Tokyo Beer Gardens: better now than summer.

I have not been to one in ages, and am going to one this Friday with people from work.  Now this ain't Munich... not that I've been to Munich.  At least it is outdoor drinking, even if it's swill and the usual over-salted bits of dreck.  This is the season to go: before rainy season and the hell that is July and August.

Here's a few English sites I have come across, but they are limited:
- "Guide to Summer Beer Gardens"
- "Top Five Summer Beer Gardens"
- "Alternative Beer Gardens"

The Japanese links here are far more comprehensive: you can try Google Translate for laughs.

より大きな地図で 東京都内ビアガーデンMAP を表示

I ended up on a patio near work Friday, as my boss owed a few of us a beer so have not been to those that follow; however, these are open now, whereas most are not open until July and August, when it is frankly too hot to enjoy.  That is to say, before rainy season Tokyo has a Toronto summer; after, a hellish one. I have found one on the Tobu building in Ikebukuro that's open, but doesn't look like much.  The next website's information's a year out of date, so do more research to be sure, but in Shinagawa this one.  This one's in Hibiya Park, and looks cool, but recall it reviewed as wildly overpriced.  Another at Yurakucho, and at Ginza. There are many more, even some others open already.

As an afterthought, another link: "Tokyo's best craft beer bars".  I can vouch for Popeye's and Devil Kraft.  I'll point you away from Craftheads (overpriced), Delirium (overpriced and Belgian lambic beers served ice cold!) and Craft Beer Market (cocks expected my brother and I to huddle over a barrel-head by the door when every table was still empty).  I mean to try:
- Harajuku Taproom

- Goodbeer Faucets (Shibuya)

- Shimbashi Dry-Dock

- Swan Lake Pub Edo (Kyobashi)

- Watering Hole (Shinjuku)

- The Aldgate (Shibuya)

- Ushitora (Shimokitazawa)