Asahi The Master All Malts Beer
Brand new! Saw the ad today on the train, and had to give it a shot. This is Asahi’s answer to Suntory’s The Malts Beer. Not to be confused with The Premium Malts, which is not 100% malts, this is a German authentic-style pilsner. It’s got a dark golden color similar to that of a poured Miller Genuine Draft for those unfamiliar with Japanese beer, for those familiar, quite a bit darker than Kirin Ichiban.
The head is foamy and stays up quite a while, overall just a great looking beer when it’s poured. But that is not at all what matters. What makes or breaks a beer in Japan and the world over is the flavor, so lets get to it.
This is a full bodied beer for sure, and what I mean is that the flavor of the malts comes out strong. There is a good bitterness here that, like most Japanese beers, has a clean aftertaste. The aftertaste is a major dealbreaker in Japanese beer styles, most have a pleasant or slightly fruity aftertaste (as is the case here) or none at all. Asahi Super Dry is a well known beer sporting the lack of aftertaste. It goes down easy, but it is better to savor than pound down. I actually enjoyed it more as it started to warm up a little.
Anyway the TL;DR here is that it’s a good mid level, similar to Suntory The Malts beer. I do prefer this brew to that one though, as I feel Suntory The Malts has a stronger aftertaste. Definitely worth your consideration, but when Suntory The PREMIUM Malts is about 100 yen more, I have to go with it.
Welcome to the Japanese beer blogging world. Friend, I’m counting the days until you change from only covering the big 4. There is so much good beer in your area.
Thanks for stopping by the site, keep up the good work.
DH
THanks for the comment, buddy.
The thing that turns me off to micros in japan is PRICE. It’s not like Japanese beer is cheap anyway, but I’ve happily paid 1300 yen for a pint of Hoegaarden at a hotel bar!
I live in the middle of nowhere, so that hurts me a bit too. Great import beer store in Shibuya though, they even have “Satan Beer” from Germany! (Complete with devil pic)
Dude, Yona Yona is 260 a can and a fine American style pale ale. If you can’t find that where you are then you really ARE out in the sticks.
Also Ginga Kogen do a fine weissen or wheat beer for around 260yen also. Both fo those can be found in quite a few department stores/supermarkets, though alas probably not convenience stores.
I’d drink those or even the new yebisu or kirin or asahi long before I have another happoshu. Haven’t found a happoshu I like yet. Not because it’s happoshu, but because every one I’ve tried so far tastes like shit. If you’ve found a few you like, then hats off to you - you’re gonna be saving some money and drinking something of choice at the same time. Just watch out for that headache in the morning. Good luck wiht the blog.