Gremlin

As I’ve reached my adult years I’ve set a goal for myself that regardless of what profession/​career I end up with for my middle-​years, I’m going to do right by my vice and open up a beer pub after I retire, where I’ll serve only beers that my fake beer connoisseur self considers palatable and invite all my friends to drink for free until I either die from alcoholic liver cirrhosis or crippling bankruptcy.
Gremlin so far is probably the closest to being my platonic ideal bar; it’s tucked away within an unsuspecting shopping arcade in the sleepy town of Hatagaya (far estranged from the more populated areas of Shibuya) meaning that most people won’t just happen upon it by chance. The entire operation is manned by Hirotada, a man who fell in love with British beer during his stay in England, and decided to open a little sanctuary to the public house style of drinking so hallowed back in the isles right here in his home town.
This is probably a good segue into how I actually happened upon this amazing establishment;
back in May I took a trip to Hokkaido where I discovered Onidensetsu Kin-​oni, which by my admission is the most well-​hopped and balanced Pale Ale I’ve tried from the archipelago. Fast-​forward a few months to me looking for places where I could possibly try the beer in Tokyo, and I discovered through the brewer’s Twitter that there is a place in Tokyo that not only carries the brew on a regular basis but also serves it from the cask. That’s right, real ale style.
Accordingly, as British beer on cask is somewhat hard to obtain in Japan, the only regular rotators on his three cask engines (that’s right, you heard me – he has THREE) are what is available to him in real ale format, one of which, to my luck, is the aforementioned Kin-​oni. Whereas you’ll hardly ever see all three cask engines running all at the same time due to the fast-​perishing nature of the ale itself, he does have four other regular draught taps that he uses to fill with some of the hottest draught beers available around the archipelago (the week before my visit they even had LIBUSHI on tap.)
Now I could go into a CAMRA-​style rant and wot about why drinking beer from the cask should be the only way beer should be consumed with all the live yeast and whatnot, but I’d bore anyone that’s managed to read this far, including myself. So I’ll just conclude by saying that Gremlin is now my new favorite bar in Tokyo and everyone should check out their Facebook page for the adorably hilarious cat pictures Hirotada puts up everyday along with the tap list.