Dark beer in name only
Gallery
Kirin Kuronama
Brand: Kirin Brewing
Price: 160 yen
Place of purchase: Belx supermarket
Rating:
The description
Kirin Ichiban shibori kuronama, or black beer, comes in a distinctly black can or black labeled bottle. The beer appears to be a dark lager, not to be confused with a porter or stout.
The good
Kirin single wort lager beers tend to be somewhat dry, a little fruity and yeasty with a crisp quality. It's what you drink at izakaya or with a casual meal, refreshing and a little light. Kirin's brewing method, ichiban shibori, brews the beer from the first pressing of the malt. It's purely brewed from one wort. The kuronama is malt beer that sure delivers on the color from the all-malt mash. I chilled it well before pouring and it had a substantial head of foam, but not excessive. Flavorwise, it's similar to the standard ichiban shibori.
The not so good
Historically, beer tended to be darker hues until brewers started concentrating on achieving wheat and golden colors for lagers and ales. So in this respect, kuronama is really just a form of dark lager using dark-colored malt. There's not a lot besides the color to distinguish it from the standard ichiban shibori. It's a run-of-the-mill lager. It's kind of thin on body but has some nice caramel notes, but the flavor is no more complex than the gold stuff you get on tap at the average izakaya. I wouldn't go out of my way to drink this again, but it's not bad. Just unremarkable.
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