This is it, the final stop on the Asia-Pacific series, and this one is especially for me. I always have mixed feelings about the brewery articles because they’re rather self-indulgent. So viewers should feel free to skip past this one and wait until the next series begins because I’m being selfish.
These snippets exist primarily as a memory jog for me. I’ll enjoy reading through this page again a few years from now. Nonetheless, I did manage to capture eight new breweries in far-flung locations to add to my list and my map. I’m pretty proud of that. Perhaps this makes these a little more special than some of the other brewery articles.
Waikiki Brewing (Honolulu)
I’d actually been to a Hawaiian brewpub on a previous trip but that was something like twenty years ago. So my visit to Waikiki Brewing Company was long overdue. And yes, it was located in the Waikiki Beach area of Honolulu as the name implied (map), although it does have other locations too.
I could walk to this one from my hotel and that made it the perfect choice for my first brewery of the trip. The setting was about what one would expect in touristy Waikiki. No complaints though; the workday was done and I was indeed playing the tourist.
Kona Brewing (Honolulu)
On the other hand, I didn’t go to the original Kona Brewing location in Kona — that’s on the Big Island and I was on Oahu — so instead I selected their brewpub at Hawaii Kai on the outskirts of Honolulu (map). Being just a few miles from Waikiki made a big difference. It felt more like a local hangout, if indeed that’s even possible so close to the city. Nonetheless it felt good to grab dinner and a refreshing beverage on the lanai overlooking a tropical marina as ocean breezes cooled the air.
Kona Brewing distributes to the mainland too; it’s probably the biggest or at least the most popular Hawaiian brewery. So this was a good one to add to the list.
Beer Kobo Asakusa (Tokyo)
I had no idea what to expect of Japanese brewpubs or how many I would actually visit. Fortunately I was on the cusp of a pleasant surprise in the Tokyo area. They were fairly common and easily accessible on the extensive Tokyo metro. My first success occurred in the Asakusa neighborhood on a rainy Saturday while we explored Senso-Ji Temple. I hadn’t expected to find a brewery but it was a chilly day, we were wet and I was probably getting a little cranky from walking around all day. So I typed “Brewery” into Google Maps on a whim and learned we were just a couple blocks away from Beer Kobo‘s Asakusa location (map).
We found a table on the second floor and entered an interesting fusion of Japanese meets Old English Pub. Imagine an oasis of 1960’s Yardbirds, Beatles and Cream along with imperial pint glasses and a darkened interior. It felt a little disorienting although it offered a wonderful respite after several hours of Tokyo crowds. After this, I had no problem convincing our traveling group to try other breweries.
Spring Valley Brewery (Tokyo)
Spring Valley was probably the most Americanized of the Japanese breweries that I experienced (map). I mean, even the name seemed completely American — any town in the U.S. could have a Spring Valley and it would feel completely logical. The building itself looked like it had been plucked from a gentrified corner of Brooklyn and dropped into Shibuya. It also felt, dare I say, more “corporate” than the other Japanese breweries. However, the robot that rolled up to our table with our dinner was a definite Japanese twist. I’m not sure whether it was actually quicker or more efficient but it was certainly more memorable.
Beer&Ebisu (Tokyo)
On the other hand, Beer&Ebisu felt quintessentially Japanese. First, I felt proud of myself for even finding it (map). That’s because it was on the second floor of a nondescript building, accessed only by an elevator, with only a single tiny sign outside to mark its identity. The place itself was pretty small too and it definitely catered to locals. However, we didn’t have any trouble ordering and it turned out to be one of the better dining experiences we had in Tokyo.
Far Yeast Brewing (Tokyo)
I tried one more place, feeling pretty confident in our abilities to navigate the Tokyo Metro by this point. I love a good pun and “Far Yeast” seemed like an exceptional name for an Asian brewpub. There are several locations from what I could gather although the one closest to us was in Tokyo’s Shinagawa City (map). It sat below the tracks of the elevated Ikegami railway line, which only added to the ambiance.
Patrons have to order food and beverages using an app which was interesting because I can’t read Japanese. Nonetheless, the app also had lots of pictures so we fumbled our way through and figured it out.
Magpie Brewing Co. (Seoul)
I didn’t visit the same number of breweries in South Korea although I did manage a couple in Seoul. First came Magpie Brewshop in the Yongsan district (map). This was a cozy place, just a bar top and a couple of tables. But that’s just a taphouse for a much larger production brewery located elsewhere. From the gist of their website it sounded like Magpie started as a tiny operation a decade ago and grew into a much larger enterprise. I loved the little alleyways in Yongsan and enjoyed the stop at Magpie.
Dragon Hill Brewing (Seoul)
Then we got to Dragon Hill, perhaps the most unusual brewpub I encountered during the trip (map), and maybe ever. Right off the bat, it is not easily accessible to the general public. That’s because it’s located on the grounds of U.S. Army Garrison Yongsan. So if you can’t get on base you can’t get to the beer. It’s the house brewery of the Dragon Hill Lodge, a hotel owned by the U.S. Department of Defense.
Dragon Hill beers are served at the onsite hotel bar, a place called Bentley’s Pub. It’s completely Americanized and payments are made in U.S. Dollars rather than South Korean Won. Patrons are primarily active and retired members of the U.S. military, their families and those traveling on official government business. I was a bit dubious about whether brewing actually happened here but there was equipment in place and they even made a YouTube video about it.
Articles in the Asia-Pacific Series
- Oahu: Honolulu Waterfront
- Oahu: Beyond Waikiki
- Japan: Tokyo Temples and Tourists
- Japan: Exploring Tokyo
- Japan: Farther Afield
- South Korea: Seoul
- South Korea: The DMZ
- Postscript: Interesting Signs
- Postscript: Brew It
See Also: The Complete Photo Album on Flickr
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