I think (!) this was the Bakayaro I had at the Nakameguro Taproom

Had a chance to visit two different Baird Brewing taprooms recently, the one in Yokohama (Bashamichi), and the one in Harajuku. It was really a coincidence that I happened to visit them both in the same week, but who am I to question such an alignment of the stars.

The Bashamichi location has two floors plus a roof garden, but I never saw anything but the first, which just has stools around a bar counter. I visited on a Sunday, around 8 p.m. at night, and there were about 7 other folks downstairs. I had a Lagunitas IPA, which is one of two guest beers on tap (the other was a Southern Tier beer, IIRC), and a limited time only Belgian Ale from Baird. Unfortunately, my visit was at the end of a long day that included a visit to Yokohama’s Oktoberfest, plus dinner and typical draft lager at an izakaya, so I can’t really comment on the quality of the beer. What I can say is that the staff was very friendly and I could see that if I lived close enough, this could easily become my “local”. I could see from the menu that their food selection was geared towards American BBQ, which would have been lost on me (but I was not in mind to eat anything anyway do no big deal).

The menu at the Nakameguro Taproom

At the Harajuku location a few nights later, I had their “Harajuku Ale” (batch 16, fwiw), plus a Suruga IPA and a Teikoku IPA (the included pic obviously not from the same night). Loved all of them, especially the special Ale. And the IPAs were rather better than the bottled versions I have had. After my disappointing visits to a few breweries in America during a recent trip home, it was refreshing (and relieving) to know that those experiences were probably the exception rather than the norm. The Harajuku taproom is just one floor, with tables plus a counter bar, and with food in an “izakaya” style (small dishes of between ¥350 – ¥500 each. One thing about the Harajuku location is that all taps are Baird only, unlike the Bashamichi taproom which features rotating guest taps.

While the Yokohama taproom is a bit far afield for me, it’s nice to have that as an option the next time I’m in Yokohama. As for the Harajuku location, I will most definitely be back.

Some of the guest beers available at the Nakameguro location

Update: Just a few days after writing this up, I was close enough to the Nakameguro location to suggest that to a couple of friends as we finished up at a place in Hiroo. They accepted and I was able to complete the Trifecta of Baird Taprooms located in the larger Tokyo area. Unfortunately there was a large party of over 20 people there (it was a Sunday — I gathered they were part of a large guitar circle of students from Waseda), and there was the Rugby World Cup final on TV at the same time, so it was packed and only seats at the counter available. I didn’t take good notes as to what I ordered, but the Bakayaro Ale was definitely the highlight.