Shinjuku Ale : The Bottom Line
Shinjuku Ale is aimed squarely at the tourists roaming around the Kabukicho area – and if you don’t mind that, then head on over to the bar. However, there are better, and cheaper, bars in the area that offer up a better range of craft beer at better prices. Every little thing in the bar seemed to be aimed at maximising the tourist experience – from photo shoots, to flights of sake, to craft classes, but the beers are solid if not uninspiring. The whole place is non-smoking, has no table charge, and also some free wifi.
Shinjuku Ale : Background
Covid. Seems such a long time ago now, but while Japan was not officially on lock down – it could never have been anyway – bars and breweries suffered. Shinjuku Ale was one of those places that luckily got through the period. Shinjuku Ale isn’t the first brewpub to open in the Shinjuku area, but it is the first in Kabukicho, an area better known for debauched evenings that last through the night, and into the day. It’s also an area that has become famous for the Ryu Ga Gotoku series of games, aka Yakuza, from Sega.
Shinjuku Ale opened in March 2021 and partnered up with August Beer and Usami Brewery to help train the owners. The owners came from the various bars in the area and have no brewing experience, so they were taught by the aforementioned breweries. The bar is located less than a five minute walk from Seibu-Shinjuku station, and also the mess of a station that is JR Shinjuku.
Shinjuku Ale : Atmosphere & Interior
Shinjuku Ale consists of five floors, with B1 being a tourist information centre, the first floor being the bar, the second floor being a counter bar / shot bar, the third being the brewery space itself – which is off limits to drinkers – and then the roof that can be booked out for BBQs and events. We’re just going to take a look at the first floor today as that was the space we saw on the day.
The first floor has space for around 20 people inside, with 6 counter seats, and the rest being various combinations of tables, beer keg tables, and some other smaller tables, inspired by steam punk. There is also plenty of standing room on the first floor and as such, there is no table charge at the bar. The tables did seem a little high for the chairs, and I did feel a bit like a child at an adult’s table. The whole place is non-smoking, and that includes the area in front of the bar, and there is also some free wifi.
Bar : Beer & Tap Information
There are seven taps of craft beer on at Shinjuku Ale, with all of them being brewed upstairs on the third floor. The idea is for drinkers to get the beer as fresh as possible. There are also a couple of taps of macro beers for those wanting to come with their non-craft drinking friends. The beers come in three, very random sizes : medium (400 ml) at ¥1,300, large (1 L) at ¥3,000 and then the XL (2 L or so) at ¥6,000 – talk about weird sizing! There is also a beer flight that gets you four 150 ml beers for ¥2,800 though you can’t choose which beers you get.
Shinjuku Ale : Food & Menu Information
I didn’t get any food on the day at Shinjuku Ale as I had just been to a Korean restaurant up the road in Shin Okubo, but the menus we saw were extensive, and catered for everyone. The menus had enough English on them to order and the prices all included tax too.
Shinjuku Ale : Bar Details
- Open : Daily 11:00 – 04:00 (L.O Food 03:00 Drinks 03:30)
- Closed : –
- Happy Hour : –
- Phone : 03-6205-5970
- Homepage (in Japanese) : https://shinjuku-ale.com/
- Social Media : Instagram
