Before this visit as part of my ongoing attempt to drink a Japanese craft beer in every part of Tokyo, I’d only ever had Fat Barley’s beers at the Machida version of the Oedo beer fest. I wasn’t quite sure about them at that time, so I wasn’t really sure what to expect from this place. I definitely wasn’t ready for it being so nice! They’ve recently relocated so maybe we visited at the perfect time. Here’s what you need to know:
- New building with the brewery on the ground floor and the taproom above it. So new that it almost had that newly decorated smell to it! A variety of seating at tables for fourteen, a small counter for four and a standing table near the entrance. When it comes to decor, it’s what you’d expect from a newly built taproom. It was nice and comfortable and the staff member was very nice. They had a nice looking food menu but sadly we’d stuffed ourselves at our previous stop.
- Eight taps of their own beer, although there were only six on when we visited. Beer served in the usual half and (US) pint sizes. All beers were priced ¥700 and ¥1200 respectively. They also had a beer flight available for ¥2000 but I didn’t find out exactly what that entailed.
- No cover charge, daytime opening and I think they had WiFi too.
Have to say, I was really pleasantly surprised. I drank the whole tap list and there was only one that I wasn’t sure about. The others were all pretty nice and in a decent variety of styles. When we were there they had a pale ale, IPA, sour IPA, fruit beer and a Belgian wheat. Sadly we’d just missed out on their Maibock. The IPA and the pale seemed to be quite British in style which was a bit of a surprise for me. I think I’d presumed that due to the brewery’s proximity to the Yokota US air base that the beers would be more North American in style. This was the first time I’d been to Fussa in my 12 years in Japan. Which slightly undermines my usual ending to these posts where I say that I’ll definitely pop back next time I’m in the area. But the proximity of the brewery to the station means that it’s pretty easy to pop in even if you’re just passing by. Cheers!
Japanese breweries on tap when I visited:
Fat Barley
Opening Hours:
Tuesday-Saturday, 15:00-22:00
Sunday, 15:00-21:00
Closed Monday
Location/map:
本町 128-1, Fussa-shi, Tokyo
Telephone:
042-513-6493