Dave was visiting and he wanted to drop by the Yebisu Beer Museum. I haven’t been there myself so we hopped on a train and rode the Hibiya line all the way to Ebisu. ^^. There’s about a 3 minute walk from the station to Yebisu Garden Place where the beer museum is located. The journey starts with getting on this particular escalator. Once you’re on it, you’re all set.
The escalator brings you all the way to Yebisu Garden Place.
Here we are. This place was once a beer brewery. Now it’s a place to hang out and drink good Japanese beer… and work, if you work here.
There’s a Mitsukoshi department store here. I’ve only walked through it though. Can’t tell you what shopping is like there unfortunately. ^^.
For the thirsty, we have the Sapporo Beer Station to fill you up for the day.
The Yebisu Beer Museum is behind Mitsukoshi. I find the easiest way is probably to walk through Mitsukoshi to get there. They had a Premium Yebisu Creamy Top Stout debuting that day.
Yebisu (ヱビス Webisu) is one of Japan’s oldest brands, first brewed in Tokyo in 1890 by the Japan Beer Brewery Company. It is now produced by Sapporo Brewery.
Giant cans of Yebisu beer for your viewing pleasure. The humongous shiny copper kettle in the middle of the hall was once used to brew beer in the original Yebisu Brewery. How’s that for a slip of history? Let’s see… from the left, that’s the limited edition Yebisu white, Yebisu the Black, Yebisu the hop and premium Yebisu beer. Did I get it all right?
This is what happens when you drink that big a can all by yourself. ^^.
If you follow this timeline, you’ll see that beer was once ¥2!
You know what’s this? It’s a heat exchanger!
BTW, do you know who Yebisu is in Japanese mythology? That guy in the picture is one of the Seven Gods of Fortune.
A closer look at the copper kettle. I wasn’t allowed photos in other parts of the museum where they explained the intricate science that is beer brewing. There are mainly 4 ingredients that make up beer. Water, malt, hops and yeast; fruits and spices being among others.
The variety of beers that we indulge in are a result of creative combinations and processing of those ingredients.
The tasting lounge. This is where all the fun is!
There are many beers to choose from. Some are only available at the museum. ¥300-500. I didn’t go for the creamy top stout, but I went for the Yebisu Amber. Also got myself a tasting set.
Yum yum.
That’s the beer tasting set. Lagers, ale and stout. That’s my Amber standing tall in the middle. It was very good. Very smooth and ale like. ^^.
Everyone had pretty much the same idea. Get the tasting set before getting a pint of anything else.
After downing all that beer, ’twas time to leave. When leaving the museum, one can drop by the shop and get some memorabilia. Who wants beer jelly?
Yebisu Garden Place Hiroba. Nice place to laze about on a weekend.
Chateau Restaurant Joel Robuchon. The restaurant was award 3 stars in the Michelin Guide to good food Tokyo. Have to dine there one of these days. ^^.
The Yamanote Line running towards Shibuya.
Stopped at Excelsior Cafe for some coffee. We needed the caffeine boost!
A quick glance before heading off.
Back on the escalator. As you might have noticed with the earlier picture, no one is walking in the middle. Weekends.
The Ebisu station ticket gates.
Care to take a guess which train was going where?
We ended up in Shibuya to meet up with some friends and hunt down an ATM that accepted foreign cards. Lesson learnt, Citi ATMs always work for foreign cards.
I’ve certainly learnt a great deal about beer at the museum. Fancy going there yourself sometime?
Related posts... maybe:
- Japanese beer in 4 sizes
- Shibuya #5 Beer
- Japanese sword museum (刀剣博物館)
- Alcohol-free beer
- The Little Prince Museum in Hakone
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i love your posts. i really do. they bring me back to such great memories of japan. of course, i get sad after, being that i miss japan immensely, but its worth the sadness.
what camera are you shooting with? your images are always so nicely balanced with color and light. well done.
Darren´s last blog ..Tom Waits reads Charles Bukowski
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k Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 2:22 pm
Thanks! I’m shooting with a D300. Don’t think of it as sadness. Think of it as anticipation for your next trip! ^^.
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Great pics! I also visited the Yebisu Beer Museum a couple trips to Japan ago, and had basically the exact same experience. It looks like they have miniaturized the glasses they use for the tasting set these days, though – they had full size glasses when I went, which made the set by far the best deal there (and a really cheap way to get drunk). One other thing about the beer there – it is all fresh, brewed that same day and trucked over from another, still-functional brewery in Tokyo that morning. I thought it was some of the best beer I’d had.
Jeff´s last blog ..My guilty pleasure… again
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k Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 2:26 pm
oh! didn’t know about full size glasses being used for tasting sets! but yeah, the beer there was just awesome!
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I agree with Darren, your photography is great. Do you do any image corrections with Photoshop or similar program? Can you share some tips?
ProtocolSnow´s last blog ..London vacation part 2
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k Reply:
July 11th, 2009 at 2:49 pm
Thanks man. But you’re pretty good yourself too. ^^.
Although I use Aperture to manage my photo library, I don’t really do any post processing except for the occasional boost in saturation or change in exposure levels. When out taking shots, I usually look at the histogram after every shot and play around with exposure settings until I get the shot I want. ^^. Hope that helps.
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Great post Ken, beer tasting is fun. I am a cheap drunk so I probably will be done for after the tasting set. Love the photos from the ultra wide angle lens. I am so itchy…..
Kam´s last blog ..Gundam Books
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¥2 beer? Man, if it’s still that cheap I’m going to buy an entire factory.
RyoBase´s last blog ..How well do you know Brüno.
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Cool post and pictures!! as a german with a “bierbauch” I have to check this one out when I get to Tokyo! =)
chrishimself´s last blog ..Bright Tradeshow FFM 2009
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k Reply:
December 29th, 2009 at 1:21 am
When are you coming to Tokyo?
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