Yokohama Bay Brewing

Yokohama Bay Brewing is basically a holy ground for pilsner fanatics. The representative, Shinya Suzuki, joined Yokohama Beer in 2005 and went on to serve as head brewer. After being shocked by Czech Pilsner Urquell, he even went all the way to the Czech Republic to train.

Exactly. In 2011 he went independent with the goal of "brewing the world's best pilsner." At the time, Japanese craft beer was dominated by IPAs and ales, but he deliberately went all in on lager and nothing else.

And this is the amazing part: their flagship "Bay Pilsner" won gold at the 2025 World Beer Cup. It took the Bohemian-style pilsner category, the first ever victory by an Asian brewery. Out of more than 8,000 entries from 49 countries, it came out on top.

What's more, when they won in a different category the year before with "Yuzu Weiss," Suzuki had already said, "Next, we'll be world champions with a pilsner," and he delivered the very next year. Their goal now is "10 straight WBC titles."

The Totsuka brewery was founded in 2016, and they open the taproom once a month. They also have company-run stores near Totsuka Station and in Kannai. What is interesting is that they also make the Yokohama DeNA BayStars' original beer, "BayStars Ale," and you can drink it at Yokohama Stadium.

Exactly. They're championing the vision of "Turning Yokohama into a craft beer city," and they've even launched the Yokohama Gin Distillery. It all started with a deep love for pilsner, and now it feels like they're brewing the whole city itself.