You all make me envious and thirsty and wishing I had the money to get to the GBBF next month! I haven't been back to blighty for 2 years and it doesn't look like I'll be back till next spring at the earliest. I'd murder for a decent pint (and a cornish pasty and chips and a bit of Chinese at Wong Kei in Wardour St) The craft beer here is OK but it usually comes in small glasses or in 330Ml bottles at silly prices. The glass is empty just as you're starting to get the taste of it! Grrrrrrrrr! Sigh.......!
Japan is not such a beer desert, you just have to know where to look. Since 1994 it has been legal for brew pubs and microbreweries to exist and they are hundreds of small craft brewers in Japan, some good, some bad. I am assuming that you are in Tokyo and so the following is based on that assumption.
Try Popeye's bar (Bakusyu Club Popeye), 2-18-7 Ryogoku, Sumida-ku, Tokyo, 130-0026. They have up to three cask-conditioned beers available as well as 45 taps dispensing mostly Japanese and US micros. I would think you would find that the cask beers lean more towards the American hoppy ales than the UK style, but at least it's real ale. You can find a review here, including a list of beers that were on in October 2002:
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Use this page to search for beer bars and brewpubs in Japan, just fill in the appropriate fields:
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Although not serving real ale, you might want to try T.Y. Harbor Brewery, 2-1-3 Higashi-Shinagawa, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo, 140-0002 - they serve pints.
There is a real ale brewpub about two hours from Tokyo (1 hour if part of the journey is by Shinkansen) in the fishing town of Numazu. Again the beers are American style as the brewer/owner is from the States. Their website is:
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Reviews can be found here:
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You should also check out this guide to Tokyo bars:
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And this newsletter on craft brewing in Tokyo and Japan, latest issue here:
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Well, that should be enough beer info to keep you busy until you get back to London. As for the fish and chips, I can't help you, but I thought Chinese food was pretty big in Tokyo?
I'm going to snip a lot of your posting because it's known to me :-) I've been to a few craft beer festivals, some pubs and bought plenty of bottled stuff and have my favourites and dislikes. In fact I run a monthly 'mini pub evening' at one place I work for where I introduce the students to local craft beers and imported beers. I've been to Popeye and really like it but not the prices :-( A good friend used to work in the brewery of a brew-restaurant in Hawaii and we are regularly on the prowl for stuff we haven't tried. I hate paying 600 to 800 yen (3 to 5 UK pounds) for a 330ml glass with a head that takes up a third of it though! I'd rather pay 2.50 for a pint but not the 800 quid it'll cost to get to London and back :-)
Oh, and there's plent o' fish n chips at the Japanese Irish pubs.
Cheers and look forward to reviews from all going to the GBBF!
Kirin have produced two bottle conditioned beers here called 'Maruyaka Koobo' or 'Smooth tasting yeast' The newer one is VERY floral tasting and is almost like drinking jasmine or cherry blossoms. I could only stomach one bottle, it was way too heavy. It has a 'drink by date' on the bottle and my local
7-11 was selling it at half price the other day to get rid of it. The original brew was pleasant enough though.
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