Cycad brewing is the new brewery started by Gremlin in the premises that was formerly Snark Liquidworks. James wrote about Snark here and I thought I’d leave his old post up with a note directing people here as there are still some similarities between what was Snark and now is Cycad and I’m not just talking about the location. Although Cycad officially launched on April 1st, there are still some Snark beers on tap so this is perhaps something a bit like a transition period right now. I only managed to get to Snark once before it changed to Cycad, but from what I remember about that one experience there now seems to be a bit of a change in direction and feel. It seems to be a bit brighter, the seating has changed and the music is different. So anyway, here’s what you need to know aside from the decoration which I’ve already mentioned in this intro.
- Eight taps. At the moment, three were new Cycad beers, three were Snark beers, one was a guest (Shiokaze) and one was off. I guess this balance will change though as the Snark beers run out. I believe they will still have guest beers on though even when they are fully up and running. Beers served in two sizes, pint and half, which ranged from ¥1200-¥1300 for the former and ¥800-¥900 for the latter. The glassware for the pint is a very nice looking branded big tulip glass. I didn’t see the half, but think that it might be the same glass, just with less beer in it (obviously).
- Didn’t mention this above, but a reasonable amount of seating and quite a big and airy place. Counter for maybe six and a long standing table/counter near the bar too. The place feels very well designed and quite a comfortable place to relax and have some beers. They will be having some food takeovers and pop up art shows too. Check their Instagram for details. Oh, and here’s my my usual round up stuff. There’s daytime opening, didn’t notice WiFi, no cover charge, nice music. And mezcal… I had one and quite enjoyed it despite having a past trauma with tequila. I now know that tequila is different from mezcal. Oh, and there are a few food items too, but I didn’t investigate them properly. Sorry!
I guess I’m a bit biased as I’m a big Gremlin fan but I really liked the reinvention of this place. I’m interested to see what kind of beers Cycad will make in the future, but I was surprised that I really enjoyed their NE IPA, as I am not a big fan of that style. Whilst Gremlin is a great place for boozing, I can see Cycad as becoming a great place for drinking with other events too. There seems to be a lot of potential for the space and I hope that the upcoming galleries and food takeovers are the tip of the iceberg. Think there could be some really fun music/DJ events there. Although not sure if that is actually possible or not. Sorry the photo is bad. I’ll try to remember to update it next time I go. If anyone has a better one, please send it to me. I guess the conclusion here is that I now know I’ll be spending more time in Kanamecho in the future than I might have imagined and I’d encourage you to do so too.
Japanese breweries on tap when I first visited:
Cycad
Snark
Shiokaze
Opening Hours:
To follow soon, but I think it will be something like Wednesday-Monday, 15:00-23:00 closed Tuesday from what I’ve heard
Location/map
西池袋 4-19-14, Toshima-ku, Tokyo
Telephone:
None
Links
Website
Instagram
Facebook
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