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Buying Beer Online

Tired of going to bottle shops or liquor discount stores only to find nothing but standard beers from the big brewers and a whole lotta happoshu?

You know the scene. Big bottles of sake from every part of Japan. Enough varieties of whisky to make a Scot seep salt water. Wines from places you cannot pronounce. But ... only one or two dusty bottles of overpriced Belgian or German beer, and not a single Japanese microbrew to be found.

Well, don't fret - there are plenty of great imported beers and Japanese microbrews out there, and they're available for home delivery. Here are dozens of online sources for beer shopping, including several good ones in English. Orders can generally be handled online, with payment by credit card, bank or postal transfer or COD.

[Note that web pages may shift and links expire, so if a link doesn't work we suggest you try the top page of the site, or a Google search.]

English-language Shopping

Here are a handful of breweries and importers that offer online shopping pages in English.

The selection includes a variety of seasonal packs and year-round packs.
The full line of Ezo Beer and Rogue Ales, plus a few Scottish ales and Belgian beers
Orca mostly carries wines from Washington and Oregon, but they have a few selections from Redhook Brewery in Washington State.
Two organic Wolaver ales are available from this online and mail-order health-food shop

General-purpose Beer Shopping Sites

This site lists thousands of beer offers (cases, gift sets, and individual bottles). You can browse by clicking on the beer categories. Searches are also possible but must be typed in katakana -- which can be a problem with Belgian and German names. On the Rakuten site, you need to register once with your credit card information; thereafter, you simply need to log in and do not need to re-enter information.
Similar to Rakuten Ichiba, the Yahoo! Japan Shopping site offers a smaller selection of beers. Searches may be typed in and sorted according to price.
A good selection of Japanese and world brews
A good range of Belgian, German, and U.S. brews
Six Japanese microbrews delivered to your door each month for 3,000 yen.
Wide variety of Belgian styles & others (German, UK, Irish, Dutch, Canadian, US, and various Asian beers)
A very limited number of Japanese breweries' offerings.
Several great Japanese microbrews
Online retailer specializing in Japanese microbrews
A variety of Japanese, Belgian, German, and U.S. beers
Many Belgian and German beers
A wide selection of beers from Belgium and other countries (Japan, Germany, USA, Ireland, England, and Australia)
Japanese and world beers
Stocks many hard-to-find beers from several countries
Bargain hunting. Good luck!

Japanese Microbreweries

Many Japanese craft breweries have their own retail web sites. Some work through Rakuten or Livedoor. Below are links to online shopping sites for 1) twenty-one great Japanese microbreweries and 2) dozens of other Japanese microbreweries. (Note: All sites, except Baird Beer, are in Japanese.)

Twenty-one Great Japanese Micros

Other Japanese Microbreweries

Here are links to more than ninety other Japanese microbreweries. Can't find your favorite? Try a search on Google, RateBeer.com, or beeradvocate.com.

[Thanks to Mark Meli for help in compiling these links.]

by Nevitt Reagan, updated September 2009
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