Asahi Black

This is a drink that, for me at least, represents a boundless chasm of thick, gooey, intrigue. From the age of 23-25 Asahi was my drink of choice because, even though it's extremely expensive (for what it is) on tap, it represented the best available lager sold in town. It was lightly honeyed and smooth whilst maintaining a fresh taste that meant that you could drink it for... Well... As long as I actually did.

Now I've seen Asahi Black around, I've spotted it in quirky little restaurants and in the corners of beer shops, always subtly hidden away and never advertised as anything other than yet another Japanese beer. To me it just stinks of mystery! The gold and black label, with the original Japanese on the front, it says that it's rich and smooth but it's got a little bit more than that. The first thing you get from the smell is the slight smokiness and a little saltiness that reminds me of a dark soy sauce. When you take that first gulp it feels like a river of milk meandering through you and tastes like smoky banana custard with a soda stream twang.

I find it interesting that they didn't use different malts but they used completely different grains, they have a mix of barley, rice and maize to create this intriguing black lager. Ratebeer describe it as a Dunkel but, having had a few of those, I wouldn't feel comfortable putting this in that particular pigeon hole. It doesn't look like it should be as drinkable as it is because it tastes like an easily sessionable beer with enough flavour to make you think a little. It looks like the finest spring water mixed with the murkiest crude oil and bottled in black and gold.

Japan do a whole lot of strange and confusing things, their customs and culture might seem alien to some here in the West but Asahi and Asahi Black both translate very well. Thank you, Japan.

...Or

日本ありがとうございました (I hope that's right.)

Food Suggestion: I reckon this would go nicely with a lovely bit of fresh fish, maybe scallops and bacon... Or fish and chips... Or sushi if you want to get all topical.

Drink this if you like: It's hard to pin down a beer similar to this because all the other smoked beers out there are so much more smoked than this and I'm not aware of there being many black lagers out on the market. The tastes aren't massively unique but the combination may well be. If you like Asahi then you might like this, if you like bitter stouts then you MIGHT like this. This one is really hard to call.