Visit any local craft brewery nowadays and you’ll notice something, the golden lager feels like it’s everywhere. Craft IPAs are still king but more breweries are spending time making classic golden lagers or pushing the boundaries to create new lager styles like the French pilsner, a style that itself doesn’t exist in France but is an American invention of breweries using French malt and French hops in a lager base.
With this drive to create a world of lagers for their customers, American craft breweries are looking across the Pacific ocean to Japan for inspiration and taking a cue from the big Japanese breweries like Sapporo and Asahi to produce the Japanese rice lager.
What Is A Japanese Rice Lager?
The Japanese lager is having a moment now in the U.S
pFriem Family Brewers
A Japanese rice lager is usually around 4-5% ABV, is a very light shade of pale yellow and is made with pilsner malt as well as about 10% to upwards of 50% of usually flaked rice, although breweries are experimenting with other rice styles like jasmine or koji. The beer is very lightly hopped with usually German hops. The Japanese hop sorachi ace with its pleasing lemon verbena note can also be used.
One Of The First In The U.S. To Brew The Japanese Rice Lager
pFriem Family Brewers in Hood River, Oregon has been making a Japanese rice lager for years now, well before it became popular. They actually may be one of the first breweries in the United States to brew this style, which is one of their year-round beers available in 16 oz. cans and draft.
Co-owner and Brewmaster Josh pFriem poses with the can of Japanese rice lager.
pFriem Family Brewers
Brewmaster/Co-owner Josh pFriem credits its current popularity to the beer’s supreme drinkability. The original Japanese brewers were influenced by German beer culture so pFriem looked to both Japan and Germany to create their beer.
“We looked at the historical origin of this beer with its heavy German influence that incorporated the use of rice. This combined with looking at the modern…industrial versions; we wanted to give a nod to both,” said pFriem. “We did this while leaning into the very high quality approach that we take to beer. This has created a beer that is unique and individual, but feels familiar to well known industrial interpretations of Japanese lagers from Japan.”
With the growth of American craft breweries making lager, something that pFriem Family Brewers has been brewing for years, Josh pFriem has enjoyed watching the style get bigger and bigger and enjoy a wider audience than merely industry professionals and beer geeks .
“We see craft beer focused drinkers love this beer as well as a crossover of folks that drink a lot of industrial lager. Also, if people have a connection to Japan, this beer really seems to resinate with them,” said pFriem.
The Japanese Rice Lager Is A Huge Hit With All Types Of Drinkers
One of the new breweries to the rice lager game is Marlowe Artisanal Ales, based in Mamaroneck, New York. Owner/Brewer Zac Ross brewed his rice lager called Sugoi for the first time in May for a late June release so it could last all summer but Ross admits the beer probably won’t last because of its popularity. Since its release, it’s been a top three seller in their taproom.
Ross uses koji rice in his Japanese style rice lager, which he says give the beer added flavor more than some American interpretations.
“We decided to add yellow koji rice to our grist to give it some depth of flavor and considering we use a bunch of koji in our kitchen it made sense for us,” said Ross. “The result was as we experienced in Japan: full flavor but still light and incredibly drinkable. I’m not sure if they are using koji in Asahi but our result was pretty darn close to the original.”
Ross, like pFriem, also credits the popularity of Japanese culture in America as the reason for this style’s success.
“I’ve also noticed a massive influx of Japanese culture in America lately with more Americans traveling abroad due to the exchange rate in our favor and that may contribute more to it,” said Ross.
So stop by your local brewery to see if they are brewing a Japanese style rice lager. Chances are, you’ll find it.
Source: https://www.forbes.com/sites/emsauter/2025/08/18/craft-breweries-are-all-in-on-japanese-rice-lagers/