Japan's New Craft Beers: One Brewed with Cotton Flower Yeast

In Japanese craft beer, a growing number of brewers are setting themselves apart not only through their choice of hops and malt, but also through where they source their yeast and how they put to use materials that would otherwise be thrown away. Two new releases that went on general sale on 14 September 2026 show this trend well.

‘Wata no Buryu’, made by an organic cotton brand

Avanti Co., Ltd., headquartered in Shinjuku, Tokyo, runs PRISTINE, a brand of organic cotton products. Its first-ever beer is ‘Wata no Buryu’. Its main distinguishing feature is that it is brewed with yeast taken from cotton flowers grown in Japan. In the world of sake, “flower yeast”, isolated from flowers, is well known, but using cotton flowers, and in beer at that, is something new.

The beer is made with organic malt, yet under Japan’s liquor tax law it is classed as happoshu (a sparkling malt-based alcoholic drink). This is a uniquely Japanese system in which the proportion of malt and the type of additional ingredients place a drink in a different category from beer. There are two varieties. ‘White Label’ has a soft sweetness that comes from koji (steamed rice or similar grains on which a type of mould has been grown, a fermentation ingredient essential to making sake and miso). ‘Green Label’ uses fresh Japanese-grown hops and hatomugi, a grain known in English as Job’s tears. Both cost 880 yen and are sold through the official online shop and other outlets.

A saison made from fig leaves that would have been thrown away

Falò Brewing, run by Falò Co., Ltd. in Yamamoto, Miyagi Prefecture (on the Pacific coast of the Tohoku region in northern Honshu), has released a new beer called ‘Kaeru’. It uses fig leaves, which are normally discarded. Fig leaves have a sweet, distinctive aroma reminiscent of cinnamon and coconut. The brewery has paired them with saison, a beer style born on Belgian farms. The sweet fragrance of the leaves layers over the fruity, spicy flavours produced by saison yeast. The idea of creating value from unused resources also echoes the sustainability thinking that is spreading across Europe.

How European readers can enjoy this story

The primary sources say nothing about overseas sales for either beer. Even so, these two bottles offer a clue to where Japanese craft beer stands today. Two things stand out: taking yeast from local plants, and using Japanese fermentation ingredients such as koji in beer. When you see labels at European shops that stock Japanese craft beer, pay attention to the descriptions of yeast and additional ingredients. If you would like to experience the world of these two beers at home, you could pair a saison available in Europe with desserts made with figs or coconut. Japanese articles introducing the beer suggest enjoying a gently sweet beer like ‘White Label’ with Camembert and nuts.