Repubrew The Bottom Line
Repubrew started out as a craft beer bar that was worth a visit because there wasn’t much in the area. With the recent improvements in its in-house beers, Repubrew has proven itself to be worthy of a visit if you’re remotely in the area. The in-house beers proved to be very tasty and good value for money, with the staff being very accommodating to requests for samples as well. The whole place is non-smoking and there is no table charge either.
Repubrew The Full Review
Repubrew, like many other brewpubs in Japan, started out life as a craft beer bar before getting their license. The bar itself opened in April 2017, and it took a full six months before their first beer was available for drinking. The name itself is a portmanteau of the words ‘republic’, ‘pub’, and ‘brew’ (perhaps someone should have told them that ‘republic’ already contains the word ‘pub’ in it). The brewers themselves come from outside of Numazu itself, with both of them being residents of Kawasaki, Kanagawa. With years of brewing experience behind them, and with help from the local Numazu Industrial Technology Support Center, which is engaged in the creation of yeast, promoted the search for properties in the Numazu and Mishima area.
Repubrew is located about a three minute walk from Numazu station, which is on both the Tokaido main line and Gotemba line. And it’s REALLY easy to miss due to it being located in the basement of a building. If you reach a 7/11 before finding the bar, then you’ve gone too far. As you walk down the stairs and inside, you’re greeted by some gleaming stainless steel tanks and a wide open bar too. There is space for about 10 people at the bar, and another 40 or so dotted around the tables inside. The whole place inside is non-smoking and has no table charge; however, the outside entrance is available for smokers, so make sure you sit away from the entrance if you don’t like smokers.
There are twenty taps of craft beer on at Repubrew, with a split between in-house, domestic, and also imported craft beer as well. The beers come in two sizes: half US pint (240ml) from ¥600 to ¥800, and US pints (470ml) from ¥850 to ¥1250, with the in-house brews being the cheapest, and imports being the most expensive. I didn’t notice any happy hour, nor any beer flights. However, the bar staff were happy to give out some small samples of beers to help make up our minds. When I first tried beers from Repubrew at the Japan Brewers’ Cup in January 2018, I was not impressed. That’s being kind – I couldn’t finish the beer I had been given as it tasted terrible. However, the three beers I tried this time were very tasty and well worthy of praise. All of the prices included tax as well. Moreover, if you find a beer you like, you can get it to take away in a growler.
Because I had eaten at the 7/11 previously – I was guilty of missing the entrance to Repubrew myself so went for some fried chicken at the 7/11 – I didn’t eat any of the food here. However, there is a wide variety of food going, from plates of cheese, to salads, and also pizzas as well.
Repubrew Details
Open: Tuesday to Friday 17:00 to 23:00 Weekends 13:00 to 23:00
Closed: Mondays
Happy Hour: N/A
Phone: 055-939-8877
Homepage (in Japanese): http://repubrew.com/index.html
SNS: Facebook
How to Get to Repubrew
The closest station to Repubrew is Numazu on the Tokaido and Gotemba lines. It’s about a three minute walk from the south exit.
