Kirin The Gold
Kirin Brewery Company, Limited

Appearance: Moderate gold colored brew with a light, white head.

Smell: Light hop aroma, touch of malt.

Taste: Flavor starts with a kiss of hops along with a decent malt backbone. Smooth, bitter finish.

Mouthfeel: Light-medium body. Decent consistency for a brew in this style.

Drinkablity: A tasty brew that is easy to enjoy.

Found it in a convience store during a late night run. Pours a light gold into my glass. Looks too light for this style. Smells of cereal with a light floral scent. Taste is very light on the palate. Not much taste and then a bright hoppy ending. Mouthfeel is light with little carbonation. Drinkability is the best part of this beer, as it goes down extremely well. A great session beer during the week. I would buy this beer again, but just for enjoying while doing some work at the hotel.

Appearance: Very pale golden straw, with a full, easy-going white head that retains poorly.

Smell: Fresh, sweet grain reminiscent of brewery tours, with light caramel notes and an understated but snappy and floral hop profile.

Taste: Initially thin and boring on the palate, but mid-sip a pleasant rush of hops comes through with a crisp, firm, resinous and kinda soapy bitterness. Malts are quite subdued, lending only a vaguely bready sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Thin, and kinda under-carbonated. Effervescent only mid-sip, lending a nice boost the hops. Otherwise, this is sort of flat and sort of lame.

Drinkability: Well, it's not a terribly exciting beer, but it's not bad at all. And as one of the cheaper all-malt lagers at the conbini, I'll probably be returning to this one. Nice work, Kirin... but your fukkoku lagers were better!