The Fake Beers of Japan - Happoushuu

However fake beer is not good for kids

The subject of the Japanese "fake beer" called 発泡酒う　"happoushuu" has probably been discussed about so many times that it's a bit boring and unimaginative to bring it up here in this usually so groundbreaking blog, but I'll do it anyway, encouraged by the comments in the previous post.

Most people reading this blog might already be quite familiar with Japan and know of this nasty little bastard half-brother of real beer. For the record, I should probably say that I generally like the regular real Japanese beer. The three big brands Asahi, Kirin and Sapporo make quite good light beer comparable with good European brands. When it comes to darker, heavier beer the Japanese have some ways to go though, but I don't particularly mind since I prefer the lighter beer in any case.

The thing here in Japan is that beer comes in a special tax bracket which is a bit higher than that of other alcoholic beverages (I'm not completely sure why this is the case though...). So if comparing a pre-bottled cocktail with a beer with the same alcohol percentage, the beer end up something like 30% more expensive due to the added tax slapped on top. What the sly Japanese beer makers set out to do to work around this tax problem was to brew "beer" with a malt percentage just below the official limit defined for beer and use substitute for malt to cover the rest of the brew. These beer variants are not allowed to be called "beer" as they fall outside the formal Japanese definition and have received the name "happoushuu" which means something nondescript as "sparkling" or "foaming" alchol. Japanese official definitions aside, I think that it could be argued that it's actually beer, albeit low quality as the use of malt substitute distort some of the beer taste. You can read up more here on Wikipedia if you happen to be interested in the history of these type of drinks (hey, some stuff was new to me too).

For a visitor and/or non-Japanese speaker it can be really confusing as these fake beers look deceptively like regular beers and have product names as close to something beer sounding as possible. All the big beer makers carry a large fake beer portfolio, sometimes with can design very similar to their more premium quality beer cans. The big give-away is of course that the price is considerably lower (about 150jpy for a fake beer while the real deal goes for 230jpy for a 330ml can).

"So, what's the problem then?" you might think. Well, let me tell you what the problem is, although the quality of the fake beers has considerably improved in the last decades (ten years ago they were pretty foul), they still carry with them an aftertaste that you don't get with real beers and they give a hangover that's not in adequate relation to the amount of beer consumed (granted, this might have been improved upon in later years without me knowing since I avoid the fake beer like the plague since many years back).

When I have guests over at the salaryman base of operations, I always make a point of buying the real deal and not cheaping out with fake beer. The problem is that sometimes when visiting friends you get these fake beers shoved on you with the words "here Salaryman, have a beer!". Sadly enough, it seems like these fake beers have become the norm for most people at home and the times I get offered a real beer is getting more and more rare... Thankfully you still get served real beer at restaurants and bars, even though some extremely cheap "drink as much as you want" sometimes are suspected of not serving the real deal...

As a Salaryman, it goes without saying that I like beer (it's almost a requirement) and I try to stay as far away as possible from these fake beers as I can. Sure, there is a smaller financial gain in switching to the fake beers, but before I do that there are other less essentials corners that can be cut, such as lowering the quality of toddler Sunshine's food and removing non-essentials such as Mrs. Sunshine's massage therapist and her visits to the hair salon. It's all about priorities and I've got mine straight!