Just a quick post to inform you of some upcoming changes to this blog. In spite of the very generous help I have received from several people (thank you so much, all of you!), the backlog of places to visit and potentially add to the blog is completely out of hand (over 50 places at the moment). This means that places that very much deserve to be on here aren’t yet and possibly, due to the number of new places maybe pushing up our expectations for what makes a good place, there are probably now some places on here that probably don’t deserve to be on here anymore. I am still slowly working on trying to set up some new and more useful tags to make it easier to find what you might be looking for and hopefully this will be done some time soon.
In the meantime, it has been suggested that it might be a good idea to add the places on the backlog to the Tokyo Beer Drinker map. As googlemaps now has a few more icons, I’ll be adding places to the map that are not reviewed and therefore unknown quantities with a question mark icon. If and when the place is actually visited the question mark will be replaced with a proper icon and a link to the post added. I know this means that there will potentially be some below average places on the map, but I hope that the question mark icon will basically be informing you that you’re taking your own chance there. I think this is better than writing minimal details without actually going there, which to me seems like a waste of time.
Along with the question marks, I’ll also be adding a star icon to places that I think are particularly good for whatever reason. There’s now so many places in Tokyo and so many places on this blog that it’s easy to drown in a sea of information and mediocrity. These stars will be totally personal opinion and probably not reflect the scores you might find on other sites. I think there’s definitely a few big name places in Tokyo that are horrendously overrated. But probably plenty of people think they are justifiably high rated and that I’m an idiot, but you know, can’t please everyone I guess!
Please feel free to leave me feedback if you think these are terrible or great ideas, or whatever really. And if you have taken photos of places I’ve added that are better than the photo I’ve used (not exactly a difficult task), I be grateful for them too. I’m always open to suggestions and I’m pleased to see that people read these posts and that they are useful. When I feel like giving up doing this blog (most weeks to be honest!), it’s nice to have someone say that it’s been helpful for them. Guess I’d better get on with these updates then…
I really hope you don't decide to stop doing this blog! I've never commented before, but this has been my go-to resource for craft beer in Tokyo since I moved here two years ago. Some of my favorite places now, like Antenna America, I originally discovered on your blog! I really enjoy checking out new places after reading about them on here, and a couple weeks ago I went on a beautiful hike in Oku-Tama because of your post on Vertere. I'm sure I'm not alone in posting rarely but checking frequently, so for all of our sakes, I hope the Tokyo Beer Drinker continues on!
P.S.: I loved the map already, and the new "question mark" feature makes it even better. Many thanks!
I imagine it must be a real lot of work, with all the new places popping up in the latest years. Thanks for keeping up the good work, your resource is indeed very useful.
Please accept also some friendly hate, becuase just 2 days ago I downloaded the map and started some customization. Let's do it again from scratch 🙂
PS: we'll be in Tokyo in November, it'd be nice if we'd meet somewhere and have a couple of toasts
Thanks Fruity and Trampster for your comments. It's nice to be appreciated. And contrary to my previous belief, adding the question marks to to the map has made me more anxious to deal with the backlog rather than less. Will do my best to visit some of them soon.
As for beers, let me know when you're around. As I constantly seem to mention, time is scarce for me. But I'll l do my best to meet you! Best email me directly through the blog gmail. Cheers!