the remains of its wells can still be seen today. The groundwater of the Yamato Basin is also said to have supported the sake brewing of Nara’s renowned breweries. Around 90% of beer is water. Many craft breweries build character through hops and adjuncts, but MUGEN Brewing took water as its starting point.

Pale ale and IPA: beer to be drunk “with the throat”

There are two beers to start with. The pale ale uses American hops with a pine-like aroma and a faint sweetness, and is finished to be light and easy to drink. The IPA uses plenty of hops to deliver a showy aroma and a firm bitterness. Seasonal limited-edition beers are due to join them in turn. Head brewer Shuhei Ito studied brewing in Shizuoka and Aichi prefectures from 2022. From 2024 he served as head brewer at a brewpub in Osaka. Mr Ito says, “Beer is something you drink with your throat, not your head.” He does not want to be too fussy about style, and hopes people will simply enjoy it casually with friends. As the reason for starting, the hotel points out that Nara’s drink is strongly associated with sake and that local craft beer is still scarce.

For now, the beers can be had only at restaurants and events at the group’s five facilities in Nara Prefecture. No shipments to Europe have been announced. However, bottled beer as a souvenir is planned, and the latest news will be posted on the official Instagram. What stands out in this story is the focus on water. With sake, it is often said that the hardness and origin of the brewing water shape the flavour. The same thinking may well apply to craft beer. When choosing Japanese craft beer in Europe, it is worth checking not only the hop varieties but also whose water it was brewed with. Drinking it alongside a Nara sake, you can also enjoy imagining how water from the same basin shows itself differently in two kinds of drink.