Tokyo

Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum

Help Support Homebrew Talk - Beer, Wine, Mead, & Cider Brewing Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

Capa

Well-Known Member
Joined
Feb 2, 2006
Messages
147
Reaction score
2
Location
Bahrain
I'll be moving to tokyo sometime mid january and i was curious about the beer and homebrew scene over there. has anyone been there recently? does anyone know anything about there laws governing homebrewing? is it popular over there? any info is apreciated. Im hoping that once i settle in i can start brewing once again since ive been out of the loop for about eight months now.
 
From what I gather, it's illegal, but there's a healthy "underground" movement.

I was in northern JP.....there wasn't crap for beer. Light lager was pretty much it. We could get Guinness and Sam Adams on base, I guess. Off base in Tokyo m ight be different though. One thing I can guarantee is that anything of quality you may find will be damned pricey.
 
the more research i do the better tokyo looks for beers. supposedly there are some good beer bars, and english speaking beer bars in tokyo...expensive, but itll be nice to get some things you can't get in the states. and yes, it is illegal, but i guess they don't get on you unless you try to sell it, so we shall see...
 
Can't really say anything as far as the homebrewing, cause i've only ever visited tokyo, but you can get just about anything you want there, but it is expensive....as in everything is expensive. Especially Ropongi, but it's a hell of a time down there too. GAS PANICS RULES!
 
Homebrewing is difficult and expensive here. There are some homebrew shops... though I wouldn't call them local. Things are usually 2-10 times what you're used to paying for them in the states. Here are some shops:

http://www.bcjkobe.com/english/index.htm
http://www.george-club.com/list.html#beer kit
http://www.amy.hi-ho.ne.jp/brew/

The first one is run by a bilingual lady.... which is helpful.
There are many more shops in Japan and they seem to mostly be in the Tokyo area. Try searching for  自ビール (ji biru, homebrew) you will find something.

As for micros (地ビール,also ji biru)there are some excellent Japanese beers available, also good imports. You can also buy beer on-line. There's also a beer fesital in May.
 
thanaks catfish, i figure i wont have much time to brew, but might want to once or twice while im there. Im looking forward to exploring the Japanese beer culture
 
Back
Top