Category: Reviews

Beer Roundup / ビルラウンドアップ

On May 8, 2018

In Japan, Kirin, Reviews, Suntory, Yahho Brewing

I thought it about time to do a round-up of the various beers I’ve tried over the past few weeks. I must admit to quite enjoying this series, as I really don’t know what to expect with each drink I try.

To start things off, we have two beers which are from the same brewery. Yaho Brewing is proving to be an excellent source of tasty beers, I must say. The first one shares the same name with the very enjoyable “A beer for you and me” that I got not long after arriving. Whether it is actually the same beer is up for debate, but it shares the funky looking frog motif and is equally tasty. Really enjoyed this one, it is equal parts easy drinking, smoothness and tasty flavour.

If you see this frog on a beer, it is likely to be a tasty

The second from this brewery is the Yona Yona Ale. Not much to say apart from it being a very solid and enjoyable pale ale. They are nearly double the price of their cheapest rivals (£1.80 to 90p) but totally worth the extra spend in my books.

Another winner!

From Suntory we have 金麦 or “Gold Wheat” beer. Apart from really liking the design of the can itself, there isn’t a lot I can write about this middle-of-the-road beer. Nothing wrong with it, nothing all that right. In a word: Inoffensive.

Average

Speaking of refreshing looking can designs, next we have a Lemon Beer from Grand Kirin. The name is something like ひこうき雲と私 or literally “the aeroplane cloud and me”. I imagine it loses something in the translation.

On the beer itself, I found that the lemon flavour is there, but it is quite muted. Not a bad idea, I like the idea of a refreshing summer beer, but I don’t think this is it for me. Overall, it wasn’t too bad really, decently drinkable, but doesn’t really commit to the concept – it isn’t beery enough and not lemony enough either.

Was expecting something, but not quite this

The Suntory Beer Recipe (a blueberry flavoured beer) wasn’t ever going to be great, but I at least thought it would be interesting. It does have a bit of a fruity flavour, but it was underwhelming and left me wishing for something more exciting.

Similar to the lemon beer above, it just doesn’t commit to the concept to make it worth not having a less weird and better tasting normal beer.

I really need to stop experimenting…

Finally, I had much higher hopes for this Kirin “Prime Brew” beer, but sadly it left me thinking… “Meh, okay”. It was drinkable and if pushed I could have a few, but it really wasn’t a “prime” anything and left me wanting for something more flavoursome.

Prime Brew huh? Not that impressed

My adventure continues…

The Axis of Evil (Beverages) / 悪の枢軸「飲み物」

By Matthew

On April 16, 2018

In Asahi, Japan, Reviews

Being the adventurous type, I recently grabbed a few very different types of drinks to try out. I wouldn’t want anyone to be bored just because I decided to stay safe and only pick drinks that I might actually enjoy.

Which brings me to the topic of today’s review, a collection of three different drinks that (spoiler alert) were not very good. They all share in the dubious honour of being equally horrid (to me, your mileage may vary) and not at all to be recommended. As I say, you might like them, but I *really* did not. If you read this and then go out to try them, then you have no one to blame but yourself and your morbid curiosity.

Oh and since I know my family is reading this blog, no I did not drink all of these at once. These were all drank responsibly over a number of nights and I ate all my greens and I’m honestly not turning into an alcoholic. Not yet anyway.

Ahem. Anyway, the first cab off the rank is Orion draft beer from Asahi. It is labelled at having 5% alcohol, so this should have something going for it. Turns out, no, no it doesn’t. This is the most insipid beer I’ve tasted in a good long time. More tasteless than even the most mainstream of lagers, this beer tasted like it had heard of the term flavour from a friend, but wasn’t about to get into such sordid business itself. If this is “widely loved as an Okinawan original” then I’m seriously concerned about that island’s population’s lager sensibilities.

Okinawa can do better than this, surely…

Next up we have an experiment of sorts. The hypothesis we are testing is: can sparkling rosé be any good when you put it in a bottle made out of aluminium? In short, “no”. The longer version is “maybe, but based on this sample, not really, no”. This Sparkling Wine – Rosé from Monde Wine is a sparkling wine with a mild flavour. I’m not normally a big fan of rosé wine, but since this was an after-dinner treat, it seemed appropriate to try it out. It has 12% alcohol, so it does have a little bit of kick to it, but not all that much. I was hoping for something like a sweet version of a Prosecco, but instead has a somewhat uninspired flavour. Overall, not recommended. There are perfectly good alternative wines in normal glass bottles that are only slightly more money and worth every yen in my opinion.

Finally, for a bit of fun, I bought a plum flavoured liqueur. Specifically, the Rakuen Umeshu Plum Liqueur. This one appealed to me on two levels: 1. It was 100 yen (70p) and 2. It comes in a god-damned sippy packet. You know, like the ones you drink juice out of at school. There was absolutely zero chance of me not trying this bad-boy out.

Sippy container!

Sippy straw!

Kind of wish I had given it a miss though. Apart from the (expected) sickly sweetness, the flavour is the most synthetic thing I’ve ever tried in a good long while. Unless you want your cherry flavoured liqueur that tastes like it was made out of actual decorative plastic cherries, I’d give this one a miss.

Review: 僕ビール、君ビール。(Beer for You & Me)

By Matthew

On April 10, 2018

In Japan, Reviews, Yahho Brewing

I’ve had exams this week. Yes, one week after starting my Japanese studies, I have tests to do. As such, I’ve been burning the midnight oil getting as much up to speed as possible. However there is only so much you can do before the old brain decides to check out, and I reached that point at around 10pm this evening.

Instead of doing something useful (like go to sleep), I decided to try one of the beers I’ve been keeping in the fridge for a (proverbial) rainy day. Today I bring you… 僕ビール、君ビール。(Beer for You & Me) from ヤッホーブルーイング (Yaho Brewing).

Upon a bit of investigation of their website, it seems this particular beer is a joint development with the Lawson convenience store chain. I didn’t know that when I bought it, instead I thought the frog on the front looked cute and I figured that anything with a cute frog on it can’t be that bad.

Japanese study and beer. The perfect companions?

Those who know me personally will know I generally enjoy fairly exotic beers, the more exotic the better. So I wasn’t sure what I’d get with a 5% alcohol session beer with a enticingly cute frog on it. Turns out, I’d get a thoroughly enjoyable experience. On drinking it immediately reminded me of an IPA due to the punchy flavour, but with a smoother than average finish. The full flavour is something that I personally find very tasty and quite moreish. Thankfully I have just the one available, as I do have exams tomorrow…

I’d highly recommend this one to anyone. I think it would go well in most circumstances: with a meal, watching TV or recovering from a insane study session.

I’ll be keeping an eye out for more from this brewery.

Close up and personal with the frog

Review: Suntory Strong Zero – Bitter Orange 9%

By Matthew

On April 7, 2018

In Fukuoka, Japan, Reviews, Suntory

I spend a fair amount of time at convenience stores here in Japan. Those of you who have been to Japan will understand, and for those who haven’t, please allow me to explain. Convenience stores (or konbini/コンビニ) are everywhere in the city, and just about everywhere not in a city as well. There are at least 3 within 150 meters of my apartment, and I’m not even in a downtown area. Anyway, there are many of them and they are great for:

They have very tasty pre-made meals (more on this another time)
They have all the little knick knacks you could want (tweezers to noddles to pet food, etc)
They are open fairly late
They have a fun range of alcoholic beverages

There are many other good points, but that last one is the reason for this post. I’ve decided to to a semi-regular (i.e. when I feel like it) series on the myriad of various drinks available from these convenience stores, from the straightforward to the silly. All in the name of science! And also in the name of recovering from a whole day of Japanese study. But mostly it is about the science.

Anyway, first a disclaimer:

I make no pretence of having any real skill or knowledge of alcoholic beverages, above having drunk them and also being in possession of taste buds and a keyboard.

So please allow me to introduce the inagrual drink… The Strong Zero Bitter Orange 9% from Suntory.

Suntory Strong Zero Bitter Orange 9%

By the way, I’m not going to structure the reviews along any specific lines, mainly I just want to have a bit of fun, drink new drinks and maybe learn something new and interesting.

Anyway, moving swiftly on, the Suntory corporation helpfully provides some suggestions right on the can:

Those being:

A warning that it is a strong drink at 9% alcohol
It is not sweet and contains fruit peel
Have with a meal

Good advice/information to know.

So how does it taste? Well, as the can rightly says, while it has a strong citrus flavour, it isn’t a sweet drink. It has a strong, unmasked alcoholic flavour that would not appeal to those who enjoy a drink that is mild and understated. It is very fizzy and is kept very cold, which only sharpens the experience for me. Oh and I should point out, it is quite bitter. Like, “my face might collapse inwards” bitter. Which is great if you are into that, but if not… Well, you shouldn’t have bought a drink with “bitter” written on it and you really only have yourself to blame.

I’d say this drink is for those occasions when you want something a bit refreshing and surprising. It isn’t a session drink, where you could finish one after another, but on a warm evening after a long day at work/practising kanji, it is quite enjoyable and thoroughly intoxicating. I’m about three quarters done and I am already thankful for spell-check, if that’s any indication of strength.

So there you go, my first review done – I feel a warm glow of satisfaction/intoxication now.