Yamaoka Saketen - Kyoto (near Kitano Tenmangu)

 If you're a beer lover in Kansai then you must've heard about Yamaoka in Kyoto, if you haven't then I'm gonna tell you about it! This is one of those shops that could only exist in Japan. It's located in northern Kyoto near Kitano Tenmangu and from the outside looks like any other little mom & pop vegetable store. In actuality, this little shop has probably the best selection of bottled Japanese microbrews in Kansai! The first time I went there I wasn't sure I was in the right place but after going in past all the bins of fruits & veggies out front I found a few large fridges full of Japanese beers.

 To give you an idea of the selection available there you should know that Yamaoka is the shop that helped start up the Kyoto Craft Beer Festival so they have a great relationship with the breweries. When I went to a few festivals in Kansai and asked breweries “Where can I get your beer in Kyoto?” the answer was always “Yamaoka”.

So as is typical in Japan, almost all beers are kept refrigerated and they have all the regulars and many seasonals that change often. A nice thing is that they don't seem to favor any one style so you'll find whatever kind of beer you're looking for: IPAs, barleywines, weizens, stouts, porters, etc. Their prices are reasonable and the staff are friendly. They also organize events at their shop from time to time. 

 

 The only real negatives I can think of is the location. It isn't so easy to get there using public transportation. You have to take a bus from Kyoto Station or Hanku Omiya, get off at Senbon-Imadegawa, and walk North about 100m (Yamaoka's on the left). Otherwise, you have to grab a subway to Imadegawa and walk west quite far(or hop on a bus) to Senbondori Street.

Probably your best bet is to make a day of it, visit Kitano Tenmangu on the 25^th of the month when they have a huge flea market and then pop on over to Yamaoka to grab some beers. Or you can grab some beers to enjoy while wandering around the flea market!

All in all, it's a great little shop if you want to explore Japanese microbrews and one of the few places in Kyoto with a good selection of Japanese craft beer including local seasonals & rarities you probably can't find anywhere else in town.

 

Yamaoka Saketen

Senbon Imadegawa Agaru,
Botan-hoko-cho 555
Kyoto, Japan
telephone: 075-461-4772

homepage (Japanese only): http://yamaokasaketen.blog.shinobi.jp/

ratebeer: http://www.ratebeer.com/p/yamaoka-sake-shop-kyoto/10865/

Qbrick (Higobashi area) 8th anniversary party

Last Saturday, I went to Qbrick's 8th Anniversary party!

First, here's a bit of background about the bar: Qbrick is one of the oldest craft beer bars in Osaka and still one of the best. They have 16 taps that change often and a good three fridges in the back stuffed full of high quality bottled beer. 

The prices are about average for Osaka and there is no cover charge during events since I have never paid one(I've heard it is 300 yen otherwise), it is also no smoking which is great. I've been there twice for special events and it is always full of friendly beer lovers willing to chat about beer. The service is good & the staff know their beer. A must visit as part of any trip to Kansai  for a beer lover, you can also easily visit Beer Belly, Dolphins and Yellow Ape nearby!

Now onto talk of the party! They had a bunch of different payment options. 500 yen for a half pint, 1000 yen for a UK pint, 3500 yen for 8 half-pint tickets & 4000 yen for an all-you-can-drink 3 hour block. All very reasonable. I chose to stick with pay-as-you-go half-pints as that way I can try many beers, avoid getting too drunk & I also had to work the next day.

 I started off with a Nelson Single Hop from Baeren. It is made with Nelson Sauvignon which gave it a bit of a white grape aroma but flavorwise it was a bit more average. Bitter start, fruit in the middle and a rough ending like a grolsch. An ok beer.

After that, Kyoto Lefty recommended I try Aqula's Citra Brown which was my favorite Japanese craft beer of the night. It poured a ruby brown with a beige head. The aroma was mild citra hops and the flavor was a nice bready malt with hints of biscuit. It was perfectly balanced with a clean crisp bitter finish. An excellent session beer! Which is probably why it was one of the first taps to run out...

By this point I was getting hungry, so I decided to order some teppanyaki.


 

I had the pork belly which tasted fantastic! Plus just 500 yen.

For the event they set up some tents in front of Qbrick, it's nice drinking outside sometimes.

I then had the Hidatakayama Stout which is one of the best stouts made in Japan, I first had it at Kura Kura in Tokyo and was surprised to see it in Kansai. This was the first time I've ever seen it on tap in this area!






Around this point in the night, a bunch of the local English speaking beer community was turning up.

Kyoto Lefty worked his magic and pulled a bottle of Hillstead Farms Vera Mae out of his bag and lots of shouts of astonishment & joy were heard!

 

As Kyoto Lefty's a generous guy he shared out the bottle and I was able to snag a taste! It poured a beautiful gold with an eggshell white head of foam. The aroma was similar to white wine I thought. The flavor was very tart but delicious, an excellent beer which blew all the beer geeks away! 




Next up someone shared a bottle of Stone's Smoked & Oaked Old Guardian. I had a bit of this at Devil Craft up in Tokyo but on tap and had not been so impressed. Possibly it was served too cold or a keg didn't keep the oak aroma so well. From  a bottle I found it much smokier with a nice malt character and some whiskey notes. Quite good and I may try and pick up a bottle to cellar a bit...

My last beer of the night was Ise Kadoya's Dekopon Ale which was an amber gold with a fruity aroma. The flavor was malty with tons of lemon. Lots of citrus! I enjoyed it quite a bit at first but soon the lemon became a bit much. Worth trying but one of those beers where all you want is a half-pint.

All in all, the party was great with lots of beer, great prices, nice food and lots of talking about beer! Plus I got to practice my Japanese, try good local beer and have a taste of bottles people brought to share. What a great night!

Closest Station: Higobashi

Hours: 5pm-midnight (occasionally open for lunch, usually on weekends)

homepage:

http://osaka.townclip.com/shop/qbrick

tabelog:

http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2701/A270102/27015812/

Qbrickのブログ 『（新）Qbrickの営業日記』

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/Qbrick/

ratebeer: http://www.ratebeer.com/p/q-brick-world-beer-and-cafe-osaka/10861/

facebook:

https://www.facebook.com/pages/world-beer-cafe-Qbrick/121391324609760

Kamikaze Craft Beer Works - Osaka (Namba area)

Kamikaze is located a bit west of Amemura so fairly close to Shinsaibashi/Namba. I finally got to check out this bar in Osaka a few months ago but am only getting around to posting the pictures now. After hearing from many people that it was really small, I was quite surprised to see how big it was. It is a long narrow bar with concrete walls and nice wooden tables. A pretty chic atmosphere which matches their being an Italian food + craft beer bar. When I was there most of the customers were ladies so I guess it would be a nice place to meet women or go on a date.

There's seating at tables for about 15-20 people and maybe another dozen at the bar. On a busy day they could probably fit about 50 people inside comfortably which isn't all that small for a bar in Japan. The concrete walls have tons of beer brand related scrawls and there's a shelf with the requisite row of empties.

The staff were friendly and seemed to be really interested in beer. I'd say they weren't that knowledgeable but they definitely want to learn and improve the beer experience at Kamikaze. I'm not sure if they speak English though...

 There are 23 taps with most beers being Japanese craft but they also have a decent amount of American craft beers too. They also seem to have beer events every once in awhile, which is nice. They bill themselves as an Italian food + craft beer bar and the food has received high marks (though I haven't tried it yet). I think they should do an Italian Craft Beer/food event sometime. That would be cool.

My only complaint was the beer was served too cold for some styles but this is a common problem in Japan. All in all, it's a welcome addition to the beer scene and a great place which is definitely worth checking out.

The menu looks pretty good, decent layout of beers into Weizen, Lage, Ale & Fruit sections with ABV and the breweries. Prices are average for Osaka.

 The glasseware they use are tulip stemmed glasses which is a pretty good overall beer glass.

Closest station: Nishiohashi Station
Hours: Mon-Sat 5pm-1am

Facebook:

http://www.facebook.com/cbw.kamikaze

ratebeer:

http://www.ratebeer.com/Places/ShowPlace.asp?PlaceID=27620

homepage:

http://ameblo.jp/cbw-kamikaze

tabelog:

http://tabelog.com/osaka/A2702/A270201/27065911/