I drank this for science

Sapporo Extra Move

Brand: Sapporo

Price: 200 yen

Place of purchase: Belx

Rating:

One of the widely available Japanese brews in my home country is Sapporo. I was familiar with the beer before my Japan sojourn, and I occasionally drink it here. It's your standard, simple, beer with a bitter finish. Sapporo Extra Move is the latest version of Sapporo's Black Label. It was released in limited quantities in March 2025. It's brewed with Sapporo's proprietary malt, Umasa nagamochi bakuga. This version has a little more umph. It pours golden with a foamy head like you expect of Japanese beers. The umami and bitter finish make it a decent "drinking beer".

I had low expectation because after all, Sapporo is one of the major (standard) breweries in Japan. However, this is a reasonably priced beer with a little more flavor than the rest of the pack. And now, it's time for Science! Sapporo's product information says that their scientists produced the "umasa nagamochi bakuga". This is long-lasting barley flavour. Sapporo beer researchers developed a barley mutation that eliminates an oxydizing enzyme. No LOX-1 enzyme means no carboardy weirdness. This beer has a little more character than the standard.