Albirex Niigata’s return to J1 meant that once again I was off to Niigata for an away game. It’s been a while so was nice to go back! The game was perhaps one of the worst performances I’ve ever seen from my team though, so that part wasn’t much fun. But we did get the…
Another football trip where I could use one of those foreigner only Shinakansen passes meant that I had an opportunity to visit some places that I might otherwise not have been able to go to. Nagano has a lot of famous breweries. Well, famous in a craft beer kind of way. But most of these…
In The House is another fairly new place in the Harajuku / Gaienmae area and it seemed pretty popular when we popped in early evening on a Saturday. Here’s what you need to know. This was another nice place to visit in an area booming with craft beer bars. When it comes to things being…
After moving around Tokyo in the way that only a bar in a shed on wheels could, Beer Brain finally has a location that can’t be towed away by an over-zealous and misguided parking official. Also, perhaps since I last added a Beer Brain place on here, they also now have their own brewery out…
Written by James I love to drink beer in the afternoon but it is difficult to find places to enjoy a craft beer before 5-6 p.m. I saw this place on Instagram and was attracted by the fact that, being both a barber shop and a bar, Frank’s Barbe(e)r The Stand is always open during…
Written by Mothy U.B.P. (Urawa Beer Project) Brewery is the third child of Kobayashi Kenta, following his first shop, Beer Hunting, and his second shop, Beernova. This time he’s made himself a brewery, and while Beernova really felt like just a bigger version of Beer Hunting, this time the taproom seems to have a very…
Sour Swamp is a relatively new bar and bottle shop in Chitose Funabashi. Chitofuna was an area that until recently had absolutely no craft beer places. That seems to be changing though with the arrival of Sour Swamp and then the very recent opening of a new Caliquors branch. I was going to try both…
Written by James Beer Glass Hopper is a one man bar located about seven minutes from Mizuhodai station on the Tobu line. I have a soft spot for one man (person) bars and I have met the owner several times at different bars on Thursdays, which is their day off, so I decided to check…
Written by James After climbing Mount Tsukuba (for work as it happens) I decided to check out Tsukuba Brewery. The first thing to note is that it’s quite hard to get to. Even if you are at Tsukuba station, it’s still a 3km walk or taxi ride away. That said, if you are in Tsukuba…
Southbound is the new taproom/bottle shop for the beer importer Cardinal Trading. So that probably gives you a good idea of what to expect from it. It’s situated by the river near Hinodecho station in Yokohama, not far from plenty of other bars and well within walking distance. I popped in briefly during their pre-opening…