Murmur Biiru Stand The Bottom Line
While the beer at Murmur Biiru Stand is not world class, or anything to really rave about, it does offer up a nice little spot to have a couple of beers after a hard day’s walking, while chatting with some friendly locals too. While it is primarily a standing bar, there are some chairs to pull out if the bar isn’t too busy. The whole place is non-smoking, has free Wifi, and offers up a few bits of food here and there to nibble on. There is also the chance to get some beers to takeaway as well in plastic cups if you are so inclined – though I don’t know how the locals feel about people walking around with cups of beer.
Murmur Biiru Stand The Full Review
Nikko is a funny little place. Not “haha” funny and not even “weird” funny – but funny in that it is clearly aimed towards tourists, but actually lacks a lot of things for tourists to do outside of the temple. I’ve been to Nikko numerous times, and enjoyed the temple and hikes, but often found myself a little bit bored once the sun has gone down and shops have closed too. But I found myself in Nikko a few months back with family, with them wanting to visit some onsens but me not wanting to go. It’s not that I don’t like onsens but an onsen in the middle of the day is a recipe for sending me to sleep. A friend had told me about Murmur Biiru Stand a year or so ago, and it was open. Off I went, with son in tow as he also didn’t want to have an onsen either.
Murmur Biiru Stand opened in August 2017 and is, at the time of writing, the only craft beer brewpub within central Nikko – something that is quite surprising as the area is popular with tourists, both Japanese and from overseas. It’s located on the main road of Central Nikko as you walk up to Toshogu Shrine, but when you’re doing so much walking, this little bit more won’t hurt you. Inside there is space for about 20 people standing around various tables on the 1st floor, with another floor upstairs for seats. There are about 10 seats upstairs with some standing room too. I didn’t get the chance to go upstairs as I was with pet but both floors are non-smoking and have no table charges. The 1st floor does have some bar stools to sit on though if you are so inclined, and there is also a small standing area outside the front of the store onto the street. Guess where I was drinking?
Murmur Biiru Stand has 6 taps of beer on, with most of those taps dedicated to in-house brews. The beers aren’t going to blow you away with their quality, but they are drinkable and at least representative of the styles. There are also some guest beers on from time to time, but you’d have to keep an eye out on their social media pages to find out. Beers come in two sizes: small (250ml) for ¥500 and large (500ml) for ¥1000. Prices include tax and the beers can be bought to drink in or takeaway. There is no happy hour or any beer flights on at Murmur Biiru Stand but then the prices are pretty cheap for the size of beer you’re getting.
In terms of food, there’s very little on but you are able to bring your food in, if you so wish. The food that they do have is more snack based around popcorn and some sausages. The menus have enough English on them to order but the owner, Sudo-san, was more than willing to show us pictures and explain in English what things were.
Murmur Biiru Stand Details
Open: Sun to Tue / Fri & Sat 12:00 – 22:00 (L.O 21:30)
Closed: Wednesdays & Tuesdays
Happy Hour: None
Phone: N/A
Homepage (in Japanese): N/A
Social Media: Facebook / Twitter
How to Get to Murmur Biiru Stand
The closest station to Murmur Biiru Stand is Nikko station – both Tobu-Nikko and JR Nikko. It’s about a 20-minute walk from both.
