AQUWA Brew Works : The Bottom Line
AQUWA Brew Works, in spite of being a work in progress is a nice little bar that is friendly and relaxing with a decent selection of beers on tap. Given the name implies the bar is going to be a brewpub, there was no brewery in the bar at the time of writing, but they had been brewing some of their beers at breweries in the area. The whole place is non-smoking and has no table charge, though I didn’t notice any wifi in the area.
AQUWA Brew Works : The Full Write Up
AQUWA Brew Works was the third on our little trip around Urawa and Saitama, but there was some confusing to it as we kept getting this place confused with its previous iteration known as Primordial. However, unfortunately, that place closed down as the previous owner passed away, but the theme of the bar has been kept (roughly) the same, with plans for a small brewery at the back.
AQUWA Brew Works is located about 5 minutes walk from Minami-Urawa station and opened in November 2020. The (eventual) aim of the bar is to have a small brewery at the back of the bar, though it isn’t going to be a large installation with a brewing capacity of around 200 L though this was just an initial plan.
AQUWA Brew Works : Atmosphere & Interior
AQUWA Brew Works appears to be a pokey little hole in the wall, but there is space inside for drinking, with about 5 counter seats and then a couple of tables against the wall, though space is truly at a premium in here since they removed the back seating area to make space for a brewery. There is though a small bench outside that you can drink at, which has space for a couple of people, making AQUWA Brew Works a nice little place for a community of drinkers in the area. The bar is non-smoking and has no table charger either.
In terms of music, there was some mid 2000’s power punk and rock music being played but not loud enough to detract away from the conversations going on. I didn’t notice any wifi in the bar or in the area.
AQUWA Brew Works : Approach to Covid-19
Like other bars in Saitama, AQUWA Brew Works had a pretty strict entry requirement. You have to have proof of being double vaccinated, or boostered, so no certificate and no entry at all. Moreover, time is limited to two hours, and you also have your temperature taken, before being shown to your selected seating. All the staff had masks on and there were lots of plastic barriers separating groups and solo drinkers alike.
AQUWA Brew Works : Beer & Tap Information
There are 6 taps of craft beer on at AQUWA Brew Works, with a strong leaning towards domestic beers. The beers come in two sizes: small (240 ml) for 700 yen, and regular (480 ml) for 1,000 yen. There wasn’t any option for happy hour or beer flights, but you can get beers to takeaway with 100 ml at 250 yen or a 500 ml plastic bottle for 1300 yen. The beers were a little heavy on the head but the staff did kindly top them up when asked. While AQUWA Brew Works is not brewing on site yet, there were some of their collaborations on tap and they were pretty decent.
AQUWA Brew Works : Food Information
There was some food on at AQUWA Brew Works but I wasn’t in the mood to eat. Most of it consisted of some simple grilled dishes, though there was a decent variety to eat. Vegetarians may struggle to find some substantial but there were some smaller options on the menu. None of the menus were in English, or had any English
AQUWA Brew Works : Details
- Open : Monday & Friday 16:00 – 22:00 (L.O Food 21:00 Drink 21:30) Weekends 14:00 – 21:00 (L.O Food 20:00 Drink 20:30)
- Closed : Tuesday to Thursday
- Happy Hour : N/A
- Phone : N/A
- Homepage (in Japanese) : N/A
- Social Media : Facebook / Instagram / Twitter
