Located in Wakayama (a town in Western Japan) Oryzae Brewing & ferment works has launched the first-ever craft beer made with wheat “koji” mold.  They have replaced the traditional malt ingredient with the mold, in hopes to satisfy their representative, Nobuyuki Kinoshita’s desire to create new and adventurous types of drinks.

The brewery celebrated the bronze place win in the 2019 International Beer Cup competition with their Oryzae Pale Ale which was put on the market last July.  Competing against breweries from 24 countries and regions, the beer is light and notes fruity and mellow tastes.  Oryzae Pale Ale is made by first mixing self-made wheat koji, steamed wheat, and hot water, resulting in sweet sake.  The liquid is then filtered, and hops are added. After cooling and adding yeast, the beer is fermented for about a week, then matured for two or three additional weeks.

The finished product is then sold to Wakayama Prefecture and the Tokyo area, where restaurants pair the brew with traditional Japanese dishes.

Having worked at a soy sauce factory followed by a miso warehouse and finally a sake brewery, Kinoshita, 41, decided to use his knowledge of the mold and apply it to his brewing process.

“I would like to continue creating beer that no one has ever drank by bringing together different ingredients with koji,” Kinoshita said.

Oryzae Pale Ale along with their Japanese White No. 9 (made with rice koji) are sold on the company website for 550 yen ($5) each for a bottle of 330 milliliters.