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Ozeno Yukidoke - IPA - Gunma Prefecture - 5% - Japanese Pint @ The Cat & Cask Tavern:
Taste: Grapefruit is the major player here, citrus hop flavor with a juicy bitterness, hints of pine.
Smell: Grapefruit, citrus, and hops.
Look: Hazy pale golden, orange/yellow hue, poured with minimal head, some spotty lace lingered about.
Verdict: An American citrus IPA, very similar in style to the Mojo IPA by Boulder Beer Company. This is a highly recommended beer. Could see the grapefruit making this ideal in
Shinga Kogen - 40th Anniversary Ale - Nagano Prefecture - 8.5% - US Pint @ The Cat & Cask Tavern:
Taste: Bitter & sweet; different somehow... a unique taste... it's pine- very sharp & bitter; this is a funky beer, a mash-up of fruits, butter, caramel, a bit of vegetable.
Smell: Sweet, funky mix of ingredients, and alcohol whiffs.
Look: Opaque, red/orange, no lace, no carbonation
Verdict: This is an interesting, though weird beer; I love the high alcohol level, but the beer itself might not have matured quite how they would have liked in taste. Unlike most beers from Shiga Kogen this is a rarity that I cannot recommend, not that its a bad beer per say... get it??
Notes of interest: To celebrate the 40th anniversary of Tamamura Honten (40 years of Sake & 4 years of jibiru), they have released this beer- a specially long-aged version of their House IPA.
Minoh - WIPA (double IPA) - Osaka - 9% - 1/2 pint - @ The Cat & Cask Tavern:
Taste: Layers of sweetness: raisins, dates, sugars, syrups, hint of red wine, hops are present but drowned out- you taste them in the background.
Smell: Honey, syrup, alcohol whiffs, faint trace of malts & hops.
Looks: Almost purple in color, deep violet brown, no head, no lace.
Verdict: Tastes so much more like a barley wine than an IPA. The quality in ingredients is definitely there, but I could never recommend this to someone thirsting for an IPA. This is a nightcap beer with its extreme sweetness and high ABV.
Shiga Kogen - IPA - Nagano Prefecture - 6% - US Pint @ The Cat & Cask Tavern:
Taste: Fresh hops, grapefruit-y, peachy, lightly toasted, medium malts, caramel, dryness, pine, tart.
Smell: Citrus, orange, hoppy aroma.
Looks: Dark amber, deep red/orange; pours with white head.
Verdict: I really enjoy Shiga Kogen, one of my favorite Japanese brewers; they do an American style very good, quality on par with West Coast breweries! This is a great hoppy & potent IPA!
Shiga Kogen - Draft Pale Ale (Harvest Brew) - Nagano Prefecture - 5.2% - US Pint @ The Cat & Cask Tavern:
Taste: Some malt presence, heavier on the hops, grapefruit and other citrus, hints of other fruits, clean & refreshing taste.
Smell: Hoppy aroma with whiffs of citrus, and fruit blend.
Looks: Golden color, very clear, pours with head of which there is good retention, as well as lacing.
Verdict: This is the kind of beer I like, an American-style Ale, heavy on the hops, citrus in place for balance, malt present but in the background. This would fit the American pallet very nicely.
Notes of interest: The DPA is limited to draft only; it uses pilsner malt and four types of American and British aroma hops that produce its strong nose.
Early into my trip, while browsing Metropolis I came across an article on The Cat & Cask Tavern which immediately caught my attention; as a British-style pub in Tokyo serving ji-biru I imagined a potentially interesting place to grab a few pints at. Always being one to thoroughly cross check my references before spending precious beer-money - I ran a quick search and was directed to BeerInJapan.com, a local beer-site also posting a positive article on this peculiar pub. With two inspiring reviews and some spare cash in my pocket I was all ready to get out of the apartment and onto the train to Ikebukuro.
Oddly, The Cat & Cask Tavern is located in a residential area, a setting a far cry away from where anyone would expect a bar to be. As I navigated off the main street and into the residential neighborhood, the street lights faded away and a sense of intrigue crept into my mind; though before I knew it I had arrived, standing infront of an ordinary house with only a small seal representing that this was indeed the place.
Deep breath and open the door...
Immediately upon entering all notions of this being an ordinary house were left outside; what I found inside was an absolutely charming pub!
Owned & operated by the resident of the house, Wayne - a British gentleman who came to Japan in the early 80's and has remained here - realized his life dream of owning a pub only just recently, but obviously the wait was well worth it. Beautifully dark stained wood paneling define the decor which is complimented with wooden tables and chairs. On the walls hang what you would expect to find in a British pub: various posters and mirrors of UK beers, which are decorated tastefully and sparingly to compliment the fresh stain of white painted walls. And notably there there is a coat tree, oh how very English indeed! It's the small details which create the pleasant atmosphere.
While Wayne is master of the bar, his wife, Yuko, works the kitchen and creates the food menu; also notable is Lonnie a neighbor to the pub, loyal patron, and the bar's in-house jazz musican.
The Cat & Cask offers four taps: 3 local japanese microbrews, and the fourth being a mainstream larger serving the purpose of being more affordable and palatable to some. The following is just some of the beers I have had there (i.e. those which I was able to document):
Shiga Kogen - IPA
Shiga Kogen - Draft Pale Ale (Harvest Brew)
Minoh - W-IPA (double IPA)
Shinga Kogen - 40th Anniversary Ale
Ozeno Yukidoke - IPA
Ozeno Yukidoke - IPA - Gunma Prefecture - 5% - Japanese Pint @ The Cat & Cask Tavern: 
Verdict: An American citrus IPA, very similar in style to the Mojo IPA by Boulder Beer Company. This is a highly recommended beer. Could see the grapefruit making this ideal in
