Kirin Heartland

Bottle. Body and head were standard yellow and white, quickly diminishing. Nice nose of grass, herb, and a bit of lemon. Taste was light floral hops, some lemon and bread. Crisp and light palate.

On tap at Wachi in Kyoto. Deep gold with a very fine head. Rather faint aroma of sweetish malts and hops. Nice but too faint and not complex. Good cereal flavor, malts and biscuits, slightly buttery. Decent enough hops. Crisp but creamy, with medium body. Pleasant enough. Much better on tap than in the bottle.

bottled. golden, some vanilla malt and hay in the aroma, not as overfizzy as other kirin beers, quite crisp and inoffensive with almost-adequate bitterness

A real average lager. Not too bad and not realy good. Just very average. But needed to try it

Tried at Copa in Machida, Japan. Better than the average (Miller Lite) pale ale. Full 2-finger head. Too mild of an aroma to sense, so I gave it a 2. Mild flavor, a little sweetness and a little corn. I liked it, even though it looks like Bud, but probably won’t order again, because I’ve rated it, and I prefer more flavorful beers. As Michael Jackson said "If I wanted a light refreshing drink, sparkling water will do just fine."

Small white head quickly disappears. Pale yellow body with some carbonation. Light buttery grassy hop aroma. Taste is light and grassy hops with very soft mouthfeel. Some butter also detectable. Dry chalky aftertaste. Not bad, but a bit boring. (0.33l bottle.)

This gets extra marks because its quite cheap and is a decent brew in itself. Nothing spectacular

Clear light golden color. Thick but rapidly fading white head. Very skunky aroma, reminiscient of some well-known European pale lagers. Sweet flavors of rice, corn, grass, and a bit of malt. Crisp, refreshing mouthfeel... not quite watery, but very light and easy to drink. Distinguishable from the "standard issue" Japanese pale lager, but hardly.