Beer Review – Kirin Ichiban

Overview

Kirin Ichiban is an American Pale Lager style beer brewed by Kirin Brewery Company in Japan. It has an ABV of 5.0%.

About the Brand

Kirin Ichiban is brewed with purity in mind. The company’s website explains that Ichiban meaning “number one” or “best” is given to the brew as it only uses the first press of the wort when brewing.

With a focus on the malts used, Kirin explains that malts and hops from all over the world are carefully analyzed prior to brewing each batch of beer. Through a mixture of “experience and instinct”, Kirin’s brewmasters are able to select the optimum ingredients for their flagship brew.

About the Beer

Kirin Ichiban has a light-medium golden color and a mostly malty aroma with a slight hit of hops.

Its watery texture unsurprisingly yields a very mild, light flavor initially. As it sits, Kirin’s malts come through with a reasonable injection of flavor balanced delicately with slight hops contributing the slightest bitterness.

Like many other Asian lagers (including Singha and Tsingtao, among others) this beer was clearly brewed with a warm, humid climate in mind. Having visited Japan in a rather muggy September, I can imagine Kirin Ichiban would be incredibly pleasant to break through the humid haze.

TL;DR

Kirin Ichiban is definitely one of those mainstream brews a lot of craft-beer drinkers with a desire for robust flavor will inevitably turn their noses to, but I believe it has its place. It is easy to drink and just the sort of beer you want when it’s very hot and humid.

Rating: 7/10

Question of the Day

What is your go-to beer on a stinking hot day? Let me know!