Today we visit the first iBrew bar outside of Tokyo. Some people have long been calling for an iBrew in Yokohama and their dream has now come true. I visited the bar on the first Saturday it was open as I had a football match in Yokohama later that afternoon. The match was terrible so it’s a good thing I had a nice time in iBrew before the day was ruined. I think it’s probably undeniable that iBrew are the leaders when it comes to providing a value for money craft beer experience. Craft Beer Market seems to have got left behind a little bit recently in the race for the attention of the more financially careful customers. At the same time iBrew has been widening the scope of its offerings whilst still keeping prices under control and keeping the quality up. There are not a lot of original things to say about iBrew bars so as usual I’ll direct you to the other iBrew places on here and write briefly about what makes this branch different. So, here we go.
- Located not too far from Yokohama station, (about a 5 minute walk or perhaps a little more if the streets are packed as they sometimes are), it’s at street level and has a big shop front with lots of windows (as you can see in the photo above). The entrance part is made up of a counter where you can stand and a couple of large standing tables. I plumped for the large standing table and it seemed that these were also used to accommodate people who wanted to sit whilst they waited for a table. The other half was filled with a lot of seating at long tables which were able to be divided off for smaller groups but could easily fit more people if necessary. The usual metal and concrete decor thing which just screams craft beer bar in Japan.
- Lots of taps of beer at the usual price points. There are over 40 taps, and the line up is updated live on their website so you can see the prices and what’s on offer there. The cheap end of the scale is their house beers made by Japanese craft breweries and the higher end is naturally higher alcohol stuff, imports, sours, hazies and combinations of all of these things. Beer served in US pint and UK half and there are three or five beer flights available too. As I said, all details are on their website.
- No cover charge, a load of daytime opening, every day, no smoking and WiFi too. I guess that they need to have it as the beer menu is online so you need to use your phone to access it. I’m sure they have a printed version though if you don’t have a phone. The food was really good too with a decent amount of vegetarian options.
Not sure if there’s anything else to add. It’s an iBrew, which for me means that it’s a fun place to drink. I like the fact that they strike a balance between domestic and imported stuff and that there are decent beers available at all the price points they have. If you’ve ever been to an iBrew, you’ll know what to expect. If you haven’t, well, this is as good a place as any to start. I imagine it will be a place that I stop at quite often when I am in Yokohama. I know this might make me an unadventurous person, but I like these places. They’re not only dependable, they’re good too!
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Yokohama
Bay Brewing
Revo
Number Nine
Black Tide
Let’s Beer Works
Open Air
Repubrew
Be Easy
Yamorido
Kyoto
Nara
Coedo
Ise Kadoya
Iwatekura
Minoh
Tazawako
Chichibu
Hino
Fujizakura
Opening Hours:
Daily, 13:00-23:00
Location/map:
南幸 2-9-9, Nishi-ku, Yokohama, Kanagawa
Telephone:
045-548-5656