Saturday 10 January 2009

Review: Yebisu Black Beer

Yebisu Black Beer from Sapporo Breweries, Ltd.
Rating: B-

Purchased at a Shanghai supermarket. I was impressed with Yebisu's "The Hop" and thought I would give this "black beer" a shot.

Appearance: Pleasant dark leather in color, clear with red tints. One finger khaki head with modest retention.

Smell: Aroma is less roast, and more vegetable. Faint hints of coffee.

Taste: Flavor is better than the aroma, reminiscent of a schwarzbier. Caramel, roast, and coffee but lager-clean.

Mouthfeel & Drinkability: Medium body, mild carbonation. On the whole, not nearly as good a beer as The Hop. Moderately drinkable.

4 comments:

Ivor Biggun said...

I think it's modelled after a German or Munich schwarz, so good call on the schwarz bier.

Birusuki said...

Which supermarket in Shanghai did you find Yebisu Black? I've been looking for it all over town. Thanks!

Hunter said...

I am pretty sure it was in the Jiu Guang in the basement of Jing'an Temple (that grocery store is Japanese-run) but this was years ago so obviously no guarantees that it's still there :)

Birusuki said...

With effervescent anticipation I ran over to FreshMart in the basement of Jiu Guang near Jingan Temple. The supermarket is still there, but one of the workers said they stopped importing Yebisu about 6 months ago. I didn't see any Sapporo either. So sad.