Posts Tagged ‘Good Beer’
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.
Tokyo’s Suntory brewery was incorporated in 1899 and is currently the second highest selling brewery in Japan, but among beer drinkers it is a first class brew. Suntory specializes in all malts beer with their other offerings such as Suntory The Malts in the middle, and Suntory Rich Malts on the low end happoshu offerings. Be forewarned in Japan beer prices are high, so 6 pack of Suntory Premium Malts goes for around 13 US Dollars.
The German Pilsner style Suntory Premium Malts has a nice deep yellow color, great foamy head and is incredibly drinkable. Feels good in the mouth, and very easy to drink. Finishes clean as most Japanese beers do. For me, the finish is the dealbreaker for beers, any skunky aftertaste simply won’t do!
As stated by Suntory the beer is the 2005, 2006, and 2007 winner of Group I in the Monde Competition, a food and drink convention held in Brussells. Suntory The Premium Malts uses 20% more malt than beers in its category, and double the hops compared to the rest of their catalogue!
Clocking in at 5.5% abv, this is a beer to be savored, though you may find yourself getting a bit tipsy because it is so easy to drink.
TL;DR-
Pros:
Easy to drink with little aftertaste
Taste is not too bitter or strong, and has a certain sweetness
Great balance of Malts and Hops
Cons:
Price. Japanese beer is high in price anyway and Suntory Premium Malts is one of the highest out there. It is my only criticism to this delicious brew.