Tsukitori Shita Brewery

Do you know Yunotsu? It's a hot spring town near Iwami Ginzan, and there's a brewery there called "Tsukitori Shita Brewery." At the attached "Boonies Diner," you can drink craft beer with a hamburger.

That's right. The owner, Ryo Takahashi, originally ran a Mexican bar and a tequila bar in Setagaya, Tokyo. The trigger was that, during the COVID-19 pandemic, he happened to visit Yunotsu when he couldn't keep his shop open.

He seems to have felt something special after being warmly welcomed by the local people, and in fact he decided to relocate after visiting seven times. He renovated an old Japanese house, and the space, which still has its beams and pillars, is lined with American antiques. The interior, with rock music from the '80s and '90s playing, has a one-of-a-kind atmosphere.

In collaboration with NAO FARM, they have a chili pepper beer called "THE ULTIMATE CRUNCH." Developed over five years, it uses fresh Takanotsume chiles and is carefully balanced so it still drinks like beer.

It's exactly the kind of playful idea you'd expect from an owner with a tequila-bar background. Yunotsu Onsen is a hot spring area in the World Heritage Iwami Ginzan region, so the experience of enjoying a hamburger and craft beer after a bath is something you can only do here.