Japanese Microbrew Heaven

Name: 牛虎/Ushi-tora
Style: Beer specialty restaurant
Neighborhood: 下北沢/Shimokitazawa
Website: http://blog.ushitora.jp/

I found this place through a notice in Metropolis, the English-language free weekly here in Tokyo. It's a godsend.

You see, Japanese beer is just fine. There's really nothing wrong with it. Except. It's all absolutely the same. Sapporo, Kirin, Asahi, and Ebisu are all light lagers, and they all come on basic, dry, and lite varieties. And in Japan, it's unheard of to stock something that's not one of those four.

Sure, occasionally a bar will "branch out" and stock a light lager from Mexico (always Corona) or Europe (usually Heineken). But outside of the "Belgian Beer Bar" specialty bars (which are cool, don't get me wrong), there's very little of the sort of tastier, hoppier, or more full-bodied beers I grew to love living in Northern California.

Thus, when I saw "over 100 beers" in the description of this Shimokitazawa establishment, I knew we had to go. One night after an installment of the Kurosawa film festival, we stopped in.

It lived up to billing! Of course, most of the 100 beers were in bottles, but in fact about 17 were on tap including, unheard of for Japan, 3 India Pale Ales! I was in heaven since IPAs are my favorite type of beer and are unheard of here.

The next pleasant surprise was that the food was yummy. It's pretty much the kind of small food orders available at many Japanese eateries, but very well-prepared and a couple dishes were standouts.

To finish off the evening, we tried a small glass of their Brandywine. If you've never tried a Brandywine before, they're a treat (my friend John Brown used to brew his own). It's a sweeter and *much* stronger beer; the name is because of the strength. Delicious, although it made a head-clearing walk home pretty much di rigeur.

Like most places in Shimokitazawa, Ushi-tora is easy to get to but hard to explain how to get to. The top right link on the website is the map, be sure to print it out and bring it along; Ushi-tora in on the second floor of a building, entrance from the balcony.