Sapporo is a wonderful beer. In Brisbane you can get it in a can (650ml) or you can get it in a bottle (334ml). The bottle is the real deal, brewed in Japan and the can is a filthy impostor! The can (like so many beers now) is not made in it's country of origin, it comes from Canada. Now i love Canada. I have spent a bit of time there and drank some really good beer, especially from Quebec but this beer is not Sapporo. The difference between the can and the bottle is MASSIVE!
I am not going to write about the can version i just wanted to warn you.
I am going to call the bottle version 'draught' because that's what it says on the bottle. This is a very clean, fresh crisp beer. There is, like most Japanese beers a nice rounded malt flavour but it is very well balanced and so damn crisp. The bitterness is perfect and the finish dry without being clawing. There are signs of fruit and hop but its all so subtle and well put together that's its hard to taste anything other than refreshment.
I dare you to drink just one of these. I also dare you to start drinking beer that comes from its country of origin because no matter how exact the ingredients are, the water (which is 90% of the beer) is never the same and the taste is always dramatically different. Beware of Stella, Becks, Asahi, Kirrin, Heinekin just to name a few!!
Dan
