Asahi "Kuronama" Black

Asahi Breweries' "Kuronama Black," or just "Black" is a beer shrouded in mystique and mystery. According to the bottle it is "Asahi's original brew, rich and smooth taste."

 5.0% ABV

Review:
This is a very sought after beer in the American beer market. Beer nerds go from store to store looking for it and when it is located, they generally don't balk at the high price it demands. It consistently scores well on sites like Beer Advocate and Rate Beer and even Michael Jackson spoke fondly of it. BUT... what is it? This may seem like a silly question, but the label on the bottle says that it is "Kuronama Ale," and "IMPORTED, 11.2 FL. OZ. ALE" Most beer related sites label it as a European Dark Lager, or just a Lager. This is not simply a question of semantics, however. Ales and lagers have pretty different characteristics and are brewed very differently. (There are some German style beers brewed with ale yeast but bottled with lager yeast, but this beer did not have the sediment that I would have expected from this type of conditioning.) Is it possible that since 1995 the Japanese brewery has been putting out labels with a typo right in the middle of the design? I'd say it's possible, but unlikely.
My tasting finds that it has a yeasty nose and a slight yeasty/bready flavor characteristic closer to an ale. The roasty notes are similar to black patent or a de-bittered black roast. (common to European Dark Lagers). The color is black with beautiful highlights-- but  that tells nothing about the brewing process. I found the mouthfeel to be closer to a soda (lager characteristic).  When served cold, the flavor was roasty and a bit nutty. As the beer warmed, it transformed into something like a chocolaty, fruity, Dr. Pepper (the fruitiness could be a ale yeast characteristic or some darkly roasted crystal/caramel malts).

Overall Impression: I still can't tell you for sure how, exactly, this beer should be labeled... As a whole, I would say it is much closer to a Schwarzbier, but still, something in the back of my mind says, "no." Hmmm... could this beer be a darker Japanese version of a Steam Beer (California Common)? In the end, I guess it doesn't really matter how it is categorized. The question is, "Is it good?" The answer is Yes!

(Side note: If you don't want to spend 15 bucks on a six pack, see if you can find it in a store that will sell you singles. This is a very session-able beer, and I would feel silly spending that much money on something that didn't even last a night.)

Grade: B+

This beer was purchased at Whole Foods