Kirin Classic Lager - Kirin Brewery Company, Limited

lamergod

Singapore

2.53/5  rDev -11.8%
look: 4 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 2.5

Poured into a pint glass.

App: Average Asian beer. Piss yellow with a 2 finger head that disappears considerably quick. Has a lot of carbonation and I had a really cool swirly carbonation that I was pretty impressed. Maybe it's just my bottle but what the heck, it's pretty cool.

Smell: Nice sweet smelling malts and that's it. There is also a bit of skunk smell in the beer.

Taste: Pretty mediocre. Heavily carbonated. Some malts taste.

Mouthfeel: Carbonated much.

Drinkability. It's a light beer but the lack of flavour makes it not drinkable.

Serving type: can

08-24-2010 11:53:44 | More by lamergod

johntfox

Florida

3/5  rDev +4.5%

05-21-2013 01:50:10 | More by johntfox

KerryCummins1977

Kentucky

3.75/5  rDev +30.7%

05-16-2013 01:32:22 | More by KerryCummins1977

j-rod18

North Dakota

3/5  rDev +4.5%

05-15-2013 19:24:08 | More by j-rod18

pcsnyder

Pennsylvania

3.5/5  rDev +22%

05-10-2013 11:16:22 | More by pcsnyder

spycow

Illinois

2.5/5  rDev -12.9%

03-08-2013 00:55:17 | More by spycow

dgherm

Pennsylvania

2.75/5  rDev -4.2%

01-27-2013 12:18:20 | More by dgherm

Hopheadjeffery

Illinois

1/5  rDev -65.2%

12-22-2012 14:56:41 | More by Hopheadjeffery

Fuzzycuffs

Oregon

3.75/5  rDev +30.7%

08-18-2012 12:56:59 | More by Fuzzycuffs

MrGaughran

2.75/5  rDev -4.2%

06-27-2012 02:41:06 | More by MrGaughran

sirksanti

3.5/5  rDev +22%

06-09-2012 16:27:17 | More by sirksanti

mhkirin

2.5/5  rDev -12.9%

05-12-2012 23:28:04 | More by mhkirin

Jim_DemonDeacon

3/5  rDev +4.5%

03-10-2012 20:49:39 | More by Jim_DemonDeacon

OregonMicrobrew

Oregon

2.5/5  rDev -12.9%

02-19-2012 20:38:48 | More by OregonMicrobrew

Griffith

New York

3/5  rDev +4.5%

02-02-2012 02:19:53 | More by Griffith

edwardkersh

Oregon

4/5  rDev +39.4%

01-17-2012 21:24:59 | More by edwardkersh

eye2

Texas

3/5  rDev +4.5%

12-05-2011 23:25:31 | More by eye2

justintcoons

Pennsylvania

3/5  rDev +4.5%

11-15-2011 00:45:21 | More by justintcoons

GONZALOYANNA

Spain

2.73/5  rDev -4.9%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2.5 | taste: 3 | feel: 2.5 | overall: 2.5

330ml bottle served in a Lager glass.Enjoyed in 1995.
Pours light golden in color. Brief white crown.Smells like a regular light lager,floral hints.Slightly sweet at first sip comes grainy,dry rice flavor.Light body,medium/heavy carbonation.Quite bland.

Serving type: bottle

08-28-2011 01:33:35 | More by GONZALOYANNA

jpBeerGuy

Japan

3.23/5  rDev +12.5%
look: 3 | smell: 3.5 | taste: 3.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 2.5

Not my favorite lager but it has character.

Appearance - Looks like a typical Japanese beer from Kirin. Golden in color, white head, bubbly, and some lacing on the glass.

Smell - It's got a nice aroma. Not very strong up front but if you get a good whiff, you can detect the hop, and malt, as well as some rice and whatnot. A little sweet smelling.

Taste - It's pretty good. Not very rich for a lager but it's good. The best part of it is the finish. It's got a nice bitter finish that makes you feel good.

Mouthfeel - Not so creamy but it's not so watery either.

Drinkability - I can go for a couple of these but there are more interesting beers to move on to after having one.

Overall, it's an OK lager. Just not the same as others.

Serving type: can

04-01-2009 18:11:53 | More by jpBeerGuy

Weizenmensch

Japan

3.25/5  rDev +13.2%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 3 | feel: 3 | overall: 4

For starters, this beer is MILES better in the bottle than in any size of can (from 115mL to 2L)! This is an unprejudiced bottle review.

Appearance: Looks like it's supposed to look, pours decently from the bottle, with half a centimetre of head, a decent amount of lacing, and the colour of a diabetic's urine. For the style, good.

Smell: Not altogether septic, smells like any good-by-Asian-standards Asian lager. Definitely comparable to Tiger or Asahi Super Dry or any of those other well-known so-called Premium Lagers from Asia. I can smell some adjunct presence but it's not overwhelming, and the grassy hops smell like a Bavarian field in the springtime, which is enough to give it a pass on the aroma side of things. PLEASE NOTE that smell and taste are quite strongly affected for this beer when poured from a can.

Taste: Cold. Well, there's some hoppiness there. I don't know what to tell you - it tastes like you're drinking a beer, and if it's a cold beer in hot weather then it's not bad - it's not skunky and it's not overly artificial-tasting so it gets a pass for taste as well.

Mouthfeel: Again, better in the bottle than in the can. Easy to swallow, doesn't leave any gross feelings in the mouth etc etc etc.

Drinkability: Higher than almost all Japanese beers I've had since arriving here. No adjuncty aftertastes, easy to get down, and actually quite satisfying.

Overall: Despite the inconvenience, and the extra weight in the backpack when riding a bike etc, it's worth getting bottled beers here (well, I guess that's pretty true anywhere). Even though I can get a choice of fifteen beers from a vending machine 100m from my house, it's worth going the extra mile for a bottled beer that's at least marginally better.

Kirin's beers are easily better than those of Asahi, and better than most of Suntory's beers. But since everyone drinks beer from the can here, it's hard to find a variety of Japanese beers in the bottle. I suppose the popularity of the can in Japan can only be understood by those who have had to sort the garbage in this country.

In short - quite a good Japanese beer. I wouldn't call it a rice lager; while rice may be involved, it's been pretty well eliminated from the final product, as evidenced by a non-slimy palate after finishing the beer. Mouthfeel is OK so rice content is under control.

Not bad, worth a try, one of the best easily-available Japanese macros.

Serving type: bottle

10-09-2008 11:42:08 | More by Weizenmensch

soulgrowl

United Kingdom (England)

2.33/5  rDev -18.8%
look: 3 | smell: 3 | taste: 1.5 | feel: 3 | overall: 3

Appearance: I'm tired of trying to come up with new adjectives or similes to differentiate between these cookie-cutter Japanese lagers. It's clear and yellow and that's all you need to know.

Smell: Light herbal-lemony hops and weak, sugary, fruity malts/adjuncts. Clean and bland.

Taste: I didn't know carbonated lemon dish soap came in cans now.

Mouthfeel: Frothy and spritzy and slick and syrupy.

Drinkability: Oh, how I tire of these fizzy, yellow beers. Even so, this one is pretty well put-together and largely inoffensive. More chuggable than drinkable.

Serving type: can

10-22-2006 08:32:24 | More by soulgrowl

davidchollar

Washington

2.45/5  rDev -14.6%
look: 2.5 | smell: 2 | taste: 2.5 | feel: 2 | overall: 3

pours out of the beige 500ml can into a mug, looks just like every other japanese rice lager. clear, pale gold, low-medium carbontion, big fat bubbles, ugly white head that dies down soon. smells like every other japanese rice lager. adjuncts, very little hops or malts, not much to get excited about.

taste, mouthfeel and drinkability? that's right, you guessed it. very predictable and incredibly boring. but at least i have a funny line to put in this review. *ahem*... these PRETZELS are making me THIRSTY! ... thank you. you see, i already know this beer is macro fizzy crap, but i want to review it because i am trying to review as many j-beers as i can while i live in japan. so i got some pretzels to eat along with it. and you know what? not so bad. i'll give it an average drinkability score because it sure does a good job of washing down these salty beer snacks. other than that, not impressed.

the reason i'm not totally bashing kirin classic lager is because it's not so bad for the style. it's a style i will probably never get again once i move back home, but at least it's not as god awful as happoshu.

overall, not recommended.

Serving type: can

06-19-2006 10:18:30 | More by davidchollar

donnebaby

North Carolina

2.55/5  rDev -11.1%
look: 3 | smell: 2 | taste: 3 | feel: 3.5 | overall: 1.5

A pretty good-looking cream foam head on this beer that reminds of a boiling mud pit. The smell is worty and fairly unappetizing, although strong.

The taste has a bizarre chemical/processed/sour mineral element mixed in with an otherwise not too bad taste, positive on the hops, big on grain flavor. A big, stranglehold carbonation sensation that was pretty awesome.

They're copying off Sapporo I believe with the "classic" idea--from Sapporo's "classic" beer offering.

Serving type: can

04-09-2004 14:08:54 | More by donnebaby

Naerhu

Japan

2.3/5  rDev -19.9%
look: 4 | smell: 3 | taste: 2 | feel: 2 | overall: 2

Ingredients: malt, hops, rice, corn, starch.

Big rocky white head that lasts to the bottom of the glass. Hazy yellow body. Very spicy hop aroma for a Japanese lager with plain pale malt background. Quite more aromatic than the Ichiban Shibori.
Plain pale malt body flavor with rough bitterness.
A bit of harshness on an otherwise insipid beer.

Serving type: bottle

02-29-2004 11:20:07 | More by Naerhu