During my recent trip to Hokkaido, I focused mainly on Sapporo and Otaru, cities known more for their culinary delights and shopping than historic landmarks. Since Sapporo has fewer historic spots compared to Kyoto, most of this trip was about eating and shopping—which I didn’t mind at all! In this regard, the Sapporo Beer Museum, especially the premium tour, was a great touristy activity.
Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour Reservation
We reserved the Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour online four days in advance. I was able to grab one of the few seats available for Friday, just four days before. The weekends were fully booked, so if you’re interested, be sure to make a reservation early!
FYI, you can also look inside the museum for free. However, the free option is not guided, and you don’t get any sample drinks. (You can purchase them though)
The premium tour(1,000 Yen) includes…
- A guided tour (the tour is in Japanese, led by a Japanese guide)
- Two free glasses of sample beer + a small snack
- You need to rent the guided tour audio device (available in English/Korean) for an additional 500 yen
So, in total, we paid 1,500 yen per person. You don’t pay at the time of reservation but instead pay in cash once you arrive at the museum (cash only!).
You need to arrive at the museum around 10 minutes earlier to pay for the tickets, get your badge, and rent the audio device.
When I read that the tour is guided in Japanese but that you can use your own guided tour device in English (or Korean for me), I couldn’t quite imagine how it would work. I’ll describe it in detail below!
Sapporo Beer Museum
We arrived about an hour before the tour, so we had plenty of time to walk around and check out the surroundings.
The Sapporo Beer Museum is actually a large complex of several red brick buildings like this one.
But don’t worry! You’ll easily spot the Reception sign for the main museum building.
The rest of the buildings are mostly restaurants, and the photo above is the inside of one of them. They have an All-You-Can-Eat Genghis Khan, so if you don’t have time to hunt down one of the great Genghis Khan restaurants in the city but still want to try it, the restaurant in the Sapporo museum is definitely worth a try! I heard the wait time here is shorter compared to city restaurants, and the quality is quite good.
You’ll also find directional signs pointing to different buildings.
And here we are—the museum shop! I usually love museum shops more than the museums themselves, haha.
They had various things to eat, like spices and sauces…
And of course, cute items… Shima-enaga, a subspecies of long-tailed tit affectionately known as the “snow fairy,” is like a mascot of the city. So, you’ll find lots of cute merchandise featuring this bird around, including in the Sapporo Museum Shop!
They also had t-shirts…
I almost bought one! But since I don’t drink at all and already have too many t-shirts, I decided against it.
This one was so cute as well.
They also had various Sapporo beer cans! Sapporo beer cans, including the Hokkaido-exclusive Classics, can be easily found in any convenience store in Sapporo, so we didn’t buy any here.
Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour Check In
We arrived 30 minutes before the tour time and entered the museum building.
- Hours: 11:00AM～6:00PM（Last admission 5:30 PM）
- Holidays : Every Monday (or on Tuesday if Monday is a holiday), year-end/New Year, irregular closings
- *On days when the museum is closed, only free tours are permitted. (except December 31 and temporary closing days
It was great that they had coin lockers.
The lockers take a 100 yen deposit, but it’s refunded when you finish using the locker, so it’s free.
There are stamps and papers available.
Once you’re inside the main hall, show your reservation email, pay, get your premium tour badge, and rent the audio guide device.
Then you’ll be guided upstairs to the 3rd floor (an elevator is available).
Since we arrived way earlier than the tour start time, no one else was there yet. There are chairs in the waiting area, and people, along with the guide, will arrive on time. There is a maximum of 20 people per group.
There are some signatures… I don’t know who they belong to though, haha.
You can also see the various sizes of Sapporo cans and bottles.
There’s a big screen, and once the guide arrives, you’ll gather around the screen and receive an introduction to the tour.
This is what the audio device looks like. It’s an ASUS phone device with a one-sided earphone. The audio plays automatically with the written script displayed on the screen as you move through different sections.
The Japanese guide says the same things that we hear and read from the device. Even though I couldn’t understand Japanese, the guide always made eye contact with everyone, including foreigners like me. I was impressed by that.
Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour
I couldn’t take a photo, but the first step of the tour starts in the theater, where you watch a short film about the history of Sapporo Beer. It was interesting to learn how the beer industry was driven by the government as part of Hokkaido’s economic growth. The story of two young men struggling to make the best beer while learning from Germany was also captivating.
You then go downstairs past a huge beer tank that was used until recently.
The tour continues by visiting each section of the museum, organized by era. The audio device keeps explaining, but if you prefer, you can also find a large translated pamphlet with visuals in your desired language.
It was fascinating to see the history of the beer industry and the evolution of the labels.
The old bottle designs were classic and vintage. I thought the old label designs were pretty cool, like Starbucks’ old design.
One of the most intriguing stories was about why Hokkaido became famous for beer and why people enjoyed cold beer in the region, even in winter. I won’t spoil it—you might find it interesting during the tour! 😉
There was also an opportunity to smell the hops, the main ingredient of beer.
Walking past the historical ad posters of Sapporo beer, the tour finally reached the last stage.
Walking down to the beer tasting hall…
Sapporo Beer Museum Premium Tour Beer Tasting
Now for the fun part! Each participant gets to try two glasses of beer (the old-style beer and the modern style). I don’t drink, but there were several options for non-drinkers as well.
I chose the Sapporo Premium non-alcohol beer and corn tea.
We also got snacks—chips flavored with Soup Curry!
The above are the beers.
And these are the corn tea (cold) and non-alcohol beer. The corn tea was surprisingly very good.
But that wasn’t the end! The guide shared tips on how to drink Sapporo beer for the best experience, and we could follow her instructions. I was surprised to see the foam ratio was quite high.
The guide also asked for volunteers to drink the beer she poured, and people played rock-paper-scissors to pick a winner. The winner shared her feedback, and it’s a shame I couldn’t understand Japanese.
While the guide explained, I tried to take note of her instructions, but you can also find a mini pamphlet by the counter, so no worries!
Sapporo Beer Museum Shop
Once the tour is over, there is another museum shop inside the museum this time.
They had some interesting items, including Pringles in Scallop Butter Soy Sauce flavor. They also had the Soup Curry chips that we had during the beer tasting session!
Lastly, there’s a cute photo spot by the restroom, so don’t forget to stop by for a fun photo 😉
Conclusion
I think the premium tour was totally worth it. For just 1,500 yen, I learned so much about the beer history of Hokkaido/Sapporo and had a lot of fun. I was initially worried about the tour being guided only in Japanese, but with the audio device, it was fine. While some parts were only in Japanese, I could still get most of the content. If you’re planning to visit the Sapporo Beer Museum and have an hour to spare, I definitely recommend considering the premium tour!