Kirin Ichiban Japanese Rice Lager - It has malt and hops!

I decided to try this beer on a lark. I never have tried Japanese beer before. There is not alot of information about the beer on the website http://www.kirin.com/beers.htm. The website suggests malt and hops make Ichiban a great beer. I beg to differ. Just because you include malt and hops does not make a beer great. The brewer has to do something with the beer. Make the lager special, make it unique, strive for excellence. I think you know where this review is headed.

To begin with, the color of this beer is pale yellow. The head is white. The odor produced by this lager is a malt aroma. I have experienced this taste of beer only a few times prior. I would describe it as being a very "wide flavor". This is not a good or bad thing. The flavor seems to be very broad, hitting many more taste buds unlike most beers that I would describe as having a narrow flavor. Malt is the biggest flavor in this lager... and thats about it. This is not a complex beer. And this may be the problem. Kirin Ichiban is a simple lager without alot going on. It is simply a very basic beer. Where is the unique flavor, a special taste in the beer? It isn't there. It is not a horribly bad beer, there just doesn't seem to be anything great or good about it. Would I buy it again? No. Would I recommend to friends? No. Sorry Kirin Ichiban Lager, I have no love for you. I grade this beer a D.

Kona Longboard Island Lager - Wipeout

Let me first state that I have tried other beers produced by Kona Brewery. I judge beers by taste alone, not by who brews them. Some breweries make both good and fair beers. When I spotted this beer, I thought I would give it a try. The official website http://www.konabrewingco.com/ gives little information about the beer itself, although it does provide a long list of awards their beers have won. In all fairness, your beer could have won hundreds of awards, but that doesn't shade my grading of this lager. It is what it is. I do have to give Kona points for the website, it is presented very well.

After opening the beer, I detect the aroma of a traditional lager. There is a sweet malt smell but little else was identifiable. I didn't note anything else particularly special. Longboard Lager has a golden color when poured. The head is white and it soon dissipates. The mouthfeel was lighter than I expected. The taste was pretty basic. I taste malt, annnnnnddd.... malt. That's it. This is a very basic lager. Longboard tastes like a very average lager. It is not a bad beer, but not great either. I really want to call the brewery and say, "Do something with it!". There is a solid base taste to this lager. Now build upon it by adding something to it to make it unique or exceptional. I believe this could be a good beer if only some experimentation was done to improve it. Would I buy this again? Probably not. In my opinion this is a very average lager. I do wish it were a better lager. I grade this beer a C+.

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