Dark, chocolately, and fruity

Yebisu Creative Brew

Brand: Sapporo

Price: 290 yen

Place of purchase: 7-11 convenience store

Rating:

Sapporo Breweries's brand of Yebisu Beer has turned out a half-dozen beers in the Creative Brew series. These are beers made by young brewers with big ideas. This beer, Kokareko, a dark lager, is brewed with domestic and imported malt and hops. It pours quite dark, but you can still see the far side of the glass. Sapporo says this beer has a roasted cocoa and citrus flavor profile from the hops. It has a chocolatey and subtly fruity aroma. It's a nice approximation of a dark German beer with a suitably bitter finish.

I've tried a number of Sapporo Breweries's Yebisu Beer Creative Brew series beers. I'd say that this one is the best I've had. The big breweries don't really do proper dark beers, but this "pre-moru", or premium malt beer, has a distinctive flavor profile. The other beers in the Creative Brew series are a bit samey-tasting. This beer has a surprisingly pleasant flavor. The weird thing about these beers Sapporo doesn't indicate what variety of malt and hops is used, or where they originate. It leaves you guessing what's in it.