Japan's Best Tasting Beer

[Mulboyne]

[Buraku]

[Mike Oxlong]

Combo of rice and malt...that sounds familiar.

Budweiser is a pale lager beer, and one of the best sold beers in the United States. Budweiser is made with a proportion of rice in addition to barley malt, for which it has received some criticism, though the company takes the position that the rice gives the beer a lighter taste.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Budweiser_(Anheuser-Busch)

[omae mona]

[Buraku]

yeah thanks for pointing that out Mike

and thanks to the collapsing dollar Bud has become a product of Belgium

[Behan]

There seems to be some controversy about the origin of at least the name of Budweiser:

This issue involves United States of America and the Czech Republic. For past hundred years, an international legal dispute continued between the American brewer Anheuser-Busch and the Czech beer producer Budejovicky Budvar over the right to use the trademark name Budweiser on their products. Currently, both of the brewers produce beer beverage labeled Budweiser, and battle over who does have the legal right to the commercial use of this name. Both the brews have a long history of existence. The disagreements over the right to use the trademark started in late 1870s, when the brewers began to export their like-named products to markets beyond their national borders. Attempting to legally win the exclusive right to the trademark use, the dispute has been taken to courts in different countries. The results so far did not provide either party the exclusive right to the name, but rather resulted in the division of market.

http://www.american.edu/TED/budweis.htm

I first heard something about this from a Slovakian who defected from Czechoslovakia back in the 80s.

[Visitor K]

Combo of rice and malt...that sounds familiar.

thats because most of those major japanese beers are made in the style of a north american lager.. as many major beers around the world are (china, mexico, africa). japanese companies have actually won both 'american standard lager' and 'american premium lager' categories in the NABA awards quite a few times. because of its lack of real flavor, its actually quite a difficult style of beer to make, as any inconsistencies are easily noticeable.. but this lack of flavor also makes it not very appealing to me.
if i had to choose my favorite japanese beer (macro), i would say kirin classic.. in my opinion, that has the most flavor and hop qualities of them all.

[Socratesabroad]

[Torimaro]

Im surprised Orion isnt higher on the list as i think it has the most distinct flavor of the macros. Maybe if they had a "goes well with curry" category.

The Kirin premium that comes in a bottle is pretty good for any macro Japanese or Otherwise as well as their new seasonal "white beer".

What about Japanese microbrews? is their an in-country event for them? My favorite is the Akashi Brewery's "Roman Beer" way more hops than any of the Hop titled macros products and the closest ive had to an American Micro. Havent tried that many though.

[Charles]

Im surprised Orion isnt higher on the list as i think it has the most distinct flavor of the macros. Maybe if they had a "goes well with curry" category.

They need a "goes well with beer" category.

As I said before, the best beer is the one being served to you now. Tonight, it's Sam Adams Summer Ale. Mmmm..

[bolt_krank]

Considering that at the international beer competitions, there's a lot of Japanese beers doing well. However, pretty much all of them are micro-breweries. I agree with Buraku - this is just a PR stunt for kick-backs.

[Adhesive]

They need a "goes well with beer" category.

As I said before, the best beer is the one being served to you now. Tonight, it's Sam Adams Summer Ale. Mmmm..

Tried the summer ale a while back and wasn't too impressed. Almost reminded me of an IPA, if I recall correctly.

My favorite seasonal Sammy is their Octoberfest.

[teru]

[Charles]

Tried the summer ale a while back and wasn't too impressed. Almost reminded me of an IPA, if I recall correctly.

My favorite seasonal Sammy is their Octoberfest.

Well, in all fairness, it was the beer I was drinking now. So it was great. Personally, I'm a fan of ales, I grew up drinking Ballantine Ale. I threw up drinking Ballantine Ale. It was great.

[oyajikun]

If you are in the Tokyo area, do yourself a favor and make it over to the Ishikawa Brewery/beer garden near Fussa-shi (on the Ome-sen). They have excellent food and they brew my all time favorite beer, Tamanomegumi.

http://www.tamajiman.com/english/koya.html

[halfnip]

For all of you ale lovers out here, my suggestion is the Muroka series from Kirin. It is by far the best off the shelf beer I have ever had here in Japan:



In a close 2nd comes Yona Yona, which I am sure some of you have tried:

[wuchan]

For all of you ale lovers out here, my suggestion is the Muroka series from Kirin. It is by far the best off the shelf beer I have ever had here in Japan:

i agree. Muroka is the best of the shelf japanese beer. I cant drink asahi, it has a funny taste to it that I just cant find a name for. kirin stout is about equal to guiness in the can but can't compete with sam smith or stone imperial stout.

[Mike Oxlong]

Yip, Yona Yona Ale is good stuff. Quite like the Ginga Kougen too.

[Torimaro]

For all of you ale lovers out here, my suggestion is the Muroka series from Kirin. It is by far the best off the shelf beer I have ever had here in Japan:

yeah thats the shit i was talking about, i forgot the "Muroka" part. They have a "white beer" in this series now thats unfiltered and reminds me of a less flavorful Hoegarden (sic).

yo Oxlong, whats that Ginga Kougen like? I keep reaching for it but never quite pull the trigger.

[Mike Oxlong]

The Ginga Kougen is a very nice wheat beer, brewed in the German manner (I think they get their hops and malt from Germany too, but not sure about that). It's unfiltered, and has a bit of a fruity taste to it. One of my favs.

[Visitor K]

Actually, I'd say the major J beers are closer to N. European lagers while happoshu is more akin to American beer.

well, i was making a generalization (which is difficult, as, unlike in north america, japanese companies will actually make many different types of beer), but i was mainly going by what the BJCP (beer judge certification program) says, which is the guideline used by many homebrewers, such as myself. it is pretty specific to what a beer should contain in terms of color, body, mouthfeel, aroma, and flavor. one major factor would be that north european lagers generally do not contain rice, which isnt necessarily indicative of style, but its hard to get an all malt effect when you are adding rice. but really, i know what you mean that happoshu is closer to american beer as many j-beers generally have a higher malt and hop profile than a lot of american majors (who also use corn as an adjunct to lighten the flavor content).

Sorry, but the lack of flavor quip is bollocks.

hmm.. i dont know about that. the very reason that brewers add rice (and/or corn) to the beer is that it adds fermentable sugar without imparting too much body or flavor. im not saying lack of flavor is bad, thats exactly what the brewers are shooting for. they also use hops that have a lower IBU (international bittering unit) and yeast that doesnt add to the flavor too much. maybe we could agree on the term 'lighter' flavor?

[Torimaro]

The Ginga Kougen is a very nice wheat beer, brewed in the German manner (I think they get their hops and malt from Germany too, but not sure about that). It's unfiltered, and has a bit of a fruity taste to it. One of my favs.

word, i know what tonights train brew will be. Thanks man.

[Mike Oxlong]

Word! Today is a great day for black people of all races...