Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner is a 5% pilsner made by the folks at Kankiku Shuzo in the mystery wilderness of Chiba’s “Little Hawaii”, Kujukuri. Anyone been there yet? To the Sardine Museum??
Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner Nose and Taste
A pilsner, eh? I’ll be honest: don’t expect this beer to inspire one of my signature beer odysseys. I hope that one day pilsners and lagers will escape their “weak yellow piss” reputation with some truly delicious beers, but until then I’ll have to put up with rolling my eyes so hard when I see one to review that they grind against my sockets.
Come to think of it- lagers and pilsners don’t have the same stigma in Japan than they do in the west, do they? Because regular drinkers don’t know anything else. They can probably tell the infinitesimal difference in taste when Suntory rebrands its Premium Malts as Craftsman’s Craft Beer Premium Barrel Beer Lager or whatever. Are they happy with that, though? (Seeing that people are still buying and drinking happoshu, I’d hazard a guess to say that they don’t care)
Anyway. Yawn. Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner pours out a hazy, dusty gold with a couple of fingers of head. The nose is kinda wheaty, a little bit bready and chewy, but also with some honey sweetness. Tasting produces much of the same, but with a malty edge and an ever so slight pinch of hops.
I reviewed Kankiku Shuzo’s stout the other day, and just like that one, this is completely inoffensive. It’s fine. Totally fine. I’m inclined to be a bit soft towards first-generation breweries these days, unless they’re trying to foist some gimmick on me. Beers like these get savaged on Ratebeer and other review aggregator sites, usually because either people have paid through the nose for a pint of it in Tokyo somewhere and have an axe to grind, or they’re trying to hold it to the same standards as modern brewers who are trying more creative recipes.
But these old-schoolers occasionally deserve a bit of respect for making a go of it in the face of the Big Breweries. Not too much respect, mind. Want to keep them hungry.
Bloody hell, I said I wouldn’t ramble on. Stop it Joe!
Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner: The Bottom Line
Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner is a good beach beer. I think I said that about the stout as well, but I wouldn’t particularly want to drink a stout on the beach, really. This beer is better than Asahi. It can be a bit pricey though. So, nah. Don’t bother.
Where to Buy Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner
Kujukuri Ocean Beer Pilsner can be bought at the following places:
