Asahi Honnama Red
Asahi Breweries Ltd

Asahi Honnama RedAsahi Honnama Red
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From:
Asahi Breweries Ltd
 
Japan
Style:
Happoshu
ABV:
5.5%
Score:
71
Avg:
2.82 | pDev: 17.38%
Reviews:
18
Ratings:
31
Status:
Active
Rated:
Feb 07, 2020
Added:
Mar 01, 2005
Wants:
  9
Gots:
  3
No description / notes.
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Ratings by BeerAndBourbon:
Photo of BeerAndBourbon
Reviewed by BeerAndBourbon from Ohio

2.8/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 3.5
First beer on Thanksgiving. Thanks EinWeizenbitte! Sending some beer karma your way!

A. Pours clear yellow with fizzy white head that dissipates quickly.

S. Skunky hop flavor with that characteristic adjunct lager smell

T. Skunky hop flavor with rice and corn - just a touch of malty sweetness

M. Thin to medium mouthfeel with fairly high carbonation level

D. Very drinkable, but not something I really care to drink that much
Mar 11, 2011
More User Ratings:
 
Rated: 2.64 by acurtis from New Jersey

Feb 07, 2020
 
Rated: 2.57 by BEER88 from North Carolina

Nov 10, 2015
 
Rated: 2.77 by BigAl18 from Minnesota

Jun 04, 2015
 
Rated: 2.75 by MisterKilderkin from California

May 28, 2015
 
Rated: 2.72 by Zaktcc from Maryland

Nov 26, 2014
 
Rated: 2.5 by avwrite from California

Oct 03, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by pharmerdoc from Canada (MB)

Aug 18, 2014
 
Rated: 3.75 by samparkique4 from England

Jan 26, 2014
 
Rated: 3 by KevinDanger23 from Connecticut

Nov 23, 2013
 
Rated: 3.5 by Poupae from Thailand

Mar 28, 2013
 
Rated: 2.25 by westcoastbeerlvr from California

Jan 09, 2013
Photo of stakem
Reviewed by stakem from Pennsylvania

3.43/5  rDev +21.6%
look: 3.5 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 4 | overall: 3.5
12oz can into a pub glass. The brew appears a straw yellow color with some fine particulate stuck in suspension keeping it from being perfectly clear. A white froth more than 4 fingers strong appears when poured down the middle of the glass. The cap slowly fades to a thin film atop and leaves some spots of lace on the glass. Rising bubbles of carbonation maintain a thin film across the top throughout the entire duration.

This brew opens up with a bit of mineral/metallic character that wafts away. What remains is a smell that is slightly sweet. It includes a combination of something along the lines of wheat, cereal grains, corn? and a hint of artificial bubblegum-like sweetness.

The taste mimics the aroma with a sweetness that covers most of the profile. It is more artificial and bubblegum-like than anything with a faint grain sweetness evident across the back. I am stretching here but the faintest amount of grain and hops are detected into the aftertaste along with some mineral/metallic character.

This is a light bodied brew with a moderate amount of carbonation that is quite fizzy straight out the gate but tapers off pretty quickly. For more than 5% abv, it works. I am not saying this is a great beer by any means but it is fitting for what it is. I could see myself sitting down and drinking a few of these with the appropriate Japanese food pairing.
Mar 13, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by EinWeizenbitte from California

Jan 01, 2012
 
Rated: 3 by nickfl from Florida

Nov 16, 2011
Photo of ktrillionaire
Reviewed by ktrillionaire from Florida

3.45/5  rDev +22.3%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 4
EinWeizenbitte, acting in his unofficial capacity as the benefactor of nearly all Western Happoshu tickers, delivered this slender Japanese wale to my very doorstep. Well, the post did, but I digress...

I owe beerdom for this Happoshu, since EinWeizenBitte doesn't want anything. So if you need, say, Kvass, hit me up; I'll see what I can do.

Now, to the beer. I mean, the Happoshu...

A - It looks like a rice lager or a Bud Light. Minimal head, clear as glass, light in color.

S - This is quite light on aroma, nearly devoid. What little I can discern is pleasant enough; minerality, lightly sweet grain and a seltzer-like sharpness.

T - The taste is quite familiar to me, and a far cry from exotic. On the contrary, I think if you threw some kegs of this on the Bud Light handles, at, say, a NASCAR event, not a single person would notice. I am not saying it tastes like Bud Light, however; indeed it tastes significantly better than Bud Light, but nevertheless it is an exceedingly similar product. Where this improves on the standard adjunct lager is in the minerality and effervescence without the metallic and sweaty flavor associated with BMC adjunct. In all scenarios, any of the beers discussed are moderately-to-exceptionally bland, and somewhat watery. There is a time and place for everything, though. I use BMC adjunct for Shandy/Radler or other beer mixed drinks (Icebox, Chelada, Snakebite, etc.) as well as in cookery. I think I would usually, if not always, prefer this Honnama Red over the aforementioned American standards.

M - The feel is nice. The effervescence enhances the minerality, which is a good thing for this beer, since that is about all the flavor can offer.

D - Shall I pummel the felled equine any further? Thanks, very sincerely, to EinWeizenbitte for sharing with me, and so many other BAs.
Feb 21, 2011
Photo of billab914
Reviewed by billab914 from Virginia

2.8/5  rDev -0.7%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3
Thanks go out to Todd for sending this can. Poured from a 12oz can into my Starr Hill shaped glass. It poured a perfectly clear, light golden color with a thin white head barely covering the top of the beer.

The aroma is grainy with some malty sweetness to it. It's a crisp and clean aroma as well. The taste has a lot of the grainy flavor to it as well. Towards the finish it gets sweeter with some malty notes. It has a bit of a toasted malt or maybe rice flavor going on as well.

The mouthfeel is light and carbonation is a bit on the higher side. Drinkability isn't bad actually. I drank this one after a day of working on the house and it went down pretty easy. It didn't really have a lot of flavor or range though so it's not something I'd personally choose to drink much of. Not any worse then the American macros though and pretty comparable.
Jan 14, 2011
Photo of TheKingofWichita
Reviewed by TheKingofWichita from North Carolina

3/5  rDev +6.4%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 4
Beer was sent by a wonderfully generous BA: EinWeizenbitte.

The beer is a clear straw yellow color with a thick white head and a little small amount of lacing. Smells of corn, grain, and a little malty sweetness. Has that unmistakable American adjunct lager flavor. Tastes of corn, grains, and a little malt sweetness and a small amount of hop bitterness. The beer has a thin water mouthfeel and tons of carbonation. Drinkability is average.
Dec 09, 2010
Photo of Huhzubendah
Reviewed by Huhzubendah from District of Columbia

2.59/5  rDev -8.2%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5
This experience was made possible by EinWeizenbitte. Can shared by drabmuh. A huge thank you to both Todd and Matt.

Served alongside Kirin Tanrei

A: The beer is transparent and light yellow in color. The head is light, white, fluffy and stands in at about a half inch tall. As it fades, it manages to leave some faint traces of lacing on the pint glass.

S: Grains, corn, sweetness. This aroma was slightly better than the Kirin Tanrei, as it lacked the off-putting, plastic, metallic aroma I disdained.

T: The taste is of grains and corn with a cheap, macro lager flavor. Overall, a bit better than the Kirin Tanei, but still basically a cheap, macro lager flavor that lacked any depth or complexity.

M: The beer is thin in body, with adequate carbonation. The aftertaste fades quickly, which happens to be a good thing, for the most part.

D: This was my second happoshu. Again, I was thrilled at the opportunity to indulge in this very elusive beer style. While it was very cool from an experience standpoint, the beer itself wasn't that enjoyable.
Dec 03, 2010
Photo of jrallen34
Reviewed by jrallen34 from Illinois

3.19/5  rDev +13.1%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 1.5 | overall: 4
Thanks to Alex via someone for this style tick. Alex keeps feeding the beast...A sexy can served in my Darkness glass...Pours a super clear medium gold with about three fingers of head. The head just looks weak, watery and whispy but it actually hangs for a bit and has surprisingly full lacing...A medium skunk aroma, rice, alcohol. At first its pretty offensive but settles down...The taste is light, a little grain, almost no flavor. Like drinking a glass of water that had a drop of beer dumped in as flavoring. It doesn't taste bad or offend me like a bad macro...The feel is really bad, worse than water...Easy to drink, like a glass of water. But if I wanted something that light I'd just drink a glass of water...
Dec 01, 2010
Asahi Honnama Red from Asahi Breweries Ltd
Beer rating: 71 out of 100 with 31 ratings