New beer light on bitterness, but good for flavour

Asahi The Bitter-ist

Brand: Asahi Breweries

Price: 250 yen

Place of purchase: Belx Supermarket

Rating:

This spring, you can't miss this new beer from Asahi. It's got a dark label with the Asahi name in big, bold, golden letters. And it's got a curious name, The Bitter-ist. This is Asahi's first new beer in seven years. The beer is made with two hop varieties, Talus and Hersbrucker. The flavour profiles of the former is often described as grapefruit, floral, and woody. The latter, a German variety has spicy and astringent notes. This beer is priced the same as other Asahi beers. It pours with a good head, golden colour, and has some citrusy notes.

I tempered my expecations of this new Asahi beer, The Bitter-ist. I was pleasantly surprised by this new beer. It's got pleasant citrusy, slightly spicy flavours, and a bitter finish unlike the standard Asahi. Two things that puzzled me about this one. First is the beer name, which suggests some double entendre. Between beer specialism and the superlative, I expected a beer much more astringent. It's also a lager with a golden colour. I half expected something dark. But for flavour this is a refreshingly different take on lager from Asahi.