Sapporo Breweries

Sapporo has five breweries in Japan.[8] The first, Sendai Brewery, was opened in 1971 in Natori, Miyagi, and was among the first to use a computerised brewing system.[9] Shizuoka Brewery in Yaizu was opened in 1980,[10] Chiba Brewery in Chiba was opened in 1988,[11] Hokkaido Brewery in Eniwa, Hokkaido was built in 1989,[12] and the Kyushu Hita Brewery was opened in Hita, Ōita in 2000.[13]

Sleeman Breweries was purchased by Sapporo Brewery in 2006 for $400 million.[14] Sleeman was restarted in 1988 in Guelph, Ontario, Canada by the great grandson of John H. Sleeman, the owner of the original Sleeman brewery founded in 1834.[15] The first Sleeman brewery ceased operations by 1933, when their liquor license was revoked for bootlegging, specifically, smuggling beer into Detroit, Michigan. The company's current products are based on the family's original recipes, and recipes from Unibroue (which brewery Sleeman had previously purchased). Sleeman Breweries / Sapporo Canada currently consists of four Canadian breweries: Sleeman in Guelph, Ontario, Okanagan Spring in Vernon, British Columbia, Unibroue in Chambly, Quebec, and Wild Rose Brewery in Calgary, Alberta. As of 2017, Sleeman Breweries also owned 4.2% of The Beer Store.[16]

Sapporo beers are brewed, canned, and bottled for Sapporo Brewing Company by City Brewing Company in La Crosse, Wisconsin, for Sapporo U.S.A.

On 3 August 2017, it was announced that Sapporo Breweries would acquire the Anchor Brewing Company.[3] In June 2022, Stone and Sapporo announced that they had reached an agreement for Sapporo to purchase Stone Brewing for $168 million, with the purchase expected to close in August 2022.[17][18] The acquisition has since closed.[19] In July 2023, it was announced that Anchor would shut down and liquidate assets. [20]

The Sapporo Vietnam brewery is situated in Đức Hòa, Long An. Its products include 650 mL cans of Premium Beer for the Australian and Mexican market.[21]

Yebisu (ヱビス, Ebisu) is one of Japan's oldest brands, first brewed in Tokyo in 1890 by the Japan Beer Brewery Company. Through a complicated set of mergers and divisions, the brand was acquired and eventually retained by the modern-day Sapporo Brewery. The brand lay dormant during the post-World War II era, until it was resurrected in 1971. It has been brewed continuously ever since.[26]

Yebisu comes in two main varieties: Yebisu (Premium), a Dortmunder/export lager, and Yebisu Black, a dark lager. There are also occasional special varieties that are limited in distribution area and time. In April 2007, for example, there was a green-label "The Hop" variety.

The modern-day Yebisu is positioned as Sapporo's "luxury" beer label. Sapporo describes it as a beer brand with "a touch of class".[27] It is a 100% malt beer.

A Japan-only yearly "vintage" release

Yebisu is notable in that its Japanese name includes the now-obsolete kana character we (ヱ or ゑ) for the even-older ye reading, an anachronism in keeping with historical kana orthography. This can lead to confusion when romanized, as the "Y" is not pronounced. The Tokyo neighborhood of Ebisu was named for the beer, which was originally produced there, though its name is spelled with a conventional e kana instead of we. The pronunciations of "Yebisu" and "Ebisu" are the same.

Using barley grown from seeds which spent five months on board the International Space Station in 2006, Sapporo created a limited Space Barley brew. The project was a joint one between the Russian Academy of Sciences, Okayama University, and Sapporo. Tasters described the flavour as no different from similar beers, which researchers point to as important in showing that producing food in space for long duration flights is possible. Six packs of the space beer were sold in a lottery system for 10,000 yen.[28][29]