Sleeman up for grabs

detritus · Post by **detritus** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:17 pm

Looks like Sapporo is the lucky buyer:

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/servlet/ ... iness/home

-Josh

Hamilton Brian · Post by **Hamilton Brian** » Fri Aug 11, 2006 7:21 pm

Well, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

Rob Creighton · Post by **Rob Creighton** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 10:09 am

It's the best possible answer for jobs in Guelph. This seems to be the minimal impact option but I wonder if the Japanese influence will help clean up the ridiculus number of brands and skus they have.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 11:09 am

I'm elated Mol-coor-batt did not get their hooks on it...kind of disappointed Grolsh did not make an effort to bid stronger or take a partnership, but we shall see what Japanese management in the Canadian beer markets will yield.... Maybe a Sapporo version of Morimoto imp-pils made by unibroue?

Tapsucker · Post by **Tapsucker** » Sat Aug 12, 2006 9:00 pm

I hate to say this to a crowd of beer lovers, but those cool Sapporo cans would probably get me drinking Sleeman if they switched to them.

I could care less for the clear bottles, they were marketing and styling. The cans, now that's great design and the beer doesn't have to go bad!

Philip1 · Post by **Philip1** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 2:17 pm

I tried a Sapporo can about a year ago and thought the quality was not as good as the bottles (brown, not clear). Mind you the bottled product isn't all that great either but it's an acceptable enough session lager.

In addition to concerns about Unibroue beers I'd like them to keep the Sleeman IPA (the only 'Sleeman' name beer I purchase - approximately one 12 pack every month or so). It's not the best IPA in the world but at least it isn't so insanely hopped that I can't drink more than a couple. (I've spent the last few weeks on Whitehawk IPA, Harpoon, and other US brews that taste great and original at first but grow tiresome very quickly). Where I live there isn't a great variety of brands so Sleeman IPA has become one of my regulars along with Trois Pistoles and Samuel Adams which is distributed by Sleeman. If they stop these beers there'd be no reason for me ever to return to TBS as virtually everything else on its shelves is Euro-lager or Molbatts.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:26 pm

Well I have to break ranks with all you Sapporo drinkers.......O have a very poor opinion of their beer primarily because in all the bottled and canned product I have sampled I have never tasted a fresh Sapporo......the brew's falvor profile is so utterly flat from whatever homoginization or serilization process they use on export product, and the fact that retailers let it sit for ages on shelves....when I think Sapporo draft, I think bland and stale. The Canned beer wasn't much better IMHO.

I wish I could taste a fresh Sapporo so I know what it really tastes like

Perhaps they will try to remedy this North American import trait by Brewing in Guelph???

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 4:40 pm

pootz wrote:I wish I could taste a fresh Sapporo so I know what it really tastes like

Perhaps they will try to remedy this North American import trait by Brewing in Guelph???

I thought they had been brewing Sapporo in Guelph for years now.

Or maybe they just brew it for the US market, and import from Japan from the Canadian market?

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 5:40 pm

GregClow wrote:
pootz wrote:I wish I could taste a fresh Sapporo so I know what it really tastes like

Perhaps they will try to remedy this North American import trait by Brewing in Guelph???
I thought they had been brewing Sapporo in Guelph for years now.

Or maybe they just brew it for the US market, and import from Japan from the Canadian market?

As far as I know Sleeman was a distributor as thay are for Pi;sner Urquell ans Sam Adams...all Sapporo distributed to the NA market is brewed in ol' mother Nippon AFAIK.

burgermeister · Post by **burgermeister** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 9:38 pm

pootz wrote:
GregClow wrote:
pootz wrote:I wish I could taste a fresh Sapporo so I know what it really tastes like

Perhaps they will try to remedy this North American import trait by Brewing in Guelph???
I thought they had been brewing Sapporo in Guelph for years now.

Or maybe they just brew it for the US market, and import from Japan from the Canadian market?
As far as I know Sleeman was a distributor as thay are for Pi;sner Urquell ans Sam Adams...all Sapporo distributed to the NA market is brewed in ol' mother Nippon AFAIK.

Sleeman's has been brewing Sapporo for the North American market for 2 or 3 years. Check any can of Sapporo purchased locally and you'll see that it's brewed by some brewery in Guelph.

GregClow · Post by **GregClow** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 10:29 pm

burgermeister wrote:Sleeman's has been brewing Sapporo for the North American market for 2 or 3 years. Check any can of Sapporo purchased locally and you'll see that it's brewed by some brewery in Guelph.

Thanks for confirming that I'm not imaging things.

As extra confirmation, The Beer Store lists Sleeman as the brewer of Sapporo - http://www.thebeerstore.ca/Beers/brandd ... sp?id=3825 - but they do not do so for Sleeman distributed brands, like Urquell - http://www.thebeerstore.ca/Beers/brandd ... sp?id=2044

And now that we're discussing it, I remember a conversation I had with Joe at Smokeless a couple of years back, when he told me that they'd dropped Sapporo from thier menu because it was no longer a true import.

pootz · Post by **pootz** » Sun Aug 13, 2006 11:26 pm

burgermeister wrote:
pootz wrote:
GregClow wrote: I thought they had been brewing Sapporo in Guelph for years now.

Or maybe they just brew it for the US market, and import from Japan from the Canadian market?
As far as I know Sleeman was a distributor as thay are for Pi;sner Urquell ans Sam Adams...all Sapporo distributed to the NA market is brewed in ol' mother Nippon AFAIK.
Sleeman's has been brewing Sapporo for the North American market for 2 or 3 years. Check any can of Sapporo purchased locally and you'll see that it's brewed by some brewery in Guelph.

Hmmmm... could be... the last Sapporo I had was in Alberta a few years ago and it said imported on the can.

Belgian · Post by **Belgian** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 2:51 pm

Hamilton Brian wrote:Well, it'll be interesting to see how this all plays out.

I wonder what Maudito will taste like brewed out of rice and seaweed?

I really respect the refined ways of the Japanese but I don't see any overlap with the very Belgian/French sensibilities of Unibroue. Oh well, not my company to run. If attached to these beers, buy a decade supply very soon.

PRMason · Post by **PRMason** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:16 pm

The Japanese consummer is quite knowledgeable in affairs of the beer. I hope that their brewers are too. Unibroue is the jewel in that crown and if all the hype about Japanese business acumen is true they'll know enough to leave it alone.
Its encouraging to see that their focus will be on the premium brands and not on the discount lines, which may be sold off or discontinued.

Hamilton Brian · Post by **Hamilton Brian** » Tue Aug 15, 2006 4:20 pm

So does this mean goodbye to Upper Canada?

Further to Unibroue, why can I go to Premier and find more from Unibroue than here in Ontario?