Asahi Super Dry

 

          I’ll be the first to admit it: when it comes to beer, I like them fancy. Whether it’s the craft beer of north America, or the classic beer styles of Europe, I like the good stuff. This means that unless I’m doing so for a review, I don’t drink many lagers. I especially try to avoid beer made with rice and corn because adjuncts make the beer taste generally unpleasant in some way, which gets in the way of enjoying what should be an otherwise refreshing summer beverage. Bring me an Asian lager on the other hand, and I may find in myself to change my mind on the subject.

Asian lagers often have rice included in the grain bill because it’s an inexpensive way to add fermentable sugars to the beer. This typically makes for a thinner beer with less flavor and character. This is usually an undesirable effect to have on a beer, especially when you prefer your beer to actually taste like something. When you think about the cuisine of southeastern Asia though, adding rice to your beer’s grain bill can make your lager desirable in ways you wouldn’t expect.

Imagine drinking a thin, lightly flavored, ultimately refreshing beer with your favorite spicy Thai food. That lager won’t have any bitterness or other hop profiles to accentuate your food’s spiciness. Rather, every sip refreshes you for the next bite of food, making your meal maybe a little more enjoyable. Asahi Super Dry pours into my glass crystal clear, and the color of pale, ripe hay. Thin streams of pinpoint carbonation support a rocky, bone white head with decent retention.

          Taking a sniff, the first thing I notice is a faint, sweet aroma. Beyond that, the aroma is impressively neutral. This makes me wonder if Asahi uses rice as an adjunct in their grain bill. Asahi’s overall neutral aroma does come on the back of a very faint hint of bready pale malts. Faint graininess leads into a neutral center and a finish almost completely lacking in character. I don’t even pick up a whiff of hops in the finish, which is disappointing but not unpleasant in character.

          Taking a sip, I notice Asahi’s mouthfeel first. It’s slick and smooth up front, with spritzy carbonation leading swiftly into a dry and lasting finish. As with the nose, the flavor profile is neutral, almost to the point of lacking any flavors at all. But only almost. With its faint grainy flavors up front, and neutral center from the use of rice, Asahi still tastes like lager. What’s more, with its smooth mouthfeel, balance, and lack of off flavors Asahi Super Dry tastes like a better version of those lawnmower beers we’ve all been subjected to in our lives.

          I will happily give Asahi super Dry a 7 out of 10. As lagers go, it occupies that strange place where it borders on being good despite its almost complete lack of any real flavor or character. Despite lacking any of the real flavors I’ve noted in better lager, Asahi is decent tasting in its own right, balanced and refreshing. I will take one of these beers over a mainstream lager any day, especially if I’m having some spicy southeast Asian food for supper.