Rock-Bottom Izakaya Sells Draft Beer for 150 Yen — 5ch: ‘They’re Using Tanrei Kegs’

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A 5ch thread blew up over how ultra-cheap izakayas advertising 150-yen draft beer actually turn a profit. One poster revealed the trick: “It’s ‘draft beer’ because they’re using kegs of Tanrei” (a low-malt happoshu, not real beer). Meanwhile, a photo of a 400-yen block of cold tofu (hiyayakko) at an Osaka izakaya sparked a debate over whether it was a rip-off or a fair price.

1Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:48:24.55ID:ID:AuChgPtV0
How the hell do places like that even turn a profit?
6Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:50:14.15ID:AuChgPtV0
>>2
Guess that's really how it is, huh?
But then there's food too — like 50-yen chicken skin skewers!
79Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:28:30.17ID:DS/mME0y0
>>6
Wonder how Shintendai packs 'em in like that? 190-yen beer and 50-yen skewers are tempting, but once I went, once felt like enough.
82Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:30:45.86ID:9cyxaHDP0
>>79
How's the taste?
Seems too cheap to be any good, so I've never actually been.
83Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:31:55.62ID:Y5El8DJY0
>>79
The potato salad — the kind that's a pain to make yourself — is actually great there.
If you're drinking a lot, all-you-can-drink ends up cheaper anyway,
so it's probably mostly young or casual drinkers.
The Toriyarou chicken-izakaya chain is similar, but some of their locations actually ban anyone over 40.
11Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:52:29.39ID:6ERWZCph0
That's because they use kegs of Tanrei —
that's why it's technically "draft beer" (really happoshu, a low-malt brew).
17Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:54:18.50ID:0sPLYLKC0
>>11
Whoa
so that's the trick behind it.
20Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:55:56.36ID:5GliCefB0
Beer's gotta cost like 30 yen at most to make.
25Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:58:11.34ID:coaWWLOs0
>>20
Just the liquor tax alone on a regular glass of draft is about 70 yen.
22Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:56:44.73ID:/j5o7UWv0
There was a place by Shimbashi Station with 190-yen beer that was packed every day — it went under though.
81Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:30:42.53ID:DS/mME0y0
>>22
Shintendai? There's one in Yurakucho too.
23Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 19:57:11.11ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>13
That's just your bias talking. There's no way cold tofu costs 400 yen, right? Well, that's exactly the point — plenty of à la carte items and dishes really are overpriced rip-offs.
44Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:05:39.85ID:0sPLYLKC0
>>33
Lol, you're just trying to flex that you drink at fancier places.
80Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:29:57.33ID:DS/mME0y0
>>44
Ugh…
where do you even normally go drink then?
54Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:14:47.46ID:FP89noJb0
>>53
I mean it as a price that doesn't match the going rate.
Don't nitpick my wording so much.
57Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:16:26.59ID:UNpdTX7R0
>>54
Ordering something you yourself think is overpriced makes no sense.
Do you even realize what you're doing? lol
60Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:17:51.33ID:FP89noJb0
>>57
Sometimes you pay for something even while thinking it's not worth it, just going "eh, whatever."
A little wasteful spending is the spice of life too.
63Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:19:17.37ID:0UvBFEKU0
>>60
Fair enough, but then don't call it a rip-off.
66Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:20:59.99ID:FP89noJb0
>>63
A rip-off price is a rip-off price.
Everyone ordering it knows it's normal for an izakaya but outrageous anywhere else — no need to call it out.
67Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:21:14.81ID:9cyxaHDP0
>>63
If something costs a few dozen yen to make and doesn't even need cooking, but they charge 500 yen for it, sure, some people are gonna call that a rip-off.
If you don't see it that way, fine, that's your call.
65Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:20:30.81ID:rg92J+1Q0
Real pros pick places with all-you-can-drink in the 1000-yen range.
Actually, you don't even need beer to be on the menu.
69Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:21:48.70ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>65
So what, sake or highballs instead then?
70Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:23:01.51ID:9cyxaHDP0
I'm a beer guy, so I can't go with the cheap all-you-can-drink plans.
Forcing myself to drink chuhai instead kind of defeats the purpose anyway.
74Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:25:30.32ID:rg92J+1Q0
>>70
Some places say "beer" on the menu but actually serve Kinmugi (a cheap happoshu brand) instead.
In that sense, an all-you-can-drink deal that actually gives you bottled beer is a godsend.
71Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:23:46.04ID:rg92J+1Q0
>>69
Highball and more highball.
Green tea highball or chuhai works too.
If you just want to get drunk, the cheap sake in the all-you-can-drink deal does the job.
75Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:25:38.71ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>71
Honestly, I drink highballs too these days. At the end of the day, it doesn't really need to be beer.
72Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:25:00.19ID:wLJa1/7d0
Honestly, there are way more cheap places to drink in central Tokyo.
77Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:26:32.59ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>72
Right? Chains like Hidakaya feel cheaper to me.
78Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:28:18.08ID:rg92J+1Q0
>>72
Exactly this.
Teketeke and Toriichizu are unbeatable.
85Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:32:49.87ID:DnrE7NsY0
Some chains have corporate contracts that get them beer wholesale at a discount.
89Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:36:21.77ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>85
Places like that actually tend to taste pretty good too — I guess the consistency is exactly why they can land those contracts.

Oh wait, we're talking chains here. Well, with chains, because of those contracts, other stuff on the menu tends to end up surprisingly pricier, doesn't it?
98Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:48:24.25ID:pp5jJmXl0
Still, I think drinking out is better — at the very least, if you pass out, someone will be there to deal with it.
108Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:58:35.97ID:DS/mME0y0
>>98
Guess I don't even feel the urge to drink that much anymore…
111Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:59:10.21ID:MDdSJlX10
>>108
Yeah, right…
that's a young person's game.
112Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 21:00:02.06ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>108
Nah, you should still go out — don't you want snacks that taste better than what you'd make yourself?
100Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:49:51.30ID:CGAiMXJE0
The 120-minute all-you-can-drink was only about 2500 yen, but I ended up spending 7000 yen total.
I envy people who can just drink without eating.
103Anonymous2026/08/19(水) 20:51:22.92ID:pp5jJmXl0
>>100
Wait, seriously? The drink plan doesn't come with food?

*This article is excerpted and summarized from the 5ch (Live News G board) thread “You know how there’s sometimes an izakaya with like ‘150 yen for a draft beer’!?

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