Masters Brewing

Masters Brewing is a 2-minute walk from Numazu Station. The owner here, Mr. Masutani, has a wildly unusual background.

He started out as a fishing writer. Then he moved to Koshikishima in Kagoshima and became a fisherman. From there he came back to Numazu, opened an izakaya called "Saemaru Ojisan's Shop," and then launched the brewery in 2022.

While drinking at a local taproom, he apparently noticed that a lot of customers from the city were coming in specifically for craft beer. He thought it would be interesting to root beer culture in Numazu. The setup is a brewery on the first floor and a 38-seat beer pub on the second, aiming for a beer culture like port towns such as Portsmouth and Whitstable in the UK.

The flagship beers are HAZY Masters IPA and PUNK Masters IPA. They also have Masters ESB. What's interesting is the canned product called African Juicy Passion. It had been out of stock for a while, but production seems to have recently restarted.

Also, at the 2026 Japan Great Beer Awards, Smoky Queen won silver and DaDaDa Dark Stout won bronze. They also won silver for Adult Amber Lager in 2024, so they've been getting solid results in competitions too.

Judging by the name, I think it's a style that uses smoky malt. DaDaDa Dark Stout has a playful name too. Masutani says he aims for challenging, playful brewing, so there's always the fun of not knowing what's on tap each time. The brewing water comes from Mt. Fuji's spring water, and the recipes are also designed with fresh seafood from Suruga Bay in mind.