Williams Brooklyn Restaurant

Kuki's Williams Brewery has an owner, Keita Shindo, with a pretty interesting background. In middle school, he went to Oregon for an international goodwill exchange, and the moment he saw craft beer label designs at a local supermarket, he fell in love with them. That was the starting point.

After that, in his twenties, he moved to Brooklyn, where he got deeply into music while making beer with a high alcohol content but a juice-like drinkability, and into the depth of controlling yeast. He also worked in the apparel industry, and in 2018 he opened an American restaurant in Kuki.

Through crowdfunding, he raised 4.15 million yen against a goal of 3 million and built the first private brewery in eastern Saitama Prefecture. The shop name comes from Williamsburg in Brooklyn, and the concept directly reflects that neighborhood's spirit of "creating new value by blending different genres."

The regular lineup includes NIGHT SHIFT (IPA), DAY SHIFT (session IPA), and DAY OFF (farmhouse ale). Seasonal brews include SWEET TEA APPLE, an apple tea ale. It's made with Earl Grey, apple juice, honey, and brown sugar, and has an ABV of 4%.

They also work with local farmers in Kuki: in summer, they plan a wheat ale made with locally grown pears, and in winter, a chocolate stout made with strawberries. It's a brewery restaurant you can enjoy with hamburgers and pizza.