Discussion class question of November 24, 2001 about "happoushu":
How do you say "happoushu" in English?Happoushu （発泡酒）is peculiar to Japan. I checked quite a few sites on the Net and most of them used the term "low-malt beer" when translating this word into English.
A little more info: Beer sold in Japan is taxed based on the amount of malt （麦芽）it contains. Happoushu, which has a lower malt content than regular beer, was created so that the manufacturers could avoid the higher tax rate of regular beer and thus sell it more cheaply.
Here's one interesting site I found about happoushu: