Over the last 20 years in Japan, real beer “substitutes” like ‘low-malt’ beer（発泡酒）and ‘third-ranked’ beers（第三のビール）have become more and more popular. According to beer sales in 2009, low-malt and a third-rate beer, accounted for over 47% of all beer sold in Japan. Just fifteen years after the first low-malt beer was sold on the Japanese market by Sapporo in 1994, the Japanese approach to beer has been steadily changing. Today, not only Sapporo, but all major brewing companies produce these beers and with a huge selection and even seasonal varieties available, competition is fierce. So, why has Japan come to change its beer drinking habits in favour of what is essentially fake beer? Let’s go over the finer details.
By law, if the malt content of beer is 67 per cent or more, it can be classified as the real deal or ‘real’ beer. Beer brewed containing anywhere between 25 and 67 per cent malt is known as low-malt beer or Happoushu (発泡酒) in Japanese. In the case the malt content is less than 25 per cent, or no malt is used at all, by law they are named ‘third-ranked’ beer or’ Daisan no biru’ (第三のビール). One of the main advantages to this classification of beers is that they can be produced and sold cheaper to consumers. You see, depending on the malt content, the tax rate differs. A 350ml single can of real beer is charged around three times higher in tax compared to a third-ranked, which is why the prices between the two at the supermarket are so very different. In fact Happoushu and Daisan no biru are actually more profitable per can for the brewing companies than real beer. With Japan’s stuttering economy meaning people are cutting costs wherever and whenever they can, substitute beers are only thought to get even more and more popular.
The Breweries Companies have also been quick to target the increasing number of Japanese women who are drinking beer, and have begun producing easy to drink, less bitter tasting varieties. Asahi clear is one such example which is extremely popular among both men and women, becoming the number one selling third-ranked beer in Japan. There are also those who worry about their health and in wanting to cut daily calorie intake, are drawn to some of the new low-malt beers. Many of these are much lower in calories yet contain the same alcohol percentage. The third-ranked beers are thought to contain fewer calories due to the low purine, which makes people feel a lot better about having a drink or two in the evenings.
Due to the amazing rise of these substitute beers, ‘real beer’ sales have been slowly and steadily decreasing. Advances in brewing technologies has seen improvements in how the new beers not only look but taste, the result being that they have become increasingly indistinguishable from what we know as ‘real beer’. The amount you could save over the long run is significant, especially if you drink every night. Ironically there was an incident however a few months back, when local bars were cheating customers by serving Happoshu claiming it was real beer. This is in no way an act that can be condoned but does make you think about how much consumers really can tell the difference between the real beer and cheaper low malt versions. In this case, customers couldn’t tell and drank away happily, believing what they were drinking was real beer.Only when they were told did they realise.
For a large majority of people, it really isn’t easy to tell the difference and come to think of it, is it so important? Considering the price and putting aside the malt content, as long as it tastes like beer, fizzes like beer, and get you tipsy like beer, is there really any good reason not to be drinking these new substitutes?
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