Let’s start with Kirin Brewery Company:
Here are three new brews in the Grand Kirin series, which
was launched in 2013.
Kirin Grand Kirin Galaxy Hop Session IPA(Session IPA) 4.5% Rating: 3.4 RB Avg. Rating: 2.73
This one has a sour peachy nose, with citrus, a touch of cat
piss, and tropical fruit. Medium gold straw color. Light pale malts, a bit
grainy, some slightly rough hop buzz in mid and final. Very nice nose!
Bittering is a bit too much for the light body. But very decent stuff from a
major brewer. Kirin’s Grand Kirin series has more interesting beers than their
Spring Valley "craft" beer production pub.
Kirin Grand Kirin Izayoi no Tsuki Kiwi IPA(India Pale Ale) 5.5% Rating: 2.7 RB Avg. Rating: 2.84
A thin malty nose with grain, light sewer, citrus, and very
mild NZ/AUS aroma hopping. Deep golden amber color, fine head. Flavors of
grain, citrus, rye. Slight fruity tang in mid palate. Lightly harsh bitter
finish. Well, this one doesn’t really work well. Certainly not as an IPA. It is,
however, drinkable.
Kirin Grand Kirin Fukuro no Mori(Wheat Ale) 7.5% Rating: 3.4 RB Avg. Rating: 3.13
A moderately fruity nose, with banana and apple, all a bit
sourish and spritzy. Cloudy apple juice color, with 1-2cm off-white head. A thin
fruity initial, which soon develops into a pleasant mild wheaty bit. Small
metallic bittering creeps in and stays through mid palate and final. Medium
body, maybe a little thin for the alcohol level. An unexpected entry in the
Grand Kirin series Very pleasant and warming.
Kirin Hareyakana Beer(Pale Lager) 5% Rating: 2.5 RB Avg. Rating: 2.7
Some fruitiness in the aroma, thin and somewhat sugary. Very
pale gold straw color. Fruity initial, but it nearly disappears in mid palate.
Dryish finish. Thin and a bit watery. Not a lot here.
Kirin also came out with special versions of Ichiban Shibori
produced by nine different Kirin breweries throughout Japan. I was able to sample
two of them:
Kirin Kobe-Zukuri Ichiban Shibori(Pale Lager) 5% Rating: 2.9 RB Avg. Rating: 2.86
A mild grassy nose, gentle malt, wafting fruitiness. Flavors
include a clean, mild sweetness, light citrus, grass, and a thin sweet finish.
Thin body. Okay, but it’s hard to know how different it is from the regular
Ichiban Shibori without a side-by-side comparison.
Kirin Shiga-Zukuri Ichiban Shibori(Pale Lager) 5.5% Rating: 3.1 RB Avg. Rating: 2.91
A light grassy nose with a thin clean maltiness. Clear gold
straw color. Mild malty initial, decent bittering, thin balanced finish. Thin
body. Seems to have a little more punch than the Kobe-Zukuri version (0.5%
higher alcohol). Perhaps a different water source, too. It’s a nice lean lager.
But not a major departure from either the Kobe or the regular Ichiban Shibori.
Two more in this nine-beer series appeared on RateBeer, Kirin
Yokohama-zukuri Ichiban Shibori and Kirin Nagoya-zukuri Ichiban Shibori. Each was
rated by only one person, and neither very impressively.
Kirin Ichiban Shibori Komugi no Umami(Pale Lager) 5% Rating: 3 RB Avg. Rating: 2.95
A sweet malty nose, with a slight bit of sewer andsome sugar.
Clear gold straw color, soap-sudsy white head. Light sweet malt, small citrus
tang, touch of grass. Thin-medium body. Wheat is barely detectable. A thinly
sweetened version of Ichiban Shibori.
Kirin Maroyaka Ale(Wheat Ale) 5% Rating: 3.3 RB Avg. Rating: 3.1
This one comes in a little 305ml bottle (which apparently is
the new 315ml, which was the new 330ml). A mild wheaty nose, banana bready,
with light tart and tangy fruity notes. Hazy golden amber color, fine head,
good lace. Slightly sharp fruity initial, wheat. Bitterness enters early and
stays a good while. Thin-medium body. Very pleasant wheat ale with a bitter
edge.
Kirin Nodogoshi All Light(Pale Lager) 3% Rating: 2 RB Avg. Rating: 2.3
Unusual aroma: apple juice, white grape juice, all very
artificial. Clear medium straw color. Thin light fruity initial, with banana
and apple notes, and a sort of graininess. Some spirits jumps up in mid palate,
and it finishes with more light fruit junk, and then a quick merciful fade out.
Thin body, a touch harsh on the tongue. Fairly harmless, overall.
Kirin Yoru Nodogoshi(Pale Lager) 5% Rating: 1.9 RB Avg. Rating: 2.22
"Special Limited Edition" Oh, boy! A mild cardboardy
nose, corn flour, and a bit of sewer (spirits). Dark straw color, filmy head, some
lace. Light malty initial, some spirits (of course), indeterminate mild
hopping, and it floats away on a little stream of more malt spirits. Thin body.
Says "100% barley," but it also includes spirits. Not as bad as the
others in this series. But it has the worst possible ugly soda pop-like party theme can
design.
Kirin Nodogoshi Aozora Komugi(Pale Lager) 5% Rating: 2 RB Avg. Rating: 2.52
A light sewerish nose, weeds and smashed fruit, and a bit of
itchy wheat. Straw color. Rude fruitiness, pissed-on peaches, with poison herbal
note, just a tiny touch of wheat, and light bittering in mid and final. It goes
flat quite quickly. Thin body. Not as really bad as it sounds, or not that bad
for this kind of junk beer. Still, that rude nose is a bit much.
Kirin Tanrei Gokujo Nama(Pale Lager) 5.5% Rating: 1.6 RB Avg. Rating: 2.82
Aromas of cardboard, sewer, mashed-up and spit-out sugary
fruit. Bright gold color, filmy head. Harsh initial flavor, fish flakes,
pissy and metallic. Thin body, but rough on the tongue. How many variations of
this stuff do they have to make ... or worse, how many more will I stupidly
try?
