Romeo Brewery

Romeo Brewery is in Oshiage, and owner Mr. Sekine opened it at age 28, making him one of the youngest microbrewery owners in Japan.

Actually, he graduated from Tsukuba University's Faculty of Informatics and started as a data analyst at an IT company right out of college. It was apparently a so-called good company job, but when COVID pushed everything to full remote work he felt isolated and quit after a year because he wanted a job where he could work with his hands and make things.

He worked part-time at a beer bar in college and handled around 100 kinds of beer. Falling for Belgian and German wheat beers was the root of it all. After training at ISANA Brewing, he opened Romeo in January 2024.

I want to call it their flagship, but Sekine-san is also in the no house standard beers camp. He rotates styles to match the seasonal Italian food. But the most popular is Doskoi IPA. It's packed with citrusy American hops and has a firm bitterness that pairs perfectly with bolognese and sausage.

Gahana Madhu is a Belgian strong ale, and it combines wild cardamom with cinnamon and ginger, then is served hot like warmed sake. Berry Bloom is a fruit ale with blueberries and cassis plus lemon thyme, and it has a rosé-wine-like color. Even people who don't usually like beer can enjoy it.

Yes, he handles brewing, cooking, and service all by himself. He runs the place seven days a week, and in just the first six months he brewed 16 batches. His signature porchetta is roast pork belly rolled with basil, parsley, thyme, and sage, and it pairs exceptionally well with Doskoi IPA. Since he used to be a data analyst, he apparently does the sales analysis himself too.