I recently had the opportunity to visit Kurayoshi, an historic merchant town in Tottori Prefecture that I had not been to since 2018. Click here for a piece that I wrote back then, to help you get better acquainted with this delightful little town.

On my recent trip, I once again wandered the streets of Akagawara warehouses, known for their red ceramic roof tiles and whitewashed walls. As well as the warehouses where merchants once stored various goods that they traded, the neighborhood also has a few streets of storefronts. As I had found before, the streets of this historic preservation district are crammed with little shops selling souvenirs as well as workshops producing local goods, including handicrafts, weaving, sake and soy sauce. It is delightful to just stroll and peruse what’s there.

And then I spotted something that had not been there on my last visit: Brew Lab, a little microbrewery and restaurant. I couldn’t resist stepping inside the nineteenth century storefront building to learn more. There I found Tsunemi Fukui and his wife, the owners of this establishment, ready to pull a pint at the bar.

Through the windows behind the bar, I could see gleaming, modern tanks where the beer was being brewed. Above the windows stood a board announcing the beers on tap that day.

With its motto of “Tradition x New”, Brew Lab produces several varieties of beers: IPA and “regular” pale ale, dark beer, beer using locally grown plums and locally grown nashi pears, and even beer started from sake kasu (the doughy residue left after sake is pressed from fermented rice mash).

I was especially intrigued by the “fresh hops” beer, made from several varieties of hops, also locally grown. Said Fukui-san: “We take what we have and make what no one else does.” I can believe it!

Visitors can order a tasting flight at the bar, and/or get a variety pack box to try out the beers back home. The Fukuis will happily box up any combination and quantity of beer you care to purchase.

In the evenings, Brew Lab also operates a restaurant in the traditional store house behind the storefront. It’s an attractive venue where it would be so easy to relax and have a good time. The focus here, too, is using, as much as possible, locally grown vegetables and meats (and even sausage made from wild game). On the weekends, Fukui-san says he sometimes gets local musicians in to provide entertainment, too.

It’s little spots like this that make visits to less well known destinations like Kurayoshi so very worthwhile. Here’s a town full of history and historic sites, and a very modern and entrepreneurial couple who use an historic building to produce new and exciting beer flavors and provide visitors with a pleasant atmosphere in which to enjoy them. What’s not to love?

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