Sapporo Yebisu Black Beer

Pours a dark, reddish brown with a dense, foamy head. The head is light brown. It smells roasty and malty. Has a slightly metallic bite. Slightly lacking in complementary sweetness and flavor.

Draught at The Beer Museum. Black - brown head. Coffee, burned, dryness, ryebread, light body, burned dryness, light caramel, medium hoppy, milkey, lactose.

Pours a ruby black with thin tan head. Nose is weak, carafa, espresso beans, roasted grains. Taste is good for style, a little syrupy, roasty, slightly acidic, with hints of dark fruits.

Appearance: Dark brownish black Aroma: Creamy roasted caramel, soft and slightly sweet coffee and possibly some light floral hop aromas. Flavor: The initial attack offers mild, rounded roasted chocolate, which turns to roasted grain and a medium length bitter coffee finish. Palate: Initial smoothness gives way to bitter grain. Comment: Very pleasant. Medium bodied and medium roasted flavors. As it warmed the aromas and flavors got better up to a point (give it 10 minutes out of the fridge). Moderately flavorful--perhaps a bit thin on the mid-palate (this becomes noticable as it warmed a bit). The modestly bitter finish adds interest and balance. Perhaps the most successful Yebisu.

Can. Tanx to Johan! Pours black with begie-brown head. Aroma is from burnt malt and brown sugar. Flavor is from roasted malt. Medium bodied.

Goodbye Guinness! Hello Creamy Top! After over 40 years of Sapporo selling Guinness in Japan ending abruptly a few months ago by Guinness buying out half of Kirin (and having Kirin take over importing Guinness), you can bet Sapporo is upset by loosing one of it’s key beers! . With that in mind. This new Ebisu Creamy Top taste closer to what I would of expected from Guinness in Japan but has a fuller body and more flavor! You can really smell the roasted malt in the nice thick creamy "top" foam that stayed till the end of the taster I had on tap. The caramel taste isn’t really there as the taste is mostly driven by a roasted dark malt taste. Dry stout like after taste too. Overall I’m quite impressed for such a major brand stout and would prefer it over the regular Guinness if I had to choose. But this wont be on sale till July 2009 or so. Can’t wait to try it again!

Not quite up to the suntory dark malts, this is still decent for a major. Dark roasted malts for a smooth drinking lager

On tap at Lion in Kyoto 01.21.09. Opaque black ruby, off white head. Aroma is malt, caramel, soy, hops. Flavor is smoky, metallic, pine, sweet malt.