Fueled by a desire to have a local brewpub in his neighborhood of Kanazawa Bunko, Shintaro Takahashi converted a two-story residence into the Minami Yokohama Beer Lab about three years ago. On entering the “lab”, a hallway snakes past a 150-liter brew system on the first floor and up a flight of narrow stairs to the pub. The second-floor area is split between counter and table seating in front of an open kitchen and a homey Japanese-style tatami (straw mat) room, a remnant of the previous resident’s living room.
Takahashi convinced high school classmate Shoichi Arai to join the endeavor and take the lead with brewing activities. One of their first customers, Nanako Oshio, soon came aboard to assist at the bar and eventually with the brewing. The trio offer five original in-house beers at reasonable prices (glass ¥480~¥580/mug ¥630~¥730). The lineup when we visited consisted of a pale ale, an IPA, a weizen, an imperial porter and a seasonal winter saison. In addition to beer, there are cocktails (all ¥580), sours and spirits (¥480~), and soft drinks (all ¥380) for non-drinkers.
Food consists of mostly simple bar fare like karaage marinated with beer yeast (¥380), fried horse mackerel 
(¥380), and spicy grilled wing sticks (¥780) with some seasonal offerings like beef stew with porter (¥780) mixed in. There is also a two-hour, all-you-can-drink course (¥4500~¥5000 depending on the food) that includes all the drinks served in the establishment (4 people min, res. req’d).
The bar area can accommodate around 10 while there is space for about 16 in the tatami room. Smoking is not allowed inside. The atmosphere is suitable for a family visit as well as single customers content to chat at the counter with friendly staff.
