Japan: Breweries to assault Asahi with new beers

With beer gardens set to open soon, the nation's leading brewers are drawing up battle plans for an assault on Asahi Breweries Ltd.'s latest beer, Gokuuma, according to Asahi.com, May 10.

By the end of June, major players Kirin Brewery Co., Suntory Ltd. and Sapporo Breweries Ltd. will be fighting it out with Asahi Breweries in introducing a new malty version of "third category" beer.

Previously, that referred to beer that used soy beans, green peas and corn as ingredients instead of malt.

The lack of malt made the beer cheaper due to lower tax, a factor behind the healthy sales. But a growing number of consumers complained that beer without malt is watery.

In October, Asahi launched Gokuuma, the first third-category beer to contain malt. It has a nearly 50-percent malt content.

All the new products combine a mixture of distilled barley and happoshu to add flavor while keeping the price at the same level.

On May 23, Kirin Brewery is scheduled to introduce Ryoshitsu Sozai.

Suntory's Kin-Mugi is expected to hit the market June 19 while W-Dry from Sapporo Breweries will be launched June 27.

Some have dubbed the new beer a "fourth-category" beer because it uses an entirely new method to produce the drink, but under government stipulations it is still classified under the third category.

Although the new products are based on happoshu that has lower malt content, they are considered third-category beers because they are mixed with distilled barley.

Retail prices will be the same as the no-malt beers' because the alcohol tax is the same at 28 yen a 350 milliliter can.

The alcohol tax for happoshu is 47 yen for a 350-milliliter can. The new third-beer drink is grouped with cocktails.