We do quite a bit of tasting here at drinkingjapan.org, and we, understandably, do not like everything we imbibe. However, longtime readers of this blog will know that we have never maligned a product. Occasionally, we have made comments about what a beverage lacks or has an excessive of, but such critiques are not disparaging. Readers do not see scathing reviews here because we simply do not evaluate any beverage that we find seriously lacking in redeeming qualities. Why have we set this criterion? Well, simply put, sensory evaluation is largely a subjective activity, and, as the saying goes, “One man’s meat is another man’s poison,” which, these days, could be transposed as follows: “One man’s poison is another man’s ‘meat.’” But we won’t go down that road today.
There are a few beers that we quite frankly would never consider buying. The reasons differ depending on the brand, but usually it has something to do with lack of complexity and low alcohol in the case of a mass-produced beer and off-putting aromas and flavors when it comes to the output of microbreweries. So, we don’t buy what we don’t like, but what do we do if we are gifted one of these undrinkables? Do we dump, or do we salvage? It is usually the latter.
The easiest way to improve a brew with the complexity of a stick figure or the aroma of a skunk is to add a little whiskey; in other words, make a Boilermaker. This is very well known, of course, but what follows is not.
We conducted a little experiment recently, juxtaposing two heavy hitters in the abv category, one inexpensive but historically significant—Denki Bran—with the other, the pricey Calvados. Both weigh in at 40% abv. The former is herbal, and the latter is a well-known apple brandy from France. We added each of these to glasses of the Brand X beer. We expected the latter to do a much better job with respect to improving the lackluster brew, but that was not the case. The apple flavor did not come through as expected: the taste resembled that of a fruit-based reduction sauce. Denki Bran was clearly preferable as a flavor enhancer. It also imparted a slightly smoky aroma to the drink.
Drinking Japan 