West Coast Brewing

West Coast Brewing, usually called WCB. Its founder, Derek Buston, is from Seattle and was originally an architect who ran an architectural firm in Shizuoka.

That said, he was drawn into brewing after designing a whisky distillery in Shizuoka in 2014. First, he opened an IPA bar called Twelve in Shizuoka City in 2017 to test the market, then he launched the brewery in Mochimune’s fishing port in 2019. He renovated an old tuna-processing plant from top to bottom.

What’s more, the first head brewer was Satoshi Niwa. He’s a legendary brewer who first made barley wine and wild-yeast beer succeed in Japan, and in the industry he’s called the "wizard of yeast." Building on that technical foundation, they now release two to three new beers every Thursday, and have produced more than 539 beers in total.

They deliberately avoid having a standard lineup. But their highest-rated beer on Untappd is Starwatcher IPA. It’s a clear West Coast IPA made with Citra, Simcoe, and Mosaic, with a clean citrus finish. And The Gateway, a pastry stout, is a monster at 13% ABV stuffed with 180 kg of coconut flakes and more than 400 kg of bananas, and it won gold at the 2025 World Beer Cup.

Also, they’ve been collaborating with Denki Groove since 2022, and they’re already up to the fourth release. Ishino Takkyu and Pierre Taki are both from Shizuoka, so it’s a local connection. They keep pushing the envelope every time, with releases like the double IPA Flashback Disco and the CBD Helles Barong Dance.

On top of that, there’s a hotel called The Villa above the brewery, and the rooms have beer taps installed. Mochimune Onsen is right in front, and they brew with well water pumped up from 60 meters underground. Derek even goes all the way to New Zealand to buy hops himself, and their beer is distributed to all 47 prefectures in Japan, plus Thailand, Taiwan, Hong Kong, and Singapore overseas. It feels like he’s designing both the space and the beer with an architect’s eye.