In the past I’ve grouped bars together in one post for cities that are a bit outside what would usually be considered the Tokyo Beer Drinker remit. I then separated them painstakingly having decided that way would be better. A recent trip to Shizuoka has convinced me that the former was better so here is an in no way complete or exhaustive Shizuoka digest post. There are so many new places in Shizuoka that there is no way I can do them justice so instead of halfheartedly writing crappy posts for all of the places, I’ll halfheartedly write a digest post and collect them in one place, basically giving you the same amount of info but saving myself some work. It’s all getting a bit half-arsed on this blog, isn’t it? Oh well, at least I’m still sort of trying. Three Hamamatsu places already have their own separate posts and it seems stupid to combine them into this, so they will remain where they are. You can see them using the Hamamatsu tag here but I’ll list them and link to the posts separately below. Same for one Shizuoka city and one Kakegawa place. One other Hamamatsu place and a few other Shizuoka places have moved from Digest post four to this one so they are in a slightly different format. More places will be added as and when. Possibly. There are at least two Baird places that are not on here yet, but I guess they’re pretty famous anyway. This all really smacks of total indifference doesn’t it? I apologise. So here you go, a brief write up of some Shizuoka places the location of which you can check out on the Tokyo Beer Drinker map. Places are divided loosely by city/Shinkansen station. Oh, and there’s a Shizuoka Craft Beer Map available, so I’d pick up one of those as soon as you can as it’s really useful. You can view it online here. Cheers!
Shizuoka City
Baird Gofukucho Taproom
(Was Biru No Yokota, now a Baird taproom, very little if nothing has changed)
Visited here recently. Big place with big reasonably priced taplist, (15 taps, mostly Baird, mostly around ¥1000 a US pint). Seems to have a strong Baird connection as a few places in Shizuoka do. Order at the bar and pay as you go. If you are a fan of Baird beer, they have a special house beer made by them here for you to try.
Beer Owle
Pretty new bottle shop with ten taps for growler fills (and a bit of on site imbibing too) and quite a few fridges of bottles and cans. Mainly has imported stuff from the US and Canada but has some other countries’ stuff and one fridge worth of local beers, leaning heavily on West Coast Brewing but with some Numazu and Kakegawa thrown in. You can probably get WCB stuff here that you can’t get elsewhere. Lots of nice memorabilia too. Run by a very friendly and helpful guy. Cheers!
Craft Beer Station
Visited here recently as it had some beers from Octagon, a Shizuoka brewery you don’t see around very often. Pretty expensive place with six taps, mostly Japanese. Prices went up to ¥1500 for a US pint! Bottles and cans in the fridge too. Quite small. Perhaps in the past I would have done a full post for this place, but to be honest, it probably doesn’t really deserve one.
Fiesta Garcia
See full post here
Golden Nectar
US / Mexican food and mainly US imported beers too. A big favorite of a friend of mine but I couldn’t find much on either the food or the beer menu for me. But I am a vegetarian and a bit fussy too so it’s probably my fault. Eight taps and a small fridge of bottle and cans.
Mayu
Mayu is a relatively new place that specialises in Onigiri and has four taps of Japanese Craft Beer at very good prices. Some bottles and cans and lots of other booze too. It might be my new favorite place in Shizuoka city. Great music being played too when we were there. Limited opening hours though, so better check before you visit.
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The Pint Shack
Pretty small place, which contrary to the name is mainly some seats at the counter. I think there was a small standing area too though. Six taps of their own beer on tap. Think they have quite a few places in town, but this seemed like the easiest to just pop in to in the daytime.
Not a lot has changed from when it was Aoi Beer Stand (see above). And out of the six taps they had on, five were Aoi beers. Very good value small food items too. Aoi’s beers seem to have been relaunched but didn’t seem that different from how I remember them. Still one of the easiest places to pop into for a quick beer.
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Shizuoka Brewing Hitoyado Taproom
This place was a really pleasant surprise! Shizuoka city has recently been something of a West Coast and Hazy IPA monopoly town but this brewery focuses on lagers. When we visited their small Hitoyado Taproom it was a bit of a shock to see that four of the five taps were lagers. Good prices and the beers were good. A nice atmosphere but it’s quite small, so it might be difficult to get in at busy times. There’s a small bar area next to where the seats are and I got the impression that you could stand there and have a beer whilst you wait for a seat. They do a beer flight so you can tick off the whole tap list quite easily but it’s a nice spot so maybe you’ll want to relax and stay a little longer. Lots of gins too. They had food too, but I didn’t look into that much. Will definitely be going back there.
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Used to be West Coast Brewing’s bottle shop just down the street from the main West Coast Brewing taproom 12. Now is rebranded as += and is apparently more like an izakaya. Their taplist is on Untappd, and it looks like about 2/3 WCB, some Japanese guests and Sapporo. Guess it’s a slightly different experience than 12 but the prices look pretty high so not sure I’ll be going there very often.
12 – Twelve
The city centre taproom of West Coast Brewing. Nice open bar with plenty of seating. Serves food and beers and had, (I think), 20 taps, mixed between West Coast stuff and US imports. The West Coast place you should go if you’re planning on spending any amount of time as it’s more comfortable than the other places.
WCB Container
A shipping container converted into a little bar with around five taps of West Coast Brewing and some cans too. Some seating at the counter and a bit of standing in the bit near the seats. Not sure what will happen when it gets colder as it’s quite open but I’m sure they have a plan.
Update: Seems like they added a roof and did it up a bit. Now looks like a real bar.
West Coast Brewing Taproom – Mochimune
Two stops from Shizuoka station and a little walk from Mochimune station. Situated in a port building next to an Onsen if that’s your thing. Ten taps but quite a few weren’t on when we went. They also sell cans to take away, but again there was only one beer in stock. You’ve got to be fast evidently. Or maybe we were unlucky again. If you enjoy looking at brewing equipment through a window this is the place for you, but you most likely won’t get anything that you couldn’t get in the bars in the city centre. Nice feel to it though. Limited capacity but the customer turnover seems to be quite quick, so if you arrive and it’s busy, you might be alright after having a little walk round the port.
Atami
Craft Beer Cafe
Newly opened craft beer cafe situated above the one craft beer restaurant in Atami that was a bit too meaty for me to bother going to. Small but somehow spacious (if that makes sense) with a small counter and a few tables spread around. 10 taps of Japanese craft, maybe half Shizuoka and half from further afield. Only popped in but would have liked to have stayed longer. Did think I kept hearing a robot voice here but was told I was imagining it. Think my companion was trying to convince me I am losing my mind. Or maybe I am.
Hamamatsu
Mein Schloss
Oasis / West Coast Brewing
Fancy looking place with a counter a few standing tables and then the patio which will probably be the highlight for many people. Couple of picnic tables and then a fire pit with a big sofa round it. I’m sure people must go nuts for it but maybe it wasn’t quite my style. Fun experience though. They had six taps of their own beers on and although it was a bit expensive, that does seem to be the case for West Coast beers everywhere so no surprise I guess. Think people will really like this place. Located right next door to Octagon which makes things easy!
Octagon Brewing – Hamamatsu
Brewery with some guest taps. 10 taps in total, roughly half their own and the guests are mainly US imports. No ideas about prices and when I tried their beer in Shizuoka city, it wasn’t the best experience, but will give them another go next time I’m in Hamamatsu.
Have now been to this place. It was quite expensive. Five taps of their own stuff on and the beer flight seemed to be the best value. Food was nice!
Shinnosuke O (NOW CLOSED)
Tir Na n-Og
Kakegawa
Bucket HERE / Kakegawa Farm Brewing
Funny Farm
Another Kakegawa Farm Brewing place but this one is open during the day (except it was actually closed when we tried to visit so be careful). Seemed quite big and seems to style itself as an all day place with coffee and dessert, lunch, beer and wine, and dinner being the selling points on their Facebook page. It’s just one block closer to the station than Bucket Here and I guess (hope) that they have different Kakegawa beers on here as Bucket Here only had three of their own beers on. Hopefully I’ll be able to visit next time.
Mishima / Numazu
Beer Field – Mishima
Numazu Craft’s taproom somewhat confusingly in nearby Mishima. They have a brewery taproom in Numazu too but this place was open later and sounded more comfortable so we went here. Long counter and small back room with some tables. Ten taps, six of which were their own. ¥900 pints of their beers and beer flight option too. Mix of Shimzu S Pulse and Liverpool football memorabilia. Food too if you’re up for eating. Real local bar feel.
Repubrew – Numazu
Spacious underground bar and restaurant with plenty of seating but was pretty popular when we visited. A massive twenty taps of their own beer, some of which were really nice and some of which were less nice. Decent range of styles. Pub food available too and that was good. Was surprised how swish this place was. They clearly seem to know what they’re doing from a hospitality point of view. Quite fun! They also now have a new bar in Mishima nearer the Shinkansen stop serving their beer and sliders if that’s more your thing.
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Slider House 24 Taps Repubrew – Mishima
The Mishima branch of Repubrew, with a slider based food theme. But not at lunchtime where they have normal sized burgers and absolutely nothing for vegetarians. Really absolutely nothing. As the name suggests, 24 taps which I think were all from Shizuoka with about half of them being their own beers. Daytime opening is a rare thing so that’s welcome, but on weekdays it’s only for lunchtime from 11am to 2 weekdays. Bit of a US diner feel to it (from my limited experience of that), and that was quite fun.
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Tiels Tea & Taps
Pretty classy place about 10 minutes walk south of Mishima station. Very different to Repubrew’s Slider House which you might pass on the way here. Modern beer bar decor and 15 taps of their own beer on. Flight available. Beers seem to have an eye on the modern with a range of styles. Was quite encouraged by them without being blown away so will definitely give them another go in the future. Food was very nice. An enjoyable experience. Will go back.
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