Japan's Top 3 Breweries
Japanese beer has become extremely popular due to its unique flavoring, refreshing taste and distinct body. Beer lovers everywhere are beginning to wake up to the pleasures of Japan’s top beers, especially when it complements well with Sushi.
Japanese breweries have been in operation for decades, some even for a century. Japan has been a little late to the game, as Japan didn's start drinking beer untill the 17th Century(by the Dutch) and breweries didn't start to open untill the 19th century.
The historic tradition of Japanese beer making and its unique use of rice, malts, barleys and aroma hops is nobly carried on to this very day by these top three Japanese beer breweries.
- Region: Osaka, Japan
- Type: Lager and Stout and one happoshu (low malt content beer)
- Taste: Asahi Draft is a golden, refreshing lager that is light yet rich; Asahi Black is a rich, bold, full-bodied and smooth dark lager made with roasted malt; Asahi Select is a smooth and balanced, yet complex crystal malt made with aroma hops and lager yeast; Asahi Super Dry is a dry, refreshing, crisp and clear premium quality lager; Asahi Hon-nama (happoshu) is wonderfully full for a low malt beer with a pleasant aftertaste.
- Region: Tokyo, Japan
- Type: Malt and one happoshu
- Taste: Kirin Ichiban is a distinctively smooth, crisp and flavorful malt that has no bitter after taste like other malts; Kirin Light contains only 95 calories but loses none of the flavor Kirin Ichiban has. It is surprisingly refreshing for a malt; Kirin Tanrei (happoshu) is surprisingly refreshing and clean with just a subtle hint of the malt heavy Kirin Ichiban.
- Region: Ebisu, Shibuya, Tokyo
- Type: Rice Lager and Malt and one happoshu
- Taste: Sapporo Premium is crisp and refreshing with refined bitterness and a clean finish making this rice lager a favorite; Sapporo Premium light has all the taste of Sapporo Premium, but with fewer calories. It is surprisingly gentle and elegant for a light beer; Sapporo Reserve is a full-bodied malt with complex tastes that bring out the aroma hops with every sip; Hokkaido Nama-shibori (happoshu) has a unique taste all of its own that can only be described as a culinary extravaganza in a beer bottle.
Unfortunately for those elsewhere, happoshu malts are typically only available in Japan.
