Best-of list · Craft Beer
The 6 best craft beer bars in Taipei for 2026, from Taihu Brewing and 23 Brewing to Zhangmen, Jolly and the always-busy On Tap. Our full editorial guide.
The short answer
6 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
Taiwan ended its state beer monopoly in 2002, and Taipei spent the next two decades turning that freedom into one of Asia's sharpest craft scenes. These six bars are where the city actually drinks, from tiger-logo taprooms to a British pub that never empties.
Taihu (臺虎) is the first name every Taipei drinker reaches for, and four taprooms across the city earn it. Taiwan Obsessed rates the award-winning IPA over the experimental tomato-plum gose, while the Driftwood branch in Ximending pours around 20 rotating taps under tiki decor. Head to the Dongmen Gyoza Bar for dumplings and highballs. It fills up after 8 PM.
Full listing & hours →Three American friends built 23 Brewing, and the label now pours at bars across Taiwan. At 23 Public in Da'an, every beer arrives with a card listing its ABV and IBU, and the room moonlights as a record shop. Order whatever wild card is on, like the Sichuan-peppercorn Queer Trash. Doors open at 3:30 PM, and the Maji Square Music Room runs later with DJs.
Full listing & hours →Brass Monkey has held down Fuxing North Road since 2003, opened by Taipei friends who survived the 2002 Bali attacks. The taps pour craft beer next to burgers, pizzas and sausage platters, and the week fills with Tuesday salsa and Thursday ladies night. This is the expat sports-and-pints crowd, loudest on game nights and after 10 PM on weekends.
Full listing & hours →Jolly pairs house-brewed beer with Thai food, a combination that outlasted most of Taipei's first post-monopoly brewers. The lineup holds five regulars, a pilsner, pale ale, Scotch ale, stout and weizen, plus a rotating sixth. Nick Kembel of Taiwan Obsessed admits the beer trails newer rivals, but says the kitchen alone earns the trip. Best for groups who want dinner with their pints.
Zhangmen (掌門) runs five Taipei taprooms, and the original Yongkang Street brewpub still packs out on weekends. Expect around 16 house taps, from a 5.5% Vienna lager up to a 16% green-plum beer. The Breeze Songgao branch swaps the crowds for a fourth-floor deck facing Taipei 101. Smokers get a roomy entrance patio, so ask for a seat away from the door.
On Tap is the British-run pub Taipei expats default to, open since 2011 near Zhongxiao Dunhua. The draught list leans British, the screens carry live football, and the patio fills fast on match days. Taiwan Obsessed calls it the city's best British-style pub and notes it stays reliably busy. Come early for a table, or settle in at the bar.
Full listing & hours →