Batsuji Brewing

Batsuji Brewing opened in July 2021 as the first full-scale brewery in central Sendai. It occupies the ground floor of the Shin-Sendai Building in Ōmachi, part of the CROSS B PLUS complex, and takes its name from Bashō-no-Tsuji, the nearby crossroads where the Ōmachi and Ōshū Kaidō routes met and which was once the city's commercial heart. The project behind it aims to build a local community around beer brewed on that spot.

The brewing tanks are on view from the bar. The house style leans hazy: past releases listed by the brewery include a Session Hazy IPA, a Double Dry Hopped Hazy IPA, a Milk Shake Hazy Pale Ale with mango and grapefruit, an American pale ale and a banana-scented weizen. The best-known local touch is the Zunda Hazy IPA, a Tohoku collaboration made with zunda, the sweet edamame paste Sendai is known for. The brewery says its beers use Ibuki hops grown in Tōno, Iwate. When BeerTengoku reviewed the bar it counted eight taps, six house beers and two mainstream lagers, with a flight of three 120ml pours, small and regular glasses, and growler fills.

The bar is part of a brewery restaurant with room for about 60, no table charge, free Wi-Fi and a non-smoking room. Menus are mainly in Japanese with some English headings.

It is about three minutes on foot from Aoba-dori Ichibanchō Station on the Tōzai Line and roughly ten from JR Sendai Station, which makes it an easy first stop in the city centre. Published hours have been evenings on weekdays and from late morning at weekends, with Wednesday closing, but they can change, so check before visiting.