Another football trip where I could use one of those foreigner only Shinakansen passes meant that I had an opportunity to visit some places that I might otherwise not have been able to go to. Nagano has a lot of famous breweries. Well, famous in a craft beer kind of way. But most of these places are in the countryside and pretty difficult to get to. I’d like to try to go to some of them at some stage, but for now I’m going to stick to the places you can get to from a train station. One thing I would say though is be careful about opening hours as quite a few places weren’t open, even though Google said they would be. Thankfully, I checked the social media of some and found out before I went. Unfortunately a couple of places didn’t update their social media though. I’ll briefly mention places that I think might be good but I couldn’t get to, but focus mainly on the places I visited.
Nagano City
I really enjoyed visiting Nagano city for the first time. I didn’t enjoy so much that two places were closed that said they would be open. Nagano Minamikaze brewery was one. Google suggests that they are open every day, but the nice folks at Mallika set me straight and said that they are probably only open at the weekend at the moment. There is an Irish pub called the Red Dragon near the station and apparently it has some decent craft beer guests. This was also closed, but I think it might have been due to a family emergency judging by an old social media post I found. Yamanoma Brewery was listed as closed on the day I went, so I didn’t even bother checking it, but it is very close to the station so maybe I should have gone to have a look out of curiosity. (Both of these places have now been added below. Minamikaze was closed again when I went there). Basically, there were enough good places to make me start thinking about another visit, but I will research and choose the day carefully before I do that.
Mallika
This was a really nice brewpub up in the area near Zenkoji. I really liked this place. The staff were very friendly and the beers and food were nice! They had eight taps with two of their own beers on and six guests. They also sold bottles to takeaway or drink on site (I think). The bar is on the second floor above the brewery and there is a counter for four and then a nice counter along the front window for about the same. There is table seating for maybe 10 more too. Has WiFi too. This was my favourite place of my visit.
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Squirrel Forest
A bottle shop/drink on site standing bar with a few seats too. No taps, but three fridges of beer and some ciders with about one third being Japanese beer. There is a selection of local stuff along with some breweries that I hadn’t seen before. Guess I’m getting out of touch! Under 500ml there is a ¥200 corkage fee and it’s ¥400 for over 500ml. Slightly annoyingly I made a rushed visit here as I had two more paces to go afterwards. The final one ended up being closed though so I could have stayed a bit longer. Will definitely revisit next time.
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Mash Café & Bed Nagano
Big place which is basically the lounge area of the hotel/hostel that is above it. Six taps of Japanese craft with about half being local Nagano beers. Prices seemed a little high until the glass arrived when I noticed that the ‘half’ was actually pretty big. Has WiFi and lots of seating. The food looked good too. They served pizzas but I’d kind of overdone it a bit on pizzas in the previous few days so I just went for some olives which were really nice. Really nice staff too!
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Yamanoma Brewery & Craft Beer Pub
Not sure how I missed this place last time I was in Nagano. Perhaps it was a day that they weren’t open. Kind of big place in a grand looking building with a surprising amount of taps (think there were about 12), most of which were their own beers. Decent prices, beer served in three sizes and a really nice food menu including plenty of stuff that’s good for vegetarians and vegans. Just over the road from the main station too. Will definitely go back next time as the food was great and the staff were very friendly.
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Red Dragon
British style pub serving Japanese craft beer, with some local stuff. As this was my last stop of quite a long day of drinking I messed up by making no notes at all and forgetting to take any photos. Think there were four of five Japanese craft beers on tap with a couple of other taps of the kind of stuff you’d expect in British pubs. Food and other booze too, but I didn’t try them. Will have to go back next time.
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Matsumoto
There are now quite a few places in Matsumoto. So here are some new ones for me and first, links to posts for the two places I went to in the pre-round up days.
Matsumoto Brewery Taproom
Post here
Bacca Brewing
Post here
Hop Frog Cafe
Coffee shop and beer bar. Like most places in Matsumoto, it closes very early, but has plenty of daytime opening. Big focus coffee and Japanese craft beers with about a third of their taps being Nagano beers. 10 taps but they only had eight on when we were there. Nice food too with some vegetarian options. A little bit expensive if you compare it to Tokyo places. But the staff were very nice and it was a fun place to eat and drink some local stuff.
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Beer Tap Honmachi
Was expecting it to be a bit more like a kakuuchi (booze shop where you can drink) as this is what it seems to label itself as. However, felt more like a bar that does some takeaway beers. Counter seating for about six, a long bench seat on the opposite wall for about eight and a large communal standing table at the front. Five taps of Nagano beer and one of local cider. Some small snack options too. Behind the counter they have a fridge of cans to drink in or take away. Was quite a fun place. And they had WiFi. Naturally they close early, as everywhere in Matsumoto seems to.
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Pomge
Cider shop in the Media Garden complex, one floor below the Matsumoto Brewery Taproom Honmachi, (which was closed on the day we were in town so is on the map, but I don’t have any details about it). It’s predominately a shop, selling apple related stuff, including a lot of local ciders. They also have two taps of cider and a fridge of bottles that you can drink on site. No seating though and you’re basically just standing boozing in a shopping centre. It’s not going to be somewhere you want to spend hours at, but I really liked the ciders and I didn’t see cider on tap in many of the other local bars. Beware, the drink on site might finish a bit earlier than the actual closing hours.
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Ueda
Mucch (Do Brewing)
The intriguingly named Mucch is the taproom of the fairly new, (I think), brewery Do Brewing. There also seems to be a link to the Hatos Bar group but I’m not sure if this is official or just a friendly thing. Mucch is predominately a BBQ place but they were fine with me just sitting at the counter and going through the taplist. They had four taps of their own stuff on. I really liked one of them enjoyed two, but one was quite difficult to drink. But that’s just me I guess. Some domestic and imported bottles and cans too. Not too far from the station up the main road that leads from the castle exit. They had a bit of seating on the first floor and a bigger room upstairs. The music they were playing was great. Had WiFi but I didn’t ask for the password. Not sure if there is a charge. I didn’t get anything but afterwards thought that I might have been charged ¥200 extra. I didn’t realise till I was halfway to Tenzing though.
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Tenzing Brewery
Really close to the station from the castle exit. Tenzing is a brew pub with a small seating area and counter downstairs but with a large room upstairs which I guess they use for parties or when things get busy. They had three taps of their own beers on and two guests. But one of their taps ran out before I arrived. Eight taps in total, so perhaps in busier times the selection gets a bit larger. They also offered a beer flight. Really enjoyed their German Pilsner and the miso selection of snacks was really good too. Once again, really nice and helpful staff. The guy who I think was the brewer used to live in the part of London that I was born in, which was quite surprising!
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Karuizawa
Good Afternoon (Karuizawa Q Brewing)
The taproom of the Karuizawa Q brewery, situated directly above the brewery itself in Naka Karuizawa, one station away from the Karuizawa Shinkansen station. Feels a lot more like a restaurant or izakaya than a taproom with a strong focus on food. It was very popular when we visited and we were quite lucky to get in, but managed to do so given that we arrived at opening time and only wanted to stay for an hour and a half. If you’re going out of your way to visit, it’s probably best to book.
Counter for maybe 12 and seating at tables for maybe about the same again. Nine taps of Japanese craft beer, most of which were their own when we were there. Beers served in two sizes, M and L. It was slightly tricky to estimate how big they actually were. Prices were generally speaking ¥850 for the former and ¥1250 for the latter. They had WiFi here and as you can probably guess from the name, they have plenty of daytime opening. There is a cover charge, so be aware of that before you visit. But that’s probably to be expected as the feel of the place was definitely more food-focused. And the food was very nice. But it’s also worth saying that the beer was really good too. I’d definitely go back but would definitely book next time. Saying that, we did visit during Golden Week so maybe that’s why it was so busy.
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Quartet Brewing
Quite a different feel to Good Afternoon, Quartet is a simple space with counters round the edge for about 10 and three standing tables. The brewery is clearly visible behind the counter. 10 taps of their own beers in large or medium size. They also sell by the ml for growler fills. The large size was generally priced at ¥1100, (one beer was a hazy and was ¥1350), and the medium was ¥800 (or ¥1000 for the hazy). They also offer a beer flight of three beers of your choice for ¥1700. And they had some of their own beers in cans along with some guests in a few fridges at the side of the space. I presume you can drink them on site if you want but I didn’t check. Some small snacks available. No cover charge and a decent amount of daytime opening. Beware though, they close quite early and are closed on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
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