Happoshu… THE DEATH OF BEER in JAPAN!!!

Just arrived in Japan and decided I’d give the dreaded happoshu beer a try. I’ve had over 1,500 different types of beers (rough estimate) over the last 10 years, so when I heard of happoshu beer I decided I’d be best to stay away. BUT…. being in Japan and being an advocate of beer I guess the curiosity in me took over.

Happoshu beer is beer that is under a certain percentage of malt. If it goes over say 67% then it goes into a new tier. The difference in price for certain happoshu to “draft” or “Nama” beer is about $3 for a 16 ounce can or $2.50 for a 12 ounce can, but a happoshu that is under a certain malt percentage is about $0.65 cents to $0.90 for a 12 ounce or $1.20 for 16 ounce can.

There is still some cheaper beers out there I’ll try next but this time, I was mildly dis-proven about how bad happoshu is and how other people hype it up…. maybe I’m just getting the decent stuff?