This question bugged me for quite a while when I first discovered that Japan has 3 categories of beer, and I don’t mean lager, beer, bitter, etc.
Thankfully, an article in the Daily Yomiuri yesterday cleared it up for me.
The reason Japan has 3 different categories of beer is essentially for tax reasons.
Regular beer which must [...]
Beer sales in Japan have dropped this year apparently due to an unseasonably cool summer…um, was that the really hot, humid summer I just lived through? Unseasonably cool huh?
Kirin won out amongst the big 4 market leaders but only by .6% to Asahi (Super Dry didn’t sell well this year).
Suntory Holdings Ltd came third followed [...]
Japan has three main kinds of beers:
Normal lagers (Kirin, Asahi, etc)
Happoshu (Low Malt beers – less than 67% malt and cheaper than normal lager as tax is lower)
Third Category Beer (These are “Beerlike” drinks as they are called and the ingredients are soybeans, corn and peas as opposed to malt).
The Third Category Beers are the [...]
Recently I bought 2 newly released beers from Asahi and Kirin. Well, the Asahi is actually a few months old I think, but the Kirin is very new.
Asahi Style Free and Kirin Free
(Click the images or links above for reviews)
The Free in the Kirin Lager actually refers to the lager being 0.00% Alcohol free, and [...]
