Suntory Malts

Pours a golden yellow and reveals a fluffy white head. Aroma is light with corn and some hops, a touch of sweetness at the end of the sniff. Taste is very smooth and mellow light sweetness of malt and thicker and creamier than I would have expected. Not too much of a hop presence. A sessionable beer. Decent I guess.

330ml can at The Hotel Okura, Tokyo, 22nd Sept 2007. Pours clear blonde with a frothy head that quickly disappears. Unsurprisingly, malt dominates the aroma and the taste but it’s not over the top. Palate is very smooth and slightly cream. Enjoyable - the best of the macro lagers I drank in Japan.

Draft @ Brewery: Pours a pale color with nice puffy head and lacing. The nose is fairly grainy with some light husk and corn, a bit of light hops, fairly dry and bitter. The flavor is balanced but still thin yet malty. Fresh, I can’t dispute that, I like the premium malts a lot better.

Some of these commercial descriptions are hilarious. Made with 100% malt and 100% natural water eh? Well, that’s super! You can really taste the WATER in this beer. That natural water flavor really shines through. You know, I was just saying to a friend of mine the other day how much I miss watery beer. It’s been a long time since I’ve tasted beer which does the water with which it is brewed any justcie whatsoever. The people at Suntory are to be commended for this, a fine effort in the furtherment of the appreciation of fine 100% natural water. Sorry, I am a little drunk, and feeling slightly belligerent towards Japan macro lager. Please excuse the hyperbole/sarcasm.

once again, it is hard to crack open a can of beer that is both japanese and a macro because they are all so mediocre; if this was my first sample of the few japanese macros that i have with me, then this might have scored higher because these beers get old / malty with little to it... sweet with a cute, crispy finish.