Sapporo Light Beer offers 8.5g carbs and 119 calories per 12oz of beer. It's about 4% alcohol. How does this Japanese beer measure up to other low carb options?

Sapporo has an interesting history. Founded back in 1876, it was first run by a Japanese man who was trained in Germany. While many still think of Sapporo as a "Japanese" beer, as of 2006 it bought a Canadian company and brewing operations for North America moved. The bottles of Sapporo I've found in the US are generally brewed in Ontario, Canada. This latest one in my hand was brewed in Wisconsin. I imagine they still use the "Traditional recipe" created in Japan, but then I do wonder how much of a beer's flavor comes from the local waters.

So, then, how does this beer taste that's made from a Japanese recipe in an North American location?

The beer is mild. It has mild flavors, a mild color, a mild finish. There's maybe a hint of flavor, but I think if you ate any sort of food at all with this the food would win out. You would have a sense that you were drinking "a beer like substance" without getting strong flavors.

For many drinkers, that's good enough for them. They just want a beer to drink with their meal. If you're more of a heavy, full-flavored person, then you'll probably not be very pleased with this beer.

But on the up side, there's only:

119 calories
carbs 8.5g
fat 0.0
protein 0.9g

But even with that being said, there are many other low carb beer options on the market that are in the same "mild flavor" category that have lower calories and carbs. If you're going for a gentle experience, why would you ingest double the calories and double the carbs for not much improvement?

What's funny is I used to tend toward having Sapporo when I was out at Japanese restaurants, so I could have an "authentic Japanese beer" along with my Japanese food. Sort of like drinking Italian wine with a veal ravioli. However, now that the beer isn't even made in Japan any more, I've lost that inclination. Now I'll just go with sake instead.

So certainly if you enjoy the flavor of Sapporo, and it stands out to you as different than other flavors, then enjoy. We all have different taste buds. We all have specific things we crave. But if you're just looking for a general low carb beer to enjoy with your food, I'd say there are other, better options.

Low Carb Beer Comparison Chart

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