Meister Brau

Meister Brau Meguro Brewery is truly a hidden gem. The representative, Mitsuru Asaka, handles every step of the process all by himself.

Yes. And what's more, he studied beer brewing at the Berlin University of Applied Sciences in Germany and earned the German national qualification "Diplom-Braumeister." He was apparently inspired by meeting a German master brewer.

After returning to Japan, he worked at breweries in various places, but he could not accept the quality control for draft beer kegs. He felt that even the same beer could taste different depending on how well it was managed at the place where it was served. So in 2015, he set up his own brewery in Meguro, where he was born and raised. It was the first brewery in Meguro Ward.

That's the key point. To deliver the taste just as it is when freshly brewed, they only use 330 ml bottles. One brew yields about 100 bottles. Even the labels are hand-applied one by one. There are only two brands: "Original Lager" and "Black Lager."

They use German malt and hops, and faithfully follow the German bottom-fermentation method. What's more, they even cultivate their own yeast. People who drink it say, "Even the foam alone tastes great," with no off-flavors and a strong presence of malt and yeast character.

It's in a residential area roughly between Musashi-Koyama, Nishikoyama, and Gakugeidaigaku. They don't even have a website and instead value face-to-face connections with local residents. Before the pandemic, neighbors used to stop by for standing drinks. Asaka himself says he'd rather cherish ties with local people than focus on the internet.