These Japanese breweries and bars are now delivering craft beer

DevilCraft serves Chicago-style deep-dish pizzas in Tokyo but is also known for its delicious American brews. Taps are always stocked with about a dozen craft beers, most of which can be delivered to your home in 330ml glass bottles. If you’re a first-timer, we recommend trying the brand’s six most popular brews with the ACCJ Select Beer Set (¥3,000), which features a fruity yuzu ale, pilsner-style lager, New England IPA, smoked baltic porter, American pale ale and a golden ale.

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Shizuoka’s Baird Beer, known for its taproom in Nakameguro, sells a 12-pack featuring all its classic beers including stout, pale ale, IPA, porter and lager. If you don’t feel like sampling them all,  just grab a six-pack – or more – of your favourite brew. If you really want to support the brewery, get the year-long Baird Best Membership, which offers free shipping within Japan, discounts and access to the newest limited-edition beers.

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This brewpub inside Coredo Muromachi Terrace seats a whopping 140 people and serves seven of its original craft beers on tap, alongside American-style dishes like barbecue ribs and loaded fries. Some of Craft Rock Brewing’s beers, including a range of IPA, stout and pilsner, can now be delivered to your home in massive 1L cans. You can order just two cans (¥2,560) if you like, but a six-pack (¥6,912) will get you a 10% discount, so it works out to just ¥1,152 per can.

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Born and bred in Tokyo, Far Yeast Brewing makes Tokyo-inspired blondes, saisons and IPAs. Far Yeast ships larger shipments of beer, so you can order a package of up to 24 beers (from ¥6,400) for your quarantine bunker, but six-packs are also available. Don’t miss out on the classic Tokyo IPA or try some scented Kagua ales – the Kagua Rouge mixes roasted malt with Japanese sansho pepper for an innovative and distinctly Japanese flavour.

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Ibaraki prefecture’s Kiuchi Brewery makes one of Japan’s best craft beer brands, Hitachino Nest, and even has a couple of Hitachino Brewing Lab pubs in Tokyo. No need to commit to purchasing an entire case here – you can purchase as little as a single can or bottle from the brewery’s online shop. It's a great way to try the award-winning Hitachino Nest beers – we love the yuzu lager (¥418).

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Located in Minakami, Gunma prefecture, OctOne brews natural-tasting, fresh beer using water from Lake Ocutone. OctOne believes you can taste those natural surroundings in each of its beers. The small brewery offers six-packs (starting from ¥3,300) of its saison, porter, IPA and ales, or a tasting set with six OctOne beers chosen at random. Each beer has a suggested pairing – try the Kayaba Saison with sashimi or the Mori-No Porter with meat or dessert.

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Inspired by American and Belgian craft beers, Kyoto Brewing Company has created its own style of beer with Japanese flavours. Try the seasonal Natsu no Kimagure, a session IPA with notes of peach, apricot, grapefruit and coconut, only available during the summer. First-timers should opt for the Core Series Set (¥3,200 for a six-pack) featuring standard beers, including the saison-inspired Ichigo Ichie.

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One of the best German breweries in Tokyo, Schmatz is delivering its hefeweizens in six- and 24-packs. Using water sourced from Hokkaido and Mt Fuji, Schmatz has a completely German taste but is crafted all in Japan. Keep an eye out for the upcoming bottles of Schmatz pilsners and dunkels. Need a drinking vessel? Add a beer glass to your online order – it’s the same one used at Nakameguro, Ark Hills and the brewery’s other locations throughout Tokyo.

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Sustainable taproom Rise & Win Brewing Co comes from the eco-friendly town of Kamikatsu on Shikoku and offers its beers in growlers so you can enjoy its brews at home without any beer can waste. But if you don’t live near Higashi-Azabu, you can still purchase bottled beers from its online shop. 

Although you can’t go wrong with the standard beer set (¥4,290), which features six of its all-time favourite brews, go for the IBC award beer set (¥4,290) if you’re interested in trying more experimental flavours – all the beers in this set won awards at the International Beer Cup in 2019.

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At TY Harbor, you can sip on a range of Californian-style ales and porters in a picturesque canalside brewpub on Tennozu Isle. Now, you can also enjoy this Tokyo-born craft beer at home with a 20% discount on all TY Harbor beers until May 31. Get the seasonal beer set (¥3,070), which includes its five standard beers, empirical stout, amber ale, pale ale, IPA and wheat ale, plus an all-new citrus Hazy IPA which is only available for a limited time.

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