Premium draft from island of Hokkaido brewed with malted barley. Typical Far East pleasantries such as sweet yeast penetration, mild grain influx, and simple hop bitterness lighten its appeal so don’t buy this if you’re expecting a heavily rich stout, ’cause it ain’t one.
SAPPORO RESERVE MALT LIQUOR
Stolid pale body brings wearisome malt-soured rancidity, glutinous rice-wheat murk, corn-oiled ethanol flow and moldy green grape esters to moderated blunt hop bitterness. Dry rice-sugared lemon spritz stays distant and mild whiskeyed barley roast get pasty at the finish. Beware: Canadian version really stinks up the joint.
SAPPORO PREMIUM LAGER
Japan’s oldest brand (now also brewed in Canada) proffers sweet cereal-malted corn sugar contingency deteriorated by inappropriate sharp-hopped metallic pang, gluey honeyed rice pasting and sour Scotch snip. Harsh enzymes mire dilapidated finish of slick golden-cleared lager.
SAPPORO DRAFT LAGER
Light, straw-hued, ceramic cold-filtered pilsner with sharp hopped carbonation, malted grain embellishment, and lemony lick lacks consistency and dense texture of Sapporo Reserve.
SAPPORO BLACK STOUT DRAFT
Odd. An imported Asian dark beer in sturdy 22-ounce gold and black can effectively re-creating Euro draughts. While coffee-espresso bittering and kiln-smoked caramel malting stand out, it’s not particularly thick, rich, or creamy. Still, despite being ultra-smooth, it’s hardy to the bittersweet mocha-oiled finish.
SANTIAGO CERVEZA DE ORO
Palest skunk-scented dry pilsner maintains meager corn-sugared barley toasting and faded caramel malt dash depleted by phenol hop fizz. Soapy lemon dishwater aftertaste sucks worse.
SANTA FE WHEAT ALE
After swigging this astringent orange rind-embittered off-dry ‘wheat,’ you’d swear it was a mislabeled pale ale. Interfering bland tartness and sour acidity lead to its demise, losing candied honey undercurrent in the shuffle.
SANTA FE PALE ALE
Pale ale, my butt! More like half-ass cotton candy-sweetened, sour yeast-embittered German wheat knockoff. To add insult, bittersweet lemony grapefruit summer ale likeness gets lost in fizzy carbolic dissention.
SANTA FE OLD POJOAQUE PORTER
Waterlogged moderate-bodied porter conveys subdued roasted malt insistence to bolster soft-coated mocha creaminess. Pleasantly milder than most in its class.
SANTA FE NUT BROWN ALE
Sappy molasses sweetness embittered by salty dark-roasted phenol hop splotch as mocha-malted cola nut, Brazil nut, walnut and pecan illusions splurge. Avoidance of expected nuttiness at lackluster charred grain finish kills the mood. Go with Santa Fe’s similarly styled Penetentiary Porter instead.
SANTA FE CHICKEN KILLER BARLEYWINE ALE
New Mexico’s first microbrewery succeeds with creamy garnet-hued eggshell-headed 10% alcohol barleywine. Abrupt candi-sugared orange bruise, glazed banana sweetness and dark cherry tang absorb dewy caramel-butterscotch malts as receptive peppery floral-hopped bittering increases. Overripe peach-apricot-pear-grape-apple nuances find a spot in sun-drenched rum-soaked molasses midst. Resinous fig, date, prune sway falters.
(SAN MIGUEL) RED HORSE MALT LIQUOR
Cheap straw-hued 7% alcohol burn coarsens predictable corn-sugared cereal grain sweetness. Suggestive whiskey clip tingles fizzy hop zip to salty bottom. More like a stingy mule than the regal horse pictured on red-white label.