kenleewrites in 日本

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?