Buying Beer Online - bento.com review

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.

Baird Beer

The selection includes a variety of seasonal packs and year-round packs.

Ezo Beer

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.

Tengu Natural Foods

Two organic Wolaver ales are available from this online and mail-order health-food shop

General-purpose Beer Shopping Sites

Rakuten Ichiba Beer Site

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.

Yahoo! Japan Shopping Beer Site

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.

Asaya

A good selection of Japanese and world brews

Beer Cafe Ueda

A good range of Belgian, German, and U.S. brews

Beer Festa - Beers of the Month Club

Six Japanese microbrews delivered to your door each month for 3,000 yen.

Beer House Ken

Wide variety of Belgian styles & others (German, UK, Irish, Dutch, Canadian, US, and various Asian beers)

Brewers Direct Shop

A very limited number of Japanese breweries' offerings.

Craft Beers.jp

Several great Japanese microbrews

Good Beer

Online retailer specializing in Japanese microbrews

Hiromatsu Shoten

A variety of Japanese, Belgian, German, and U.S. beers

Kawachiya

Many Belgian and German beers

Kiya - Belgian Beer Japan

A wide selection of beers from Belgium and other countries (Japan, Germany, USA, Ireland, England, and Australia)

Shinanoya

Japanese and world beers

Sugaya

Stocks many hard-to-find beers from several countries

Yahoo! Japan Auctions

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.

Aqula

Chateau Kamiya (Chateau Beer)

Coedo