In Oct 2015 we visited Osaka Japan for 4 days. We spent much
of our time in the Dotonbori district which is famous for its street food including
local favourites like Takoyaki (Octopus balls topped w’ Bonito flakes),
Okonomiyaki (pancakes made of shredded cabbage and seafood), crab legs, gyozas
and of course steaming bowls of Ramen.
After all that eating our thoughts naturally turned to beer.
Unlike here in Vancouver, most craft brewpubs in Osaka don’t actually brew
their own beer and serve 100% guest taps. They also don’t do Growlers.
Our first stop
was
Yellow Ape (
http://ameblo.jp/yellow-ape-craft/). They don't brew their own beer but they
serve a nice variety of guest taps in their whopping 200 sq ft tasting room.
Prices are steep but it has is a quirky ambience, owing partly to extreme
coziness and partly to the Spanish tapas style bar snacks made with wholly
Japanese ingredients. We tried the Minoh Pilsner from Osaka and the
Shigakogen Porter from Nagaon - both were nice but they serve tiny 260ml pours
- more like we’d see in a flight.
The music
featured a heavy rotation of Taylor Swift (like everywhere in Osaka) but
on the upside they have free Wi-Fi and a great selection of local English
language craft beer magazines to browse.
Our second stop was
Garage 39 (http://garage39.com/) and I could become a
regular. People were devouring authentic pub food (Japanese, French, Spanish
& English) and they served a great selection of guest taps (not brewing any
beer either). The service was excellent and it’s the kind of place where in the
middle of the most foreign place, you feel instantly at home (unlike some
cheesy fake Irish pub).
They serve
flights of 3 beers. Prices were also double (maybe triple) that of Vancouver
but they make up for it with friendly & knowledgeable service. We tried a
Shigakougen IPA (6%), a Shigakougen Saison (7%) and a Miyajima Pilsner (5%). I
liked the Saison best . Thankfully there was no Taylor Swift - instead they
played a funky selection of bouncy euro tracks that kept us Shazamming...
Here they gave us
the "Osaka Craft Beer Map vol. 03", a wicked map of craft brew pubs
organized my district and x-referenced by subway lines. We couldn’t find it
online but it sure would have come in handy at the start of our crawl.
Tiny doesn't
begin to describe an entire working brewery & tasting room in under 1000 sq
ft. They had 3 of their own beers on tap (2 pale ales and 1 IPA) and a guest
tap Saison. We tried them all and the IPA was our favorite. They do serve a few
Japanese bar snacks but the prices were steep so we didn't hang around for
long. Mizuki Kamiya, the owner & brewmaster has been at it for 3
years now but the place lacked ambience and seemed clinical.
It’s always fun
to check out the local craft beer spots wherever we travel. Even if it just
reminds us how very spoiled we are in Vancouver with our amazing craft
breweries and tasting rooms.
~ Ron & Carmen
Websites dedicated to Craft Beer in Japan:
