Craft Beer Taproom Near Me at Mount Takao: CRAFTROCK Taproom by Takaosanguchi

CRAFTROCK Taproom sits on the ground floor of HAKUEI36SPOT III at 2292 Takaomachi, Hachioji, three minutes on foot from Takaosanguchi station at the end of the Keio Takao Line and five minutes from Kiyotaki, the lower station of the Mount Takao cable car. It is the mountain outpost of CRAFTROCK Brewing, the Nihonbashi brewery, and the beer comes from the company's own Takao plant. For hikers searching craft beer taproom near me at the end of a trail, this is the one built for muddy boots: wooden benches, a standing counter and fresh beer about an hour from central Tokyo.

CRAFTROCK Brewing started in 2019 inside a brewpub in Nihonbashi and is run by Steady Works, the company behind the Craft Beer Market bars. Its stated mission is to link craft beer and music, and it still runs a live stage in town. The Takao site is the outdoor side of the business. The company describes the taproom as a base camp for outdoor lovers and beer lovers, a place for a send-off pint before the climb or a reward pint after it.

The brewery behind it is newer still. Tsubasa Sakamoto, who joined Steady Works as a graduate in 2020, became plant manager in 2025 when the company built its CRAFTROCK TAKAO36 brewery. He describes the beers he wants to make as clean and easy to drink in any setting, but with enough body to satisfy, which suits a glass after several hours on a mountain path.

The taproom pours a rotating choice from CRAFTROCK's range rather than a fixed list, so the board changes with each batch. The brewery's core beers give a sense of the style. Drink All Day is a 5.0 percent Kölsch with 20 IBU, light and slightly fruity from its Kölsch yeast, and the one to order after a long descent. Ocean Avenue is a 4.5 percent session IPA hopped mainly with New Zealand varieties.

Alternative IPA is the flagship, an American IPA at 6.0 percent and 95 IBU with a grapefruit-bitter finish. Joy Hopposites, a double IPA at 8.0 percent made with Adam of the bands Joy Opposites and FACT, is better kept for the train home than for the start of a climb. Head brewer Ryo Suzuki, who began his career at DevilCraft in 2011, describes the house goal as dry, clean beer you want a second pint of.

The food is lighter than at the Nihonbashi pub. The kitchen bakes bread in house with its own yeast, and the signature dishes are that bread and seasonal deli plates put together by the chef. It is the kind of menu that works as a late lunch for walkers coming down from the summit or as a snack for anyone waiting for friends at the station.

The room is fitted out in warm wood. You can settle on a bench with a group or stand at the counter for a single quick glass, and the brewery leaves the choice open. The company frames it as somewhere to swap stories from the hike with friends or to sit alone and listen to the woods, which is about as honest a description of a mountain taproom as any.

Three rules catch people out. The taproom is cashless only, and it does not take cash or QR code payments, so bring a credit card or other cashless card that works in Japan. There is no parking at the shop. And it is closed on Mondays and Tuesdays; when either of those days is a public holiday it opens and closes on the next weekday instead.

On the days it is open, hours run from 11 am to 7.30 pm. That early close is the important one for hikers. If you plan to come down the mountain in late afternoon in autumn or winter, aim to reach the bottom with time to spare, since the doors shut at 7.30 pm, long before most people are ready to call it a night. Reservations and enquiries go to 042-673-6773.

The station to aim for is Takaosanguchi, the end of the Keio Takao Line and the main gateway to the mountain. The taproom is three minutes on foot from that station and five minutes from Kiyotaki station on the Takao Tozan cable car, which climbs partway up the mountain. That puts the bar on the natural route between the trains, the cable car and the trailheads, so it fits the start or end of a day without a detour.

The company itself describes the trip as about an hour from central Tokyo. That makes a simple day plan: a morning train out, the cable car or a trail up, lunch on the mountain, and a pint at CRAFTROCK on the way back before the 7.30 pm close. Leave the car at home; with no parking and plenty of beer, the train is the better plan anyway.

If you have already been to CRAFTROCK Brewpub and Live in Nihonbashi, expect a quieter visit here. The city pub seats 140, serves barbecue ribs and loaded fries and puts on bands at the weekend. The Takao taproom is about bread, benches and fresh air. Both pour beer brewed by the company in Tokyo, and the company describes them as two sides of the same idea: the city's energy in Nihonbashi, and the mountain air in Takao.

For anyone collecting Tokyo brewery taps, Takao is the one that also gets you out of the city. Remember the Monday and Tuesday closure when planning: a Wednesday to Sunday hike is the only way to end the day here, and a public holiday Monday shifts the closed day to later in the week.

Address: CRAFTROCK Taproom, HAKUEI36SPOT III 1F, 2292 Takaomachi, Hachioji, Tokyo. Phone 042-673-6773. Hours: 11 am to 7.30 pm. Closed Mondays and Tuesdays; open on public holidays, closing the next weekday instead. Cashless payment only, no cash or QR code payments. No parking. Three minutes from Takaosanguchi station on the Keio Takao Line, five minutes from Kiyotaki station on the Mount Takao cable car.