Sapporo Black

Formerly brewed at Sapporo Breweries
Style: Schwarzbier
Tokyo, Japan

A great schwarzbier, with big flavor and waay too easy to drink. On draft at Kirin City and Sapporo Lion pubs in Japan. I miss it and wish it was available in North America.

Can. Pours dark with a beige head. Aroma of roasted malts, hops, coffee. Flavor is sweet, roasted, coffee, chocolate, and slight bitter hops. Good body, decent brew.

(12 oz Bottles) How did this beer get so cloyingly sweet at only 4.3%????? Thick, molasses-like flavors and aromas. Needs some hops to balance this out. Body is quick heavy. That said, it is, indeed rich, choclately, and smooth -- to the point of being overpoweringly so and it misses hops and a certain crispness. Drink too many and you’ll know what cloying is.

When is a stout not a stout? When it is a schwarzbier of course. The inspiration for Sapporo Black Stout Draft didn’t come from Ireland, it came from Germany. "Black Beer" is popular in Japan, most if not all major Japanese breweries do this style. What is schwarzbier? Its a dark lager that has its roots in the eastern part of Germany, similar to Munich dunkles, but a little darker in color, with some roastiness as well. German brewers were brought over to Japan in the 1800’s to show the Japanese how to brew beer, and they brought their recipes with them. I lived in Japan for a year, and was drinking "black beer" 14 years ago, before I really understood what I was drinking. Being a stout drinker, Sapporo Black was a natural choice for me. But this beer has more in common with a Kostrizer, or even Sprecher Black Bavarian, than it ever will have with Guinness. This is a very good example of schwarzbier, and is a very smooth, drinkable, dark lager. Sapporo Black pours to a deep brown/black color with a nice white head, and a good bit of carbonation. The nose is quite malty. Good dark malt aromas, with a touch of roast, and balancing hop aromatics. The palate is firm, dark chocolate, coffee, and roasty flavors. This beer is a lager, so it is very smooth, round, and clean. This beer finishes malty up front, then leads into a quick, dry, bitter finish. This is an excellent "black" beer as the Japanese like to call it. It is a great tribute to a style that is under done, even in Germany. It has a cult following in Japan, and I was a member of that cult, and still am. Look for this beer in your area, its well worth seeking out. I would match this beer with smoked and grilled meats, or Mongolian BBQ.

very nice for a japanese beer bette than many other imported beers. Good taste and nice color.

quite tasty for an asian beer. (damn, i am asian) nice flavor, and a very cool can.

A very tasty dark beer, I loved the flavor, and the aftertaste was nice too, not what I expected from a Japanese beer, but I loved it, even if it was canned, nice beer

Had with Chinese food at a real Chinese food. My friend’s girlfriend ordered in Chinese, so we got the freshest food in the place and had cooked traditionally. Anyway, I had this after I’d already had a few drinks, so my recollection might be kinda hazy. That said, I enjoyed it and thought it went really well with the Chinese food. Came in a really big can, though. Toward the end, it was getting fairly warm- it still wasn’t bad, but it was better when it was cooler in the beginning.