@movernie
While I was travelling in Tokyo, Japan, a buddy of mine and one of my followers told me to check out the Spring Valley Brewery. They said that the beer are made in-house and the beer were some of the best they had ever tried. So, that leave me no choice but to check out Spring Valley coz I love beer and if it’s one of the best beers they had tasted, I have to make a run to taste it myself.
It was a 25-minute walking from the Shibuya train station. The weather was beautiful on a Monday afternoon, it was quite a treat to observe the locals who were working or heading to schools. As I walked along the quite side streets, my Google Maps indicated that I need to walk up a slopping hill in order to reach Spring Valley Brewery. It was not bad but definitely a little work out for me.
As I approached the Spring Valley, it was a nice 2-floor building with black walls as the exterior. There were patio tables outside along with dining table inside. Since it was a beautiful day, I opted to sit outside and enjoy the patio experience.
A friendly staff came over and handed me the food and special menu. After examined a bit, I decided to go for a beer flight, which consists of 6 mini size beer samples (the 6 beer samples were selected by the brewery). The server told me that if I just ordered the beer flight, it would be $1300 yen (about $15.10 CDN) or for the special, I could order one of the lunch items from the special lunch menu and the beer flight would be $1000 yen. I tried to look for a lunch item but since I had my full breakfast at Kasa restaurant prior to visiting Spring Valley, I didn’t really have a big appetite for a big lunch set. So, I opted to order the beer flight at the regular price of $1300 yen instead. I also ordered a smoked mackerel potato salad at regular price to complement the beer sample.
After 5 minutes, the server came back with the beer flight and explained to me the names of the 6 beer samples, they had different colours, the beer samples progress from light beer to more concentrated flavour that included a stout. I found most of the Japanese beers very easy to drink, very refreshing and smooth. I am not sure if it is due to the spring water around the mountains or something.
The smoked mackerel potato salad was unexpectedly delightful. It’s so delicious. The texture to the potato salad was smooth and nicely mashed. What I was impressed the most was how the smoked mackerel along with some dill on top created such an impactful aroma and amazing taste that complemented nicely with the potato salad. I was nodding my head a number of times as a sign of approval of what a great decision to order this snack dish.
After I had finished sampling my beer flight, I checked the beer menu and I noticed there was a very unique beer. It’s a wooden barrel-aged beer. The process is by slowly aging the beer in wooden barrels. This process allows for a luxurious beer experience. It also exert a woody, vanilla scents of the bourbon barrels. It wasn’t cheap though, $1100 yen for just a 160ml of the wooden barrel beer. But hey, I have not tried something like it and I really wanted to elevate my taste palette. Go BIG or go home! I ordered one and it didn’t disappoint.
It came in a wine glass and the beer was only filled up about like 1/6 of the wine glass but as I swirled the beer, I felt like drinking a nice glass of wine. The beer had a burgundy colour to it and it looked fruity and very clear in the liquid. It also smelled good and when I tasted it, there was a sense of sweetness and vanilla scent to it. I love it. Although it’s pricey, but I highly recommend it, it’s so different from any other beer and there is nothing like it. I don’t think I have tried anything like this from any other breweries I had visited in the world.
If you enjoy beer and some western style food and snack, be sure to check out Spring Valley Brewery Tokyo.
Spring Valley Brewery Tokyo – Japan
Website: www.SpringValleyBrewery.jp
Address: Japan, 〒150-0034 Tokyo, Shibuya, Daikanyamacho, 13−1 ログロード代官山内
Phone: +81 3-6416-4960 
