IBREW Yokohama

Five minutes from Yokohama Station's south-west exit (Minami-nishiguchi), on the ground floor of the Annex Yokohama building, IBREW is the Yokohama outpost of a Tokyo chain (Ginza, Shimbashi, Akihabara, Ebisu) built on one idea: a lot of taps at prices that don't punish you for drinking through them. Forty-seven handles, Japanese and imported, sorted into five price tiers: a Basic half pint is ¥429 and a pint ¥759, rising through Limited, Extreme and Ultimate to Special at ¥1,749 a half and ¥2,079 a pint. There is no table charge.

The move is a flight: three 90ml glasses for ¥759, five for ¥1,089, ten for ¥2,189, priced on Basic beers, with a surcharge of ¥100–400 (before tax) a glass as you reach up the tiers. Write the numbers on the sheet on the table and hand it to the staff; single beers are ordered out loud by number and size. Food is bar fuel: small plates from ¥330, pizzas, meat plates, house sausage, fish and chips.

It holds about 80 people including standing room, with counter seats and an open terrace. Cash only, no smoking anywhere, and it opens at 13:00 on weekdays and 11:00 at weekends and on holidays, which makes it a legitimate lunchtime beer stop.