Fukuoka round up

Was quite surprised to find I had never done a round up post for Fukuoka. Was going to add a few places and instead found that I need to start from scratch. Oh well, here it is. There are a lot of places to drink in Fukuoka as you’d expect for a city of its size. I should point out though that lots of places in Kyushu allow smoking and lots are standing bars too, so you might want to choose carefully before you commit. I’ll mention the smoking thing where I can remember it. For the places that I haven’t been to for a while, I’ll keep it brief as I think it’s better to not write stuff that isn’t right anymore. As usual, have added a link for each place for you to have a look if there is anywhere you are interested in. I’ll add and delete new or old places as they open/close.

Aozora Brewery

New 2nd floor brewpub a bit near to the Nakasu area. Eight taps when we visited, five of which were their own. Decent prices and a nice feel to the place. Stays open a bit later than some of the other places near it in Fukuoka. Sadly we arrived after they’d stopped serving food which was a shame as I was quite hungry. The menu looked nice though. All quite new but the beers were decent so definitely promising for the future.
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Asunaro Brewery

Small brewpub a little north east of Hakata on the blue metro line. Maybe six seats at the counter and eight at tables. No smoking I think. (Someone kept leaving and going over the road to smoke). Nice looking pub food. Had four taps of their own stuff on, available in UK half and UK pint for about ¥600 and ¥900
respectively as far as I can remember. I thought I took a photo of the menu, but it seems that I didn’t.
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Beer Kichi

Kind of famous standing bar in Fukuoka that has about 10 taps which are mainly imported stuff but had a couple of Japanese beers including one from a brewery I’d never heard of. Beers are very much in modern styles which some will love and others will not be so sure about. Prices are quite high, as you’d expect from a place that serves imports in those modern styles. Food was really nice and the pizza slice seemed good value. Very popular so you’ve got to be a bit lucky to get in here. We’ve tried on previous visits and failed. This time we went early afternoon on Saturday and before we’d finished our first drinks it was pretty much full. Probably space for about 10. Posts about new beers on their Instagram so scroll back a bit and see what kind of things they might be stocking.
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Beer Paddy Fukuoka
Somewhat of a legend of a place as far as craft beer in Japan goes. Has been open for a long time. Has been a while since I’ve been here. Subdued lighting, some Japanese craft and imported stuff. Slightly punk
theme as far as I can remember. No recollection of prices. Sorry. Slight recollection that smoking was allowed.
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Beer Restaurant Okura Brewery

Basement brewery restaurant in a fancy hotel that I have done no favours to with this photo which makes it look decidedly dodgy. It really isn’t! In the Nakasu area of Fukuoka between Hakata and Tenjin, where most of the Fukuoka bars seem to be. Six taps of their own beer on, four regulars and two seasonals. Leans towards German styles but there was an English feeling IPA seasonal on. Pizza is very nice and the food menu has some vegetarian options. Smartly dressed waiters and staff made me feel a little uncomfortable but that’s 100% my problem. Some will love that I guess. Beer flight available and we were given a three beer flight for free for downloading their app which was a bit of a surprise. Beers served in 236ml and 473ml sizes for around ¥600 and ¥1000. I really liked their Alt. Seems to be closed on Mondays and Tuesdays which is different from what the English version of their website says so I’ve used the Japanese one for the link below. Maybe better to just use google I guess.
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B.R.E.W.

B.R.E.W. is a fairly recently opened brewpub on the airport line of the Fukuoka metro, just a couple of stops further west from Tenjin, so still very easily accessible. I think it’s only about 15 minutes from the airport actually. It’s quite a big open space with a counter and seating from probably around 30. They had 11 taps, two of which were macro beers (one Guinness), six were their own beers made on site, (well actually five beers and one nitro coffee), and the other three were guests from Japan and overseas. Beer is served in three sizes, half (250ml), regular (400ml) and (UK) pint (568ml). Prices for their own beers were ¥700, ¥1000 and ¥1300. The guests ranged from ¥900-¥1150, ¥1300-¥1650 and ¥1700-¥2050 respectively. Somewhat absurdly but at the same time highly predictably, the highest priced beer was not an import but a Japanese guest, but you know, Uchu is always going to Uchu. They had a nice food menu too. I really enjoyed my beers here and if we hadn’t had limited time due to us having to get our plane, I think I would have stayed longer. Will definitely be on my list for next time.
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Brewers Beer Pub

Nice place that I was surprised to find that we’d never been to before. About ten taps of Japanese craft with some local stuff. Nice food too. Will definitely go back here next time we’re in Fukuoka.
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Craft Beer Club CONTINUE?
Medium sized standing bar situated in the Hakata station in Ming Yokocho on the ground floor. One of these pour your own beers with a smart card places that are springing up in the last few years. 15 taps. They usually have mostly their own Game Brew beers and local stuff but when we were there they had a US imports tap takeover so there were only five domestic beers. Game Brew’s beers seem to be improving and these are always fun places to go and try lots of different things in small sizes. Pricing seemed reasonable. Definitely a good place to stop before getting on or after getting off a train. Some food items too.
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Craft Beer Creek
Small bar in Tenjin specialising in imports as far as I can remember . When we visited a few years ago there was a bit of a Belgian thing going on but looking at their current taplist (available on the website) it seems to be more North American now. Remember liking this place but it’s been a while
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Dancing Penguin
Few stations out of Hakata on the JR line near Takeshita station. Beer shop and bar with lots of cans and bottles. Think they had a tap too but not sure. Lots of US stuff as I believe the owner is from there. But Japanese craft beer too. Limited opening times so best check their Facebook, but on the days it is open, it’s open most of the day. Nice place
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Fukuoka Craft
Perhaps was the rising star of the Fukuoka beer scene till recently. Was a Mexican restaurant with some craft beer but became the taproom of Fukuoka Craft with Mexican food, so slight change in focus. Think they had US imports and their own beers. Quite a lively atmosphere, which wasn’t exactly what we were looking for so have only been once since the rebrand and didn’t stay that long, but many will probably like the modern beer styles they are making.
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Fukuoka Craft with Comatsu
Small standing bar in a shopping centre right next to Hakata station. You could probably be in here just a couple of minutes after getting off the shinkansen. Around eight taps, (sorry, I forgot to count them), of their own beers plus some cans and bottles of their own and guest beers too. You can order food and it is delivered from their sister restaurant in the station. Prices were pretty good. Absurdly long opening hours from 11am to 2am every day! Sadly when we tried to go back on the way back to our hotel it was full so we couldn’t get in. Will definitely go back next time we’re in town.
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Stand Umineko Yoca

The new kid on the block in Fukuoka, Umineko is connected to the Unimeko bar and the Derailleur brewery in Osaka in some way. Derailleur beers on tap and there is merch to buy too. Pretty much all standing which was a bit of a drag when we got there quite tired, but we kind of knew it would be from the name. Around 70 taps behind the counter but there were only 24 on when we were there. To be honest, 70 might be a bit much. There were some very surprising breweries on tap. I’m not going to name names, but some of them were from breweries I’ve visited and am surprised are able to sell their beers outside of their own taproom, if you know what I mean. There was nice stuff too though, from all over Japan. Actually, I feel like everything on tap was from Japan, but I can’t be sure. Four serving sizes and all beers the same price. They were S – 270ml, ¥700, M – 360ml, ¥900, L – 480ml, ¥1200 and MEGA – 720ml, ¥1700. No cover charge. Maybe about 8 fridges of bottles and cans too, again with a huge variety. It was pretty popular when we were there, but I wonder if they have the customer volume to turn over such a large amount of stock regularly particularly given that due to it being a standing bar, perhaps people don’t stay so long. Or maybe that’s just tired old me responding to the quite young feel of the place. Food too, but obviously you also have to eat that standing up. Some confusion over opening hours, (perhaps still state of emergency related), on their social network profiles so basically keep your fingers crossed. And a bit tricky to actually find their social media so perhaps the youthful feel to the place is reflected in their choice of social network and they use something unknown to me.
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Esperanza

Another new place, Esperanza is a standing bar offering eight taps of Japanese craft including some local stuff. Prices are… a little high. One beer in particular seemed so expensive that I thought there must have been a mistake but it seems there wasn’t. There is some good value to be found though if you choose the lower priced beers. Some bottles and cans too including some imported stuff. Nice food and seemed like a popular place. Will go back.
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