Cheap, clear low-malt summer beer

Clear Asahi Sawayaka Shikomi

Brand: Asahi Breweries

Price: 200 yen

Place of purchase: Belx

Rating:

If you're feeling the economic pinch, and all you want is a cold one at the end of a hot summer day, Asahi Breweries' Clear Asahi Sawayaka Shikomi might do the trick. The label says the drink is happoshu, or low-malt beer, but it appears this drink falls in the dai dan no biiru category. These are cheaper, lower-malt beers with various adjuncts. Clear Asahi Sawayaka Shikomi pours with a nice head, smells and tastes lightly floral and has crispness to it. It's got low bitterness. This is a limited-quantity product.

At 200 yen for a tall can at my local, Asahi Breweries' Clear Asahi Sawayaka Shikomi is an okay low-malt beer. The beer has an adequate if thin body, something akin to low-alcohol session beers. The beer lives up to its label - sawayaka shikomi means refreshing brew. It's crisp, clean-tasting, inoffensive, and low on bitterness. I recommend chilling this one in the freezer until the can gets frosty. As the beer warms, the crispness dissipates. It's not bad for a low-priced, low-malt beer that goes well with dinner.