Beering in Mind YouTube Channel Beer Review #243 -- Suntory The Premium Malt’s Jozoka No Okurimono 2019 Winter Limited

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Jozoka No Okurimono 2019 Winter Limited... whew! A very long name for a beer that is not so long on quality. Being a Premium Malt's beer (please don't ask me about the misplaced apostrophe), it is certainly not bad, but just a bit short on flavor for a beer that is supposedly the maker's "gift" for the winter season. 

Enough already. Click HERE for my YouTube review.

Summing Up: New Beers from the Japanese Major Brewing Companies in 2019 /日本の大手企業からの新しいビール 2019: 結語

Over the past four posts, I reviewed the majority of new beers brought out by the four major Japanese breweries in 2019. If you like, have a look at the posts for Asahi (HERE), Kirin, (HERE), Sapporo (HERE), and Suntory (HERE).

The four major Japanese brewers produced 46 different beers, down by 10 from 2018 (and by 20 from 2017).

They made 13 different styles of beer, five fewer than the 18 styles produced the year before (and nine fewer than the 22 styles made in 2017).

The most common style (26 / 56%) was, of course, pale lager, with Asahi producing eight, Kirin three, Sapporo 10, and Suntory five

The second-most popular style (6%) was pilsner, with three, all made by Sapporo.

The third-most popular style, at two each, were Pale Ale, IPA, Blonde/Golden Ale, Apple Cider, Helles/Dortmunder, and Imperial Pilsner.

The biggest surprise is that Kirin came out with only six new beers (compared to 13 in 2018). 

Asahi and Suntory were also down, with only 14 new beers (18 in 2018) and nine new beers (14 in 2018), respectively. 

Only Sapporo increased their number, with 17 new beers (compared to 11 in 2018).

Judging from RateBeer average rating scores and my own ratings (both out of a possible top score of 5.0), admittedly a limited sample, for all 46 new beers, it seems that Kirin produced somewhat more interesting and tastier beers, with Sapporo and Suntory not too far behind, than did Asahi or Kirin…. and with Asahi trailing quite a bit on both accounts.

Asahi:  14 new beers

RateBeer Avg. 2.73    My Avg. 2.35

Kirin:  6 new beers

RateBeer Avg. 2.89    My Avg. 2.86

Sapporo: 14 new beers

RateBeer Avg. 2.88    My Avg. 2.75

Suntory:  9 new beers

RateBeer Avg. 2.88     My Avg. 2.82

Asahi is making weak efforts in cheapest happoshu (low-malt) and “new genre” (no malt / fortified) styles, including their several new beers in the Asahi Clear series and a new “crafty” line called Asahi Craft Style. 

Kirin’s Grand Kirin series, which usually has a few nice new styles each year, was represented by a single disappointing brew: Grand Kirin Orange IPA. 

Sapporo was all over the place, with four new premium Yebisu beers and an equal number of low-malt or no-malt brews in their Mugi to Hoppu line

To my mind, Suntory’s Premium Malt’s line continues to be the best series of major brewery premium lagers made in Japan (especially the four beers in the Master’s Dream series, which can be considered ultra-premium).

The Japanese beer market has been declining for years, and the Japanese companies are looking for growth overseas. Three of the big four breweries have been purchasing breweries outside of Japan. 

In November of last year, Kirin (through its subsidiary, Lion Little World Beverages) bought New Belgium Brewing, which is/was the fourth-largest craft brewer in the United States. 

Kirin also has a stake in Brooklyn Brewery and bought acclaimed Fourpure Brewing Co. in 2018. 

Sapporo bought Anchor Brewing Co., an iconic brewery credited with sparking the American craft beer scene in the 1970s. 

Asahi has purchased a number of larger international breweries in Eastern Europe and Australia.

New Beers from the Japanese Majors in 2019: Suntory Holdings Limited / 日本の大手企業からの新しいビール 2019: サントリー

We’re into 2019 now. It's time to take stock of new beers brought out in 2019 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 the current RateBeer weighted average score and my own rating score (both scores out of a possible total of five), keeping in mind that most of these newer brews have fewer than ten ratings.

Finally, a look at what Suntory made in 2019:

Suntory Patto Hanayagu Kuse ni Naru (Nama) Beer

Pale Lager - Intl / Premium / 5.5% / My Rating: 3.2 / RateBeer Avg: 2.98

Nose of citrus, light sweet peach, pear, and small bit of tropical fruit. Deep bright gold color. Flavors similar to aroma: light tropical fruit, La France pears, wheat, sugar – all sweet and quite fruity. Thin-medium body. Almost tastes like a sweet dessert thing. Okay. Would be more interesting if they upped the ante a bit on the Galaxy hops.

Suntory Tokyo Craft Kolsch Style 2019

Kölsch / Kölsch-Style / 5% / My Rating: 3.2 / RateBeer Avg: 3.05

Light fruity and bready nose, with some citrus, and yeast. Clear bright gold color. Thin bready maltiness, citrus, apples, mild stone fruit, and light bitterness. Thin-medium body. Hmmm…. mild everywhere and maybe too fruity.

Suntory The Malts Hop Paradise

Pale Lager - India / Hoppy / 6% / My Rating: 3.3 / RateBeer Avg: 3.00

Aroma of doughy malt, sweet mild fruit. Clear gold color, quickly diminishing white head. Gentle pale malts, more fruitiness than expected, a little citrus, and some hop bitterness in mid and final. Thin-medium body. The label also touts the Amarillo hops used. And from the abundance of bright green hop cones pictured, you’d like to think that maybe....  just perhaps …. but nah … they never really let loose with hops. Seems more like an ale, actually. Drinkable, for sure.

Suntory The Premium Malt’s Master’s Dream Yamazaki Cask-Aged Blend

Pilsener – Imperial / 7% / My Rating: 3.4 / RateBeer Avg: 3.18

Nose of wood, light alc. fumes, apples, grapes. Thin fruity wine-like flavors, some light maltiness. Thin-medium body. Interesting as an experiment... but ... why age a pils? Because you can? Because you have a lot of Suntory whiskey barrels? The aging seems to have diminished the flavors. This is okay, but the regular Master's Dream is a more full-featured beer.

Suntory The Premium Malt's Jōzōka no Okurimono Hana

Pale Lager - Intl / Premium / 5.5% / My Rating: 3.4 / RateBeer Avg: 3.07

Fuzzy, dusty sort of grain aroma, with light stone fruit. Clear pale gold color. Grain, bread, mild grass, moderate malty sweetness, and some lightly peppery hops. Thin-medium body. Fairly tasty stuff

Suntory The Premium Malts Hokkaido Gentai

Pale Lager - India / Hoppy / 5.5% / RateBeer Avg: 3.00

No chance to try this one

Suntory Magnum Dry Honkarakuchi

Pale Lager - North Am. / Light / 6% / My Rating: 2.2 / RateBeer Avg: 2.55

So, this one is back after five-six years, with a slight jump in alc. level. And who cares? Nose of stale fruit, light spirits, slightly medicinal. Medium gold color. Stone fruit, spirits, and fairly dry through mid palate and finish. Medium body. Aroma is a bit off-putting; flavors are pretty much those of a normal junky pale lager

Suntory Kin-Mugi Gold Lager

Pale Lager - North Am. / Light / 6% / My Rating: 1.9 / RateBeer Avg: 2.55

Stale, cardboard nose, with a hint of wet dog, and plenty of grain spirits. Deep gold color. Sharp rough stone fruit flavor, along with some grain spirits. The spirits intensify in mid palate, and then it morphs into a bittersweet finish. Thin-medium body. Pretty bad.

Suntory Itadaki (8%)

Pilsener – Imperial / 8% / My Rating: 2 / RateBeer Avg: 2.58

Floral nose, with spirits, wet cement, and dusty dirt road smells. Bright gold color. Flavors of alcohol-laced stone fruit, grain, bitter spirits, and a hint of citrus. Medium body. The alcohol level (from the grain spirits) is too high... though it wouldn't really change the overall flavor if it were lower. Junk.