Varieties of Canned Beer in Japan (Premium, Good value, Diet, Special)

Hi all,

Today, I would like to introduce about Japanese beers. In Japan people like me drink a lot of beer. The basic beers in Japan are very similar to the foreign lagers but there are very Japanese original beers. I will show them to you later on.

Firstly, there are 4 major beer makers in Japan.

1. Asahi beer http://www.asahibeer.com/index.psp.html

2. Kirin beer http://www.kirin.co.jp/company/english/

3. Sapporo beer http://sapporobeer.com/

4. Suntory beer http://www.suntory.com/

Some of them are quite well known outside Japan. For example, Asahi beer can be seen in every Sainsbury’s in the UK and Kirin sometimes can be seen in Tesco. By the way, Asahi’s beer brand name is “Super DRY” but there is no relation with the Clothing brand “Super Dry”, I believe (I heard it is a British maker).
The basic beers are as follows.

1. Asahi Super Dry

   

 2. Kirin Ichiban Shibori


3. Sapporo Kuro (Brack) Label


4. Suntory Malt’s


I cannot really find the difference but Asahi probably has the largest share and Kirin used to have the largest share for very long time.

And next is the little more luxurious beers.

1. Ebisu Sapporo Beer


2. Suntory Premium Malt’s


3. Asahi Super Dry Premium


4. Grand Kirin


If I am right, I thought you can find Suntory and Ebisu (Sapporo) easier than Asahi and Kirin. The former two were started quite earlier than the latter two, so they are better known for people, I imagine. They are all a little more expensive than the basic beers and said to be better taste.

Next beer are a little better value (cheaper) beer. In Japan there are what we call “Second beer” and “Third beer”. They use a slightly different ingredients so they can avoid Beer Tax, which makes them better value.

1. Sapporo Mugi to Hop the gold



2. Kirin Nodogoshi Nama


3. Suntory Kinmugi


4. Clear Asahi



To be honest, I cannot find much difference especially when I am drunk. So, maybe it would be good idea for you to buy some good beers and some cheaper beers. You can start with your good beers and when you get drunk, change your beer to the cheaper ones. That can save your money.

Lastly, there are beers which sound like very Japanese. Those beers are “Diet” beers. Those beers reduce the amount of sugar (glucose) so they are called “Diet” beers. Here’s the examples.

1. Kirin Tanrei Green Label (sugar 70% off)


2. Suntory Kinmugi sugar 70% off


3. Asahi Off (sugar 70% off)


4. Sapporo Goku zero (Sugar free)
 

There are more and more varieties of “Diet” beers. I never tried those beers but I suppose they are very popular especially for young ladies in Japan.

At last, if you are lucky, maybe you can find basic Asahi beer with this package.

This package Asahi are very fresh. They are delivered within 3 days since they are made at the Asahi factories. I found out that they are usually at the shops on Fridays. If my memory is right, the prices of this beer and other basic Asahi beer are the same. I usually do not find much differences but I can say this is outstanding!

That’s all for today. I hope you enjoyed it. Should you have any questions, requests or comments, please leave a message. I am very happy if you could give me some advices to improve this blog so more people can visit here and get information on what they need.

Bye!