Stand Umineko 3tR

Stand Umineko 3tR is a taproom by Osaka brewery Derailleur Brew Works. Located in Shinsaibashi, its large glass frontage puts its 25 beer taps on full display, making no secret that this is a beer-first standing bar.

With a line-up of all-Japanese craft beer and a policy of opening a keg of something new once something else runs out, the selection keeps moving. There are always crowd pleasers, though, with choices ranging from Derailleur’s own brews to creations by microbreweries across the country.

Their signature dish is a pair of house-made pork buns made with dough worked through with spent grain pulled straight from Derailleur’s own brewing process. These are complemented by a rotating list of snacks perfect for pairing with beers.

Derailleur Brew Works started in 2018 in Nishinari, the Osaka ward best known for the alcohol-fuelled riots of the 1990s and a long-standing culture of drinking from the morning. The brewery’s debut beer, Nishinari Riot Ale, was named accordingly. 

What the headlines miss is that Derailleur is a social enterprise of several hundred employees, many in recovery from addiction, homelessness or struggling with physical or mental disability, and one of the most quietly important beer projects in Japan.

The bright, open bar is just Derailleur’s latest. For a full day out built around the brewery you can head to its sister taproom, Yama no Fumoto – ‘foot of the mountain’ – at Minoh Station on the Hankyu line. About half an hour north of Umeda, it sits right at the entrance to the Minoh Falls hiking trail, a genuinely brilliant excuse to turn a post-hike pint into the start of an evening of good beer and even better standing bars.