In the past when it came to beer, Gunma was mainly known for a few fairly inaccessible old style ‘tourist attraction with brewery’ places. There’s one which is a glass factory (Tsukiyono) and one is a German style village in the mountains (Akagi). There’s also what was Donryu Dream in Ota which was more along the lines of your classic first beer boom place. This place has changed name, (now selling beers as Chroa), and focus slightly now so I can’t say if it’s still like that. And not to forget the Oze No Yukidoke beers in Tatebayashi which were very popular and in quite a few places about 10 years ago but have been rarely seen for the last five years. But now there seems to be a big boom of new places opening up, so it made sense for me to start a Gunma digest post. So here it is. As always, more places will be added if visited. And if I’ve mentioned somewhere in passing that I’ve been to, but it’s still a ? on the map, that means I can’t really vouch for it being anything like it was when I visited, so bear that in mind. I’ll go to Kiryu soon(ish) and will add the two new breweries there on here when I’ve visited. Oh, and there is also Octone Brewing which made it on to a digest post here. One day, I’ll manage to get to all of these places. Maybe…
Takasaki
Shinkichi
Our first stop in Takasaki and the only brewery in the city. Shinkichi is a pretty small place with an old fashioned izakaya feel but is at the same time a pretty modern concept. The pub part of the brewpub has two small counters and a couple of tables. You can see through to the shiny brewery in the back room though which slightly breaks the old fashioned feel. The beers available help to extend this old fashioned yet modern thing. They have five taps of their own stuff, some of which when we visited were what you might expect from a small provincial brewpub, but others were quite modern. Beers served in two sizes at ￥650 and ¥800. Sadly it’s been a little while so now I can’t remember how big they were. In addition to the taps, there is a massive list of big bottles above the bar with some really interesting looking stuff. They were a bit more expensive, around ¥2300. If we hadn’t arrived so late I think I would have definitely given some a go. Oh, and there’s some nice Japanese food too. I don’t feel I’ve portrayed very accurately how interesting this place was, but to be honest, I’m finding it hard to put my finger on exactly what it was that made me feel that way. In any case, I’d say this probably should be your first stop if you’re visiting Takasaki.
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Craft Beer Bar & Bottle Shop BOCCA
Seems to have previously been an Italian restaurant, (explains the name, I guess), which has now switched its attention to beer. There are a couple of fridges at the front with a mix of domestic (including some local stuff) and imported craft. Along with this they had eight taps too (75% domestic). Sizes were 300ml and 400ml and prices ranged from ¥750-¥850 and ¥950-¥1100 respectively. Beware, they have a ¥500 cover charge! Not sure if this always applies or we were just unlucky. Food was nice!
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Glacier Bar Takasaki
Quick mention for this bar which serves gelato and booze. They had a few cans of craft available but we went for the Fukiware cider they have on draft. Oh, and the gelato!
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