Nestled on one side of the cosy confines of the Mandarin Orchard hotel’s fifth floor lobby is Craft Beer Bar Takumi, a relatively new beer bar that sees some of the more interesting Japanese craft beers available in Singapore on tap.

Craft Beer Bar Takumi – opened by craft beer importer Eastern Craft Trading, the same folks behind Singapore’s first Japanese beer-focused bar JiBiru over at nearby 313@Somerset – takes up a small bar counter in front of Bar on 5 at the hotel’s lobby that carries around 6 beers on tap as well as a small but well-curated bottle list. The beers are mainly from Japan – Eastern Craft Trading, after all, is Singapore’s largest importer of Japanese craft beers – hence you’ll mainly find beers from Hitachino Nest, Shiga Kogen, YoHo Brewing, on tap at any point in time.

But what sets Craft Beer Bar Takumi from other beer bars, and even from its sister outlet JiBiru, is that it tends to carry slightly rarer and more limited-edition beers from those Japanese breweries. Its recent Shiga Kogen and Sankt Gallen tap takeovers saw some special seasonal beers poured, while a Hitachino Nest one witnessed brewery co-founder Youichi Kiuchi present for the tapping of a couple of rare barrel-aged beers.

“Our regular patrons over at JiBiru tend to prefer easier drinking beers due to its outdoor environment, so we decided that we could put more of our rarer and possibly more challenging beers at the cosier Craft Beer Bar Takumi,” says Eastern Craft director Jeremy Reynolds. “Our barrel-aged beers also compliment the offerings over at Bar on 5, which is focused on their whiskies.”

Once in a while, though, you’d also find other beers from non-Japanese brands that Eastern Craft brings in, such as Fourpure and St Austell from the UK, or even those from local microbreweries (we once spotted a summer ale from local gypsy brewer Crossroads Brewing).

Beers are also decently-priced considering its Orchard Road hotel location and the artisanal nature of the product. Full draft pints are generally under $18, and during happy hour the price of a pint clocks in under $15. Bottle prices vary from $16.50 all the way to $58 for a premium barrel-aged beer.

Craft Beer Bar Takumi is located at 5th Floor Lobby, Mandarin Orchard Hotel, 333 Orchard Road.

 

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