Spring Valley Hojun 496
Kirin Brewery Company (Kirin Holdings) in Yokohama, Kanagawa, Japan 🇯🇵
Lager - India Style Regular|
Score
5.87
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Appearance - 7 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 7 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6.5
S: dry | actual hops | cereal
A: crisp golden body | thin white head
T: grass | alpha acids | perfume finish
P: lager yeast | flowers | mineraly end
O: best beer of Japan so far | fresh hops | clean-drinking
~16 oz can | FamilyMart (convenience store): Tokyo (Ginza), Japan | 22-July-2025 | JP¥357 | sampled: a few minutes later on the streets of Tokyo with my family of five
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 5.5
Can pours out amber color topped with a sand head. Nose is light grain some grass hops. Taste is more of the nice light grain some bread and a grassy hop touch.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5
Can. An amber coloured pour with a healthy white head on top. Vague fruity, malty, caramel taste and aroma. Quite bitter, certainly not my choice in beer but it was a gift from a friend in Japan.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 4 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 5.5
Can. Amber with a white head that breaks up after a time. Aroma is mainly malty with some boiled travel lollies. Hints of grass the only sign of the hops. But they they are upon a taste - some light citrus and spice as well as grass. Pretty clean and not all that sweet, then moderate bitterness. OK.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 6 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 6
Can. Pours amber with a good white head. Caramelised malt grain nose, continuing to taste, moderately sweet with some toasted malt but the caramel shines bright. Ok overall.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 6 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 6 | Overall - 4.5
(Can) Pours clear golden with big white head. Aroma of grain and pepper. Medium body with good carbonation. Weird taste. There’s some peppery bitterness but also weird floral and chemical notes. Not good
Appearance - 8 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 5 | Texture - 8 | Overall - 4.5
I wasn’t planning on trying this but a friend gave me one so here goes. KIRIN Spring Valley 496 6% Deep gold with an earthy dirt/trash herbal aroma. Fairly full bodied with that same trash/dirt/earthy bitter hop thing. Fairly sweet, geez this is worse than actual Spring Valley beers by a fair amount. Don’t bother.
Appearance - 6 | Aroma - 5 | Flavor - 4 | Texture - 4 | Overall - 5
Can from the supermarket. Cheaper than real craft, more than macro. I think this used to be an IPA but now it clearly says Lager. Malty nose, biscuits, toast, caramel, grassy hops and some citrus. Not bad, nothing special. Bright, clear amber orange with a high, foamy head. Thin, strange flavor, wheat crackers, bit of metal, citrus, caramel, touch of cherry. All over the place and not very lager-like. Also, the hops are bitter and generally there, but not impressive. Body is a bit thin. Not offensive, but almost. Homebrew notes abound. Not worth drinking.