New Beers from the Japanese Major Brewing Companies in 2016: Suntory Liquors Limited / 日本の大手企業からの新しいビール 2016: サントリー

We’re well into 2017 now. It's time to take stock of new beers brought out in 2016 by the four major breweries in Japan: Asahi, Kirin, Sapporo, and Suntory. I'll discuss them each in a separate post. I'll also give my rating score and the current RateBeer weighted average score (both scores out of a possible total of 5), keeping in mind that most of these newer brews have fewer than ten ratings.

In the three previous posts, we looked at new beers from Asahi Breweries (see HERE), Kirin Brewing Company (see HERE), and Sapporo Breweries (see HERE). Now let's see what Suntory Liquors Limited came up with.

Suntory Liquors Limited – 14 beers

Suntory Aki no Shun Aji

Amber Lager/Vienna  6.0%    Rating: 0   RB Avg. Rating: 2.72

No chance to sample this one

Suntory Fuyu no Shun Aji

Pale Lager       6.0%    Rating: 2.4   RB Avg. Rating: 2.72

Spirits in the nose right off, along with a little citrus, and wet cement. Thin pale straw color, sloppy head. Flavors of grain, thin peach, sugar, added spirits, and very mild bitterness. Thin body. The alcohol is hidden; the wheat grain spirit component is not. Not as rude as most of these things usually are, but anyway …..

 Suntory Haru no Shun Aji

Pale Lager       5.0%    Rating: 2.4   RB Avg. Rating: 2.66

Grain, fresh concrete, touch of grass. Pale straw color. Some malty sweetness, light mid palate bitterness, some spirits in mid and final (but not too much). Thin body. Fairly inoffensive and cheap stuff marketed for hanami (cherry blossom viewing) parties.

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Kaoru Ale

Golden Ale/Blond Ale     6.0%      Rating: 2.8   RB Avg. Rating: 2.96

Light floral nose, grain, corn, some fumes. Clear gold straw color. Thin sweetish maltiness, apples, some light citrus, moderate hopping. Thin body. Really nothing very special or "premium" about it. Not as good as the Kaoru Premium from 2014.

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Aki Kaoru Ale

Amber Ale       6.0%    Rating: 3.5   RB Avg. Rating: 3.17

Fresh, malty nose, light toasted malt, and ripe stone fruit. Deep copper color, with a beige head. Mild dark fruit flavors which begin gently and then increase in richness from initial to mid and through final. Some caramel. Approaches the edge of being overly sweet but pulls back politely. Full flavors, light body, and very drinkable.

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Master’s Dream Muroka

Pilsener           5.0%    Rating: 3.4   RB Avg. Rating: 3.24

        Nose of Saaz hops (or something similar), peaches, and pears. Dark gold straw color. Grain, pale malt, Saaz-like hopping, and a small touch of cardboard in mid palate. Some slightly overripe fruitiness and a nicely bitter finish. Thin-medium body. Quite serious with the bitterness from mid palate onwards. Very nice stuff.

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Natsu Kaoru Ale

Golden Ale/Blond Ale    6.0%    Rating: 3.1   RB Avg. Rating: 2.91

Creamy malty nose, with noble hops and apple fruitiness. Light pale straw color. Mild tangy initial flavor, moves on to some peachy notes, bread, crackers, and a light fruity finish. Thin-medium body. Okay. The Hallertauer hops come through in the aroma. Surprised that they made it 6% (for summer).

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Sparkling Gold

Premium Lager           5.5%    Rating: 3.4   RB Avg. Rating: 2.97

Sweet malty nose, with floral hops, and a mild musty fruitiness. Unusually sharp, clear pale yellow/gold color. Mild crackery malt, gets fruitier and deeper in mid palate, with a burst of bitterness and carbonation just before finish. Lengthy mild bitter tracks. Thin-medium body. Certainly a very unusual variant of Premium Malt’s. Interesting and delicate nose. Flavors develop some complexity throughout palate.

Suntory Craft Select Bitter Ale

English Pale Ale          5.5%    Rating: 3.1   RB Avg. Rating: 2.88

Moderately sweet nose, caramel, thin light citrus, and light hops. Bright orange/amber (very pretty), thick head, fine-beaded lace. Thin caramel initial, some decent hopping in mid palate, a small citrus note, and then faint bitterness in finish. Thin-medium body. Okay. It does have some back-end bitterness, but not really a special brew. Trades on its looks, really.

Suntory Craft Select Saison

Saison      5.5%     Rating: 2.9    RB Avg. Rating: 2.72

Sweet nose, with apples, peach, fruit gummy candy, and light fruity yeast. Thin pale straw color, and small head. Sweet fruity initial, small citrus, mild mid-palate bittering. The sweet fruit returns in late mid palate. Some light tartness. Aroma is interesting, but it falls down in flavors. Seems to be a light Belgian ale yearning to become a saison.

 

Suntory Craft Select Weizen

German Kristallweizen           5.5%    Rating: 2.9   RB Avg. Rating: 2.86

Medium-strength banana nose, with yeast and some clove. Clear (and not cloudy as a weizen typically should be) bright straw color, thin head, and sticky lace. Sweet and wheaty flavors and quite fruity. Moves straight along a single flavor note. Medium body. Sweet banana and no more. Little complexity. Okay -- but it is a really ordinary, tidied-up sort of weizen.

Suntory Craft Select Wheat Ale

Wheat Ale       5.5%    Rating: 2.6   RB Avg. Rating: 2.65

Light sweet wheaty nose, some citrus, grain, and some mild hop punch. Clear medium straw color. Flavors of wheat, thin malt, and light hops in mid and final. Light body, quite carbonated. The hopping, both aroma and flavor, resembles the nose and flavor of barley spirits, and this makes the beer seem like a cheap daisan. Not terrible, though.

Suntory Hop Time 6:00 PM

Pale Lager       5.9%    Rating: 2.1   RB Avg. Rating: 2.75

Mild spirits in the nose, along with some grass and something like disinfectant. Clear dark gold straw color. Rude maltiness, sugary flavor, and then a harsh spirits-infused mid palate, and some bitterness in late mid palate. It all fades out in the finish. Thin-medium body. The Hallertauer hops can’t compete with the spirits in either aroma or flavor. I drank this at 5:30pm; maybe something magical happens if you have it at 6pm....

Suntory Hop Time 9:00 PM

Pale Lager       5.0%    Rating: 2.8   RB Avg. Rating: 2.88

Small bit of spirits in aroma, and some fruitiness, a hint of Citra hops, cat pissy, and a light tropical fruit notes. Clear gold straw color. Flavors of pale malt, grass, thin fruit, and just a touch of spirits in mid palate. Thin-medium body. Certainly better than the Hop Time 6:00PM version.