What was once Inabaku has now become Beerdock and the place has undergone quite a transformation. With that in mind I’ve completely rewritten this post but will keep the old Inabaku info at the bottom just for the sake of it. Here’s what you need to know about the new place.
- The seats have gone, apart from a few seats outside on a kind of patio, albeit one by a semi-busy road. So now it’s all standing and the decor is quite different too. Now it feels a bit brighter and they have lots of canvas prints of graffiti, if you know what I mean by that. They also have food and snacks but I didn’t pay that much attention to them. Sorry, I’ve failed again. When I bought my first beer they mentioned there was an offer to upgrade your half to a half and a snack which seemed like good value, but which I turned down due to my indecision. Along with this they also had a game where you roll three dice and try to win a free half, and a rock paper scissors challenge to win a sticker. I failed at the former but won at the latter.
- 10 taps of Japanese craft. I incorrectly assumed that they would be serving their own beers here all the time now. I was wrong. When I visited they had a Barbaric tap takeover going on and they seem to like doing these kind of things. On checking the website today, it looks like they maybe have their beers back on again, so my timing was bad. The brewery is still intact and is still being used, but not so often right now. At least, that’s what I thought the guy said but I can’t be sure. The guest beers were served in the usual two sizes and were all ¥800 for the half and ¥1400 for the pint but it seems that when they are serving their own stuff it’s cheaper. Their website has prices and a taplist and given that there seems to be a mix of stuff I had when I visited and some of their beers, I guess they update it semi-regularly.
- Daytime opening at the weekend and it stays open a little later than some other places. No cover charge and you pay as you go. I didn’t check for WiFi because, as usual, I forgot.
I have to say, I quite enjoyed my visit. The staff member was very friendly and I enjoyed talking to him. I wish they’d had some of their own beers on, but I think I just got unlucky on that count. Or perhaps should have checked a bit more carefully before I popped in. I wouldn’t categorise it as a brewpub right now, but maybe that’s what they will work towards. Given that my wife thought the beers were pretty bad when we visited here under the old ownership, I guess it’s a massive improvement. But would like to have some of their own stuff next time I visit.
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Barbaric, but this might not be wholly representative
Opening Hours:
Wednesday & Thursday, 18:00-23:00
Friday, 18:00-00:00
Saturday, 14:00-00:00
Sunday, 14:00-23:00
Closed Monday & Tuesday
Location/map:
菅北浦 2-21-1, Tama-ku, Kawasaki-shi, Kanagawa-ken
Telephone:
044-944-2044
Links:
Website
And here for posterity is the old write up on the previous Inabaku incarnation
For once I can actually use the phrase ‘newly opened’ and not be criticised for having a loose grip on the passing of time. Inabazu was opened a few months ago and is a small brewpub about 10 minutes walk from Inadazutsumi station, just over the Tama river in Kawasaki. It’s probably not an area that people often pass through on a pub crawl, but it is a good spot to change from the Nambu line to the Keio line, (although you do have to walk to a different station to do so), so maybe if you’re coming from somewhere else in Kawasaki and are then planning to go into Tokyo it could be a useful stop. Here’s what you need to know.
- Pretty small place. Counter for maybe five, tables for a few more than that. Had a real local feeling to it. The food looked nice but as I’d stuffed myself at Mizonokuchi I could only manage pickles. Surprising amount of staff for such a small place!
- Four taps of their own beer, one guest from Vector and one macro. Beers served in four sizes at very reasonable prices! XS is 148ml and ranges from ¥350-¥450, S is 284ml, from ¥550-¥650, M is 330ml, from ¥780-¥880 and L is 473ml, from ¥900-¥1000. The guest is quite a bit more expensive, but I’d imagine you’re not really going here for the guest beer. They have the capacity to have more taps, but from looking at Untappd it seems that they’ve only made four beers so far, so I guess the ones they had on are their standards. I was a little surprised to see a saison among them and that one was my favourite. Growler fills also available. Beers feel a bit like a work in progress at the moment, but I’d be interested to see how they progress.
- No cover charge, didn’t check WiFi (again…). Doesn’t open in the daytime, even at weekends. The staff and clientele all seemed to be locals and many of them seemed to know each other. The limited seating meant that the place was always full for the whole time we were there, so perhaps if you’re desperate to go here you should book, particularly as it’s a bit of a walk from the station and there’s nothing else around.
Always pleased to add a new brewery to this site and it was nice to visit one not so long after their opening. Lovers of in-your-face beers might be a little disappointed here as the beers were quite subtle and they seemed to be a bit European rather than US influenced.