Japanese

発泡酒: cans of beer, mostly happōshu, for sale in a discount store.

Noun

発泡酒 ‎(hiragana はっぽうしゅ, romaji happōshu)

1. a beer made with less malt by weight than the percentage required to be officially labelled as “beer”, as defined by the Japanese tax code (and thus avoiding the higher taxes on official “beer”)

   Happōshu can be made with malt levels of 0% to 24% of the total fermentable ingredients by weight. Sometimes equated with alcopop, although happōshu is more specific, as happōshu is generally intended to at least resemble beer.

See also

• ビール (​bīru)

References

1. ↑ 1988, 国語大辞典（新装版） (Kokugo Dai Jiten, Revised Edition) (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Shogakukan
2. ↑ 2006, 大辞林 (Daijirin), Third Edition (in Japanese), Tōkyō: Sanseidō, ISBN 4-385-13905-9