Hokkaido’s first beer was cold-brewed and referred to as Sapporo Beer, going on sale in September of 1877 in Tokyo. Cold brewing is a German technique for fermenting and aging beer at low temperature. The price was 16 sen per bottle. (1 sen being 1/100th of a yen) The average price of high-quality sake was 4 sen, 5 rin (1 rin being 1/10th of a sen) for a 1.8 liter container. This gives some sense of just how costly beer was at the time. Featured on the label is the Kaitakushi logo, the North Star, which is a traditional symbol of Sapporo Beer.

At the request of the new administrative government, David Penhallow, a teacher at Sapporo Agricultural College, undertook an analysis of the components in Sapporo Beer. He was effusive about its mellow flavor and moderate bitterness. In this way, Sapporo Beer was beginning to make a name for itself among those from overseas, who were accustomed to authentic beer, as well as a new generation of Japanese aficionados. Word of this beer spread to foreign nationals living in Hakodate and Yokohama, and there was growing interest in buying the product on a retail basis in stores.