Beer popsicle alert as ice beer hits Japan
We have some good news and some weird news for beer purists.
The good news is, Kirin has announced a new addition to its suds lineup, and for once it’s actual beer, not that “happoshu” blend of liquor and goodness-knows-what that Japanese breweries cook up to benefit from tax breaks.
The weird news is, Kirin’s Ice Plus Beer is designed to be consumed on ice. Yes -- in a glass, over a stack of fresh cubes of frozen water.
Different beast
Drinkers of a certain age will remember the “ice beer” trend that swept the globe in the mid-1990s. That was something else, though -- it involved freezing the beer as part of the manufacturing process to enhance the alcohol content of the finished product.
But Ice Plus Beer is a different beast altogether; it’s really just a normal brew designed to be poured over the rocks -- an abomination to those who believe lager should be served as-is, chilled (which, last time we checked, includes the vast majority of the Earth’s population.)
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“More and more consumers have been drinking not only whiskey and shochu, but wine and saké on the rocks,” explains Kirin in the official press release for the product. “Our aim is to create a totally new category for ‘beer on the rocks.’”
New category it may be, but don't expect Ice Plus Beer to spark a trend. Kirin almost admits as much in limiting its release to Japan’s convenience stores, skipping both bottle shops and the lucrative supermarket channel.
Still, and at a reasonable ¥220 for a 350-milileter can, the 5.5 percent alcohol content is bound to appeal to a few overheated company drones on autopilot as they navigate home of an evening.
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