September 1, 2019
by Mayu Arimoto & Chinatsu Yoshida
Many people like beer. Especially, there are many foreigners in Kyoto, and they might want to try craft beers in Japan. Nowadays, craft beer is getting more famous in Kyoto because of its association with green tea. Kyoto is very famous for green tea, and there is no green tea beer in the world until now. In 1870, people started to research how to make beer in Kyoto. They started to use the water from Kiyomizu temple for brewing beer. This was the beginning of Kyoto’s beer. In this article, we will introduce four different beer restaurants that serve beer made in and around Kyoto. If you are interested in Kyoto’s beer, you should go these places.
Before 9
Before 9 is a super fashionable and new beer restaurant in Kyoto. The building is a renovated old Japanese wooden house, so the atmosphere is traditional Japanese. You can really feel the old Japanese style there. It’s easy to go there alone. There are seats both inside and outside, as well as seats for one person (standing style). Also, there is a second floor, but you should be careful going up and down because the stairs are very steep!
Before 9 is famous for local Japanese beer. You can drink not only craft beer, but also Japanese sake. There usually are eight kinds of beer in this restaurant, and you can also eat some otsumami (food that goes well with alcohol) with beer. The food in this restaurant is wonderful. There are not only normal Japanese foods on the menu, also unique ones.
Beer is served in three sizes: Small (240ml) for￥700, Medium (310ml) for￥850, and Large(450ml) for￥1200. They change the beer they serve from time to tome. They also have an English menu. They change beer times.
Ordering is easy. First, you go to the counter to choose the beer and food you want, and then you pay right there. Next, you get your beer and look for a seat. After that, you simply wait for your food to arrive while talking with friends or simply enjoying the atmosphere inside. There are many foreign and Japanese customers. It’s better to go there at an early time. It takes 3 minutes on foot to get there from the subway Karasuma-Oike station. They are open from 5 p.m. to 1 a.m. every day.
Beer Pub Takuiya
Beer Pub Takuiya is near Before 9. The staff is very friendly, and the atmosphere is very good. There is smoking area outside, so if you are smoker, you can smoke outside. There are 25 seats in this pub, so you can stay here longer. Some of the staff can speak English, so it’s a good place for foreign visitors.
Beer Pub Takuiya offers over 300 different Japanese beers. They usually have 10 different kinds of craft beers available in the restaurant. They server beer in three sizes: Small (240ml) for￥700~, Medium(350ml) for￥900~, and 1 pint (470ml) for￥1,000~. There are also many delicious foods on the menu. This is Kara-age (or deep fried chicken) and three kinds of cheese. There is an English menu, so it’s very easy to read the menu and place an order.
This location is a little bit complicated to find, so checking it first on Google Maps is advised. The customers are also friendly and nice. You can make Japanese friends and talk with Japanese people easily here. It takes 5 minutes on foot to get there from the subway Karasuma-Oike station. They are open from 4 p.m. to midnight every day.
Craft House Kyoto
It is the newest craft beer place of Kyoto since 30th of January. It takes 3 minutes from Shichijo station (It’s Keihan line) on foot or takes 10 minuets from Kyoto station on foot. They open everyday 11 a.m. to 12 a.m. Stuff is very friendly. I met same walker with Beer pub Takuiya. He said I was helping at Beer pub Takumiya so if you go to some craft beer’s of Kyoto, you can see same employee. There are more than 50 seats in this pub. They have 2nd floor and outside area so you can choose your favorite seats. Also there is smoking area outside so you can smoke outside.
This is IPA from Kyoto (S size 750 yen M size 900 yen L size 1100 yen). You can choose from 12 type of beer. Almost from around Japan. but later time, poplar beer will be sold out so I recommend go there before 6 pm. They have other drinks. You can enjoy to drinking Japanese whiskeys and Kyoto gin.
This is part of food menu. There have variety of food. Also they are sometime doing DJ and events.
In conclusion, we recommend these places. There is good beer, good atmosphere and can meet good people. When I go these places, I always meet somebody and can make friendship ever.