Thin low carb beer approximation

Asahi Style Free Triple

Brand: Asahi Breweries

Price: 160 yen

Place of purchase: Belx Supermarket

Rating:

　In spring 2026, Asahi Breweries offers this happoshu, or low-malt beer, in short and tall aluminum cans. Asahi's aim with Style Free Triple Zero is to adapt a brewing and fermentation process similar to beer. They've increased the amount of malt by five times in an attempt to get umami flavour. The drink pours golden with a frothy head, approximating a typical Japanese lager. The product's label indicates that it has zero purines, carbohydrates, and sweeteners. The flavour is something like a lightly malty lager.

Style Free Triple Zero is meant to appeal to health-conscious consumers. The result is a simulacra of Japanese lager. I tried it so you don't have to. I don't recommend it. The "sparkling alcoholic beverage" is 6% alcohol by volume. While it looks and smells promising when you pour it, golden and with a good head of foam, it's not that great. The body is very thin. The flavour is malty, and the omission of additional sweeteners results in just malt. It's like drinking a thin, beer-flavoured highball.