This is incredible, there have been some epic beer ads in recent times but this one from Japan’s Sapporo takes the cake. Called “Legendary Biru”using a seemless collection of digital and live images to create a breath taking video.  That good I think I need another beer – enjoy!

Well after yesterday’s story on Japanese Beer we thought why not have another one. This time its Hoppy. Well it’s not really a beer, in fact it’s nearly alcohol free (0.8%) but it tastes and looks pretty much like a beer.

The beer like drink is actually a distilled beverage and is quiet popular in the izakaya or Japanese pubs where people don’t want to drink too much alcohol. But the drink is sometimes mixed with shochu which is a bit like sake to give it an alcoholic kick; this is very popular in some of the nightspots and karaoke bars.  Hoppy offer a few different flavours of their beverage, including a black bitter and sweet drink which is very like a dark ale and also quite tasty.

There are reports that this beer is no longer brewed by Suntory, we would love some more information if anyone has it.  We bought these two on a recent visit to Japan and found them very refreshing after a long day exploring Japan.  The beer was dry and fairly malty with a sweet nutty flavour. Although there were dark malts used the beer was a bright yellow with very white fluffy head once poured into a glass. Launched in 2005 the beer used corn in its production and it was a low carb drop. The beer was one of the brand’s malt beverages which were not taxed like normal beer, although still 5% alcohol, it was sold quite a bit cheaper than a normal beer. A can in a 7-11 might cost around 110 yen ($1) for a 500ml can where normal beers would sell about 30-40% more.

Japan’s Sapporo Brewery has a wonderful German inspired pils which is available on draft or in bottled form in Japan.  This pils has quiet a tasty bitter hops flavor with some nice rich malts and a distinct floral bouquet. The beer is a warm golden brown and the head is very white and like many of the Japanese beers quiet frothy.  In fact the beer is so frothy if not poured correctly there are instructions for the perfect beer pour on the label of the cans. This beer is in the higher price bracket on the shelves and is not available all year round. Sapporo produce this beer in special runs.  One great beer certainly to be on the lookout for if visiting Japan.

Well we here at Hoppsy cant endorse the don’t drink and drive message enough but sadly (or should we say stupidly) some people still don’t get the message and operate a vehicle with far too much liquor in their system risking their own lives and more importantly others. Well in Japan they are taking an interesting approach with this roadside advertisement we saw recently. Like many of the advertisements in Japan its a cartoon and it features a little guy who has had far to much to be behind the wheel of his vehicle, he’s even got a red nose and is in no state to be driving.  We all love having a beer and usually several- it’s not hard to do the right thing and be responsible!

The Associated Press has just reported what could be North Korea’s first beer Commercial. Running at nearly 3 mins the commercial apparently states the beer is good for stress and healthy thanks to its quality ingredients. Known as Taedonggang Beer the beer is billed as the “Pride of Pyongyang” and is one of the first food product commercials to be run on the state’s TV. Watch the full Associated Press story above or hit the read more to see the full ad in all its cheesy music glory.

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Thought we feature another cleaver beer ad today this time from Thailand’s Cheers Beer. Cheers Beer is made by Thai Asia Pacific Brewery, a fairly young brewer, the company also produce Tiger and Heineken for the some parts of Asia and have produced Cheers since 2005. We haven’t tried Cheers yet but we have had conflicting reports of its taste. It seems there are just as many people who love it as there are who hate it, if your sucking one down now let us know what you think below.

Well while dad is knocking back a few ice cold Christmas beers, its not fair the kids missing out. Well in Japan they can join in too, with this beer like beverage. The beverage looks and tastes like beer but there is no alcohol is actually a apple soda based drink- but kids seem to love it. And there’s even a pink label for the girls and a blue one for the boys- how cool is that.  Check out the video its a lot of fun and there’s a pretty cute snowman in there too!  For a real laugh check out their great website- http://www.sangaria.co.jp  it’s written in Japanese but you will easily get the idea and the music is just ‘great’.  Kampai!

No it’s not our sister site www.happyjappy.com its a happy Japanese guy and his Suntory Beer. I suppose you don’t need a better reason to be happy than have a beer.  Sit back and enjoy the fun!

Yes thats right the Yokohama is the place to celebrate Oktoberfest. German Bier, Sausages, giant pretzels, more bier, Bustly Barmaids (well Japanese ones) and even more beer plus all the things you would expect in Munich can be found at the annual Oktoberfest Celebration in the Japan city of Yokohama. The event started in 2003 and has been a huge hit ever since. It is held at the waterfront at the Aka Renga Soko or old Red Brick Warehouse where huge tents are erected for the event.  This year’s party starts on the 3rd of October and continues through to the 13th.

http://www.nihon-oktoberfest.com/

With the Beijing Olympic Games only a month away we thought we would feature a Chinese beer today. Harbin is one of China’s premium beers, this super premium pilsner style lager has won some pretty prestigious awards including the China Top Brand Award twice. The beer has a interesting fruity aroma which comes from the Qindao Dahua hops which is grown in the remote north western provinces of Heilongjiang. The beer undergoes a long and cold aging process which helps give the beer a really fresh and crisp finish. The beer originates from Harbin which is home to those amazing ice sculptures and castles you see every year. The brewery is China’s oldest dating back over 100 years. When drinking beer with Chinese people it is customary in China to consume beer from smaller “toasting” glasses, using the traditional Chinese phrase: “Gan Bei, ” which means “bottoms up “,or more literally,” dry the glass.” And as we said in the title of today’s story the beer is so tasty, if pandas drank beer this would be the one we think they would enjoy the most.

Trust the Japanese to come up with something so weird- Sapporo Breweries are making a special batch of space beer! Yes, they are brewing beer using barley which are grown from decedents of grain which has traveled to outer space and lived on board the International space station for five months. The team sent just under an ounce of barley into space then planted about a quarter of it when it returned to Earth. This quarter was planted and its crop then sown to produce about 50 kilograms of grain. This grain will end up in the space beer. The test batch will make about 100 bottles, and there are plenty of people lining up to taste it, but we don’t know why. Scientists have tested the grain and found it is no different to grain which has spent it’s life on Earth- well who cares, it will still be tasty Sapporo Beer I suppose.

If you were after a beer in Taiwan prior to the late 1990s you had only one choice and that was Taiwan Beer, a brand made by Taiwan Tobacco and Liquor who was state run and had a 99% market share thanks to strict importing laws. Today things are different with imported beer being allowed to be sold in the country although Taiwan Beer still has a very healthy market share. We are not sure if you can find this one outside Taiwan, they did attempt to export it to China once but Chinese copyright law makers who say you cannot name a product after a region of China stopped the plan from going ahead. It was a strange move strange considering China’s Tsing Tao is named after a town in China. Taiwan Beer has been brewed since 1945 with around 35 million liters brewed each month, the beer has won several international beer awards in recent years. If you have seen this one outside Taiwan hit up our comment form below.

Beer keeps getting a bad rap for all the bad things it is suppose to do to our bodies but Korean brewer Hite has produced a new beer that may even be good for you. Hite’s new beer is named S and is targeted to the Korean youth market, the interesting thing about S is that they have added 0.5g of dietary fiber to the beer. Dietary fiber is known to enhance intestine movement to help people keep in shape and prevent the hardening of arteries by lowering cholesterol in the blood. Hite claim the recommended daily dietary fiber allowance for Koreans ranges from 20g to 25g while the average intake is only about 17.3g. So the best way to rectify the shortfall is down a few S beers a day, sounds like a good plan to me.

The Japanese really know how to automate everything, how’s this flash beer pouring machine. Not only does it hold the glass properly to pour it- it even creates the frothy head Japanese love so dearly on their beer. No longer do you need to wait for the bar tender to meticulously create the head (while you could be drinking it) the machine does it quickly and perfect every time, two at a time. It’s a wonder they have not invented a machine to drink the beer…well there’s an idea!