Please Help Japan

Full Malt

Another pretty awful beer from the fairly unimaginatively named St. Michael Wine & Spirits Company in Osaka. Their other beer, the Mugisuguri is actually imported from Korea, and although this says on the label "German Beer" I think that's more to do with the alleged style of beer than it's source.

It's one of the recent trend of 0% alcohol beers that have been hitting the Japanese market in the last year or so, and this one comes with the added bonus of "Karori Off" (カロリーオッフ Low Calorie). Very Calorie Off in fact as you'll see at the end of the review.

On the pour this is a very pale "beer", very fizzy with tiny bubbles and a medium sized head.

On the nose there's that chemically cereal smell like cornflakes mixed with wet cardboard (see my Asahi W-Zero review for some more of that delight).

On the palate...pretty awful! Wet cornflakes and cardboard on the taste too. In fact exactly like the Asahi W-Zero.

I wrote in big letters on my notes "Awful!" (and underlined it).

As for the "Calorie Off"...well I threw it away after a few tastes, so yeah, pretty much Calorie Off.

I can understand the need for 0% alcohol beers, designated drivers, pregnant women, people who can't drink for one reason or another, but why subject them to this kind of thing? It tastes nothing like beer anyway, so what's the point?

12 Drinkers Online - Cheers!