Experiencing the giant copper brewing kettles and historical exhibits at the Sapporo Beer Museum

On Day 3 of our Hokkaido self-driving trip, our first stop was the Sapporo Beer Museum. In the past, when we traveled with tour groups, we never had the chance to visit this place. This time, since we were driving ourselves, we decided to finally come and take a look. What we didn’t expect was that the traffic around the museum was quite heavy, and we accidentally drove past it. We immediately turned into a small side street, turned around, and drove back to the museum’s parking lot.

There are parking lots on both sides of the museum, but cars need to queue to enter. Luckily, on the side where we were waiting, a car exited fairly quickly. Even so, we still waited about 20 minutes at the parking entrance before we were able to park. After getting out of the car and walking toward the Sapporo Beer Museum, we noticed that two cars that had been queuing on the opposite side at the same time as us were still waiting and hadn’t entered yet. Parking here really depends on luck.

Originally, we wanted to see the red brick exterior of the building, but unfortunately, the exterior was under renovation, so we couldn’t view it properly. However, the interior looked quite nice. Inside, there is a huge Sapporo Beer glass display that visitors can take photos with. Admission is free. After using the restroom, we went straight up to the third floor.

We took the stairs to the third floor and saw the massive copper brewing kettle. This kettle was used during the beer brewing process to boil the wort and add hops, which create bitterness and aroma. It has a diameter of 6.1 meters, a height of 8.5 meters (10 meters at its highest point), weighs approximately 13.5 tons, and was manufactured in 1965. It was used until 2003.

The museum also features many exhibits introducing the history of beer production, along with historical videos and scale models of buildings from different eras.

Every exhibition area records the history, production methods, and development of Sapporo Beer, as well as the ingredients used in brewing.

In addition, the museum’s marketing is quite impressive, with many famous celebrities shown enjoying Sapporo Beer. No wonder Japanese people love having a beer after a long day of work. Downstairs is the Star Hall, where visitors can line up for beer tastings. Since we were driving, we didn’t drink any alcohol. After that, we left the museum and headed to our next destination, Shiroi Koibito Park.