Sapporo Classic

Brewed by Sapporo Breweries
Style: Pale Lager
Tokyo, Japan

Serve in Dimpled mug, English pint, Lager glass, Shaker

UPDATED: JAN 6, 2011 Can. One of the best Japanese beers I’ve tasted. The flavour is mildly sweet, the aroma is subtle and inviting. This beer is only sold in Hokkaido.

Sampled from a 500ml can purchased at the LCBO. Pours a bubbly yellow, yellow, yellow. Smells a little of hops. Tastes a little grain and grass.

Pours pee pee golden yellow with a foamy, very typical head for the style. Aromas and taste are as follows: grassy/straw/cheap white bread/ever so slight hoppiness. I’m pretty sure I proclaimed "Yay Japanese Budweiser" as I drank this as a 2 for 1 special at a Japanese restaurant. But really, comparing this to Bud is an insult.

Nice beer. One of the best that came out of Asia along with Tiger Beer and San Miguel. Not much difference among the three. The only advantage of Sapporo is that it came from Japan. Sometimes, quality is influenced by where a stuff came from. Crisp, Golden color, smooth, better than Budweiser which has a more bitter aftertaste

Can. Not much aroma. Pale yellow, collapsing head. Actually ok mouthfeel, sparkly and chewy, grassy hops on straw malt. Quite ok.

Appearance: Straw yellow. Aroma: Interesting earthy and floral hops. Flavor: Moderate hop bittering and carbonation initially dominate the mild malt which shows some apple/pear/grapefruit and grain flavors on the mid-palate. Soft bittering hops carry through the finish Comment: The hop/malt balance is better than many all malt Japanese beers in that hop bittering isn’t hidden by sweet malt giving the impression of being a bit drier. The downside is that the malt is a bit thin, though I prefer this to sweeter beers that lack bitterness. A good tingly carbonation combined with the hops make this an OK, light summer lager. A bit better than I expected.

Can. Brewed in Hokkaido, and only available here. An all-malt lager. Light golden color, usual. A nice, full-malt, slightly sweet aroma. Fruity with decent hops in there. Very fruity, slightly sweet, full malt flavor, with decent hops. Pretty nice tasting beer. Better malt flavor and fruitier than Ebisu, with less hops than it has, but still ok. It is reminiscent of Sapporo Black label, but lighter, hoppier, and with the a full malt taste. Not bad at all for a regular ¥207.

Tin, 500ml in a Chinese Restaurant in York. Yellow gold with fizzed white head. Firstly its great to seek out an unexpected rating, it takes the edge off even bad beer, and this is bad. Corny with wet cardboard notes, super cold to cut through the hot spices. Time and place I suppose.