Beer (2009)

[thursday 1]

a chunk. I had to bite hard. YUM!!!!

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Its a bit of an Urban Myth about Guiness being a meal n a glass, most lagers have more calories.

[big-will 7]

....AND they just make you hungry as well!

[thursday 1]

 

The Classic. Available only in Hokkaido, so make the most of it. It's got a rich full taste at 5.5% v/v. Good tasting beer.

 

 

 

Otaru beer. 3 kinds available, pilsner, dark and weiss. This is the pilsner. Tastes similar to the classic, but not as rich. More a toned down taste. Alc 5% v/v.

 

 

 

Asahidke Beer. The astonishingly bland design of the can belies the stunning, stark, fuming landscape of Asahidake.

 

Or was it designed that way to lower one's expectations? Well, it was a very tame tasting brew. Apart from the name, I'd say the only other thing going for it is the 5% alchohol it contains.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Originally Posted By: thursday

The Classic. Available only in Hokkaido, so make the most of it. It's got a rich full taste at 5.5% v/v. Good tasting beer.




Otaru beer. 3 kinds available, pilsner, dark and weiss. This is the pilsner. Tastes similar to the classic, but not as rich. More a toned down taste. Alc 5% v/v.




Asahidke Beer. The astonishingly bland design of the can belies the stunning, stark, fuming landscape of Asahidake.

Or was it designed that way to lower one's expectations? Well, it was a very tame tasting brew. Apart from the name, I'd say the only other thing going for it is the 5% alchohol it contains.

eh.....no its not. I often buy that from my local Daiei...very nice it is as well.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

What I want to know is..... you often here things along the lines of "only available in Hokkaido", but.... why? If it is so good, wouldn't they be able to sell it anywhere?

[RobBright 35]

15 beers?

 

how many calories were in the burger?!

[RobBright 35]

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver

eh.....no its not. I often buy that from my local Daiei...very nice it is as well.

indeed they do TB

[thursday 1]

yeah Bag, it's quite frustrating sometimes. I've only seen the classic in Hokkaido. But the Sapporo black label gold star I can get here.

[thursday 1]

Kirin and Suntory are in merger talks.

 

This from Asahi Shimbun editorial which I found quite interesting.

 

Quote:

Kirin Holdings Co. and Suntory Holdings Ltd., Japan's two largest food and beverage makers, are negotiating a possible business merger. If a deal is struck, their combined sales of 3.8 trillion yen would easily create the nation's single largest food and beverage corporation.

 

As a beverage concern, the new firm would also surpass soft drink king Coca-Cola Co., Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest beer maker, and other legendary names.

 

Aggregate sales of Kirin and Suntory beer account for over 50 percent of the domestic market, far above the 37-percent share held by No. 2 Asahi Breweries Ltd. Not too long ago, such a merger might have posed problems with the Anti-Monopoly Law.

 

But this is the age of global competition, and there is plenty of latitude for major inroads by imported beer. In the first place, the power of convenience stores, discount shops and other retailers to decide prices is also quite high. Although the Fair Trade Commission must examine any such merger, there appear to be no major hurdles in this case.

 

For Japanese companies, which saw their international competitiveness sapped by the "lost decade" of the 1990s, such business restructurings have typically sought to cloak management frailties. Partners have also gone on the defensive to protect themselves against hostile takeover bids by buyout funds, mammoth overseas companies or other adversaries riding the global money glut.

 

The possible Kirin-Suntory deal clearly differs from such maneuvers. The beverage market continues to run robust even in the midst of the global recession, with both of these companies ranking among the clear winners in that sector as well. Hostile takeovers have also been relegated to backburner status of late.

 

Suntory, a family-run business with a distinctive corporate color, and Kirin, a major group famed for its sound management practices, differ in makeup. Although the details of the merger plan remain under wraps, the timing by two rivals to engineer a union bridging their disparities suggests stronger awareness of overseas markets.

 

Much like the mobile phone industry, Japan's beverage makers have been accused of developing their business expertise independent of the outside world. That is, they have created numerous types of high-quality products to satisfy the rigorous demands of Japanese consumers, while steadily impeding entries by overseas firms and divvying up the home market among themselves.

 

With the decline in Japan's population, however, the outlook for the nation's domestic market is stringent. Remaining complacent under such circumstances would seriously limit the latitude for growth as viable companies.

 

Steeped in this sense of impending crisis, both Kirin and Suntory have recently moved to acquire companies in Asia and Australia. If they do integrate their operations, it would further bolster investment stamina backed by the new company's overwhelming strength in Japan. It is safe to say there would be more than ample room to expand business in the Asian market.

 

Asia's middle class, with per-household disposable income ranging from 500,000 yen to 3.5 million yen, has swelled more than sixfold over the past 20 years to about 900 million people.

 

Japanese companies must not confine themselves to the shrinking domestic market, but rather treat this new high-growth region as their own terrain in forging new means of surviving and prospering. Without such efforts, there can be no new leap of growth.

 

If these two beverage giants seize the initiative in advancing down the path of overseas expansion, it would furnish a strong and encouraging new model for Japanese companies in general.

 

--The Asahi Shimbun, July 15(IHT/Asahi: July 16,2009)

[kkk 7]

Yes I saw that on the news.

Lets beer.

[thursday 1]

Lets beer yes

 

Kirin are really going for it. It already bought an Australian brewery and a Philippines one. And they brew under license in China too.

[thursday 1]

sheet, they're bigger in China than I thought.

 

[Ezorisu 0]

As long as they keep producing Suntory Malts Premium, I'll be happy.

[pie-eater 207]

Got a magazine from the UK this week - big ad for Fosters. Lager in a can, "Foster's Scuba - our best ever tinny". In-can scuba technology for in-can greatness.

 

I suppose it's like the widget bitter cans.

 

Any good or not? Sppose I can try next week

[thursday 1]

if I had to choose between drinking Fosters and drinking water, I'd choose Fosters.

[RobBright 35]

Crikey - it can't make fosters any worse though can it. Remember that was my first beer I ever drunk, and hated the stuff, didn't touch beer for another two years after until I discovered Kronenbourg and realise there was nice beer out there.

[thursday 1]

Around 6, I had a small glass of Carlsberg. Didn't like it then... nor now.

[grungy-gonads 54]

Carlsberg reminds me of Liverpool Football Club, so it can't be good.

[BagOfCrisps 24]

All rubbish.

 

Lets good beer.

[Tubby Beaver 209]

Fosters is pish, so is Carlsberg. I hate Heineken as well, fooking hate how loadsa bars here have it (as their only draught beer) and want to charge you the earth for it because its from "exotic Holland". Its a crap pint, I'd rather drink Happo-shu

[Ezorisu 0]

Heineken is the reason I have a strong aversion to beers that come in green bottles.

[thursday 1]

I agree. I hate Heineken, it refreshes the parts other beers cannot reach.

[thursday 1]

Originally Posted By: Tubby Beaver

Originally Posted By: thursday

The Classic. Available only in Hokkaido, so make the most of it. It's got a rich full taste at 5.5% v/v. Good tasting beer.




Otaru beer. 3 kinds available, pilsner, dark and weiss. This is the pilsner. Tastes similar to the classic, but not as rich. More a toned down taste. Alc 5% v/v.




Asahidke Beer. The astonishingly bland design of the can belies the stunning, stark, fuming landscape of Asahidake.

Or was it designed that way to lower one's expectations? Well, it was a very tame tasting brew. Apart from the name, I'd say the only other thing going for it is the 5% alchohol it contains.

eh.....no its not. I often buy that from my local Daiei...very nice it is as well.

which no way Tubbs? Asahidake no joy or Classic outside of Hokkaido?

The former unlikely, the latter illegal. Turn yourself in before I do it.

[pie-eater 207]

I will be drinking lots of beer in the Lancashire countryside come this time next week. scouser, SJ1 - up for it by the canal/Frodsham?