Asahi Super Dry 500ml

Name: Asahi Super Dry

Brewery: Asahi Breweries LTD.

Style: Japanese Rice Lager (I guess they make it from rice?)

Purchased at: 7/11

Price: ¥250

Taste: 6.5/10

Alcohol Level: 5%

Music: Inquisition - Ominous Doctrines of the Perpetual Mystical Macrocosm

Snack: Peanuts

Experience:

This is probably the most recognisable Japanese beer. It's going to be available just about anywhere you go around here, so expect to drink a lot of them. It's not too expensive and it goes down easy, as long as it's cold. Once it starts warming up a bit it starts tasting like a muddy puddle, but before then it's delicious and refreshing.


The taste is probably as close to what you might expect the beer in a cartoon to taste like. I wouldn't say it's boring, but it's taste is completely non threatening and simple. Some people might find it bland, or boring. This isn't the type of beer you sip at a fine dinner or taste during a beer sampling journey or whatever. This is a beer that's just for knocking back and relaxing.

The pictured beer came at the end of a long walk. I discovered a bit of a trail that runs along a treeline near my house, so I decided to follow it. This was just before winter set in, so it was cold but hadn't started snowing yet. As I was walking I passed a man with a dog and a sack of persimmons. He gave me a piece of fruit and I got to play with the dog for a minute, great experience. Finally after climbing a short hill I realised I had arrived at a road I knew quite well, so there was no point in exploring further. I found a nice spot under a tree, went to a 7/11 and then came back to enjoy the sunset. The first swig as I sat overlooking my small town while the sun shined golden orange as it went down, let me tell ya I'll be thinking of that scene next time I'm at the dentist.

As I said before though, as this beer warms up it sucks. I bought 2 beers that day, by the time I got to the 2nd one the muddy taste had begun to set in. I think it's safe to say that this a beer best enjoyed in a pub or in the comfort of your own home with a fridge. If you are looking at necking 2 or 3 beers while you are walking around, I suggest you try something else.

All in all this beer makes for a great standard when drinking beers in Japan, certainly one to be proud of. I daresay, if you spend a few weeks here traveling around, in the years to come the sight and taste of this beer will come to remind you of your trip. I still live in Japan, but just looking at the can reminds me of fun times I've had with friends, long train trips and walking around my town on warm summer nights.