This beer was launched early in 2023, with a very aesthetic design I might add, almost looking like a beer keg, and is Suntory's new Triple Draft Nama Beer.

The "Triple" comes from the triple decoction method used to produce the beer, which is a traditional European method where at three points of the beer's production, are specific ingredients of the beer removed, boiled and then returned to the beer mash. I won't go into technical details, but the goal with the method is to help to increase the malt flavour, depth and foam. It's ultimately a really time and labour intensive method that isn't commonly applied these days.

This comes as a result of Suntory having done some studies on the beer drinking market and concluding that folks were drinking more slowly over meals or hangouts, and thus the beer should keep fresh for longer.

Let's give it a go!

Suntory Triple Draft Nama Beer 生, 5% ABV | サントリー生ビール - Review

Tasting Notes

Color: Gold

Aroma: Gentle notes of uncooked rice, wheat with a light malty buttery vibe. The rice is most prominent here.

Taste: Pretty full in flavour with a thicker note of honey, buttery malt, wheat, light bit of rice and just a very gentle bitterness. It feels alot richer here and very rounded, cohesive and buttery. It’s lightly honeyed but very malty.

Finish: The rice becomes prominent here again with a mix of raw rice and glutinous rice. There’s still some honeyed sweetness in the background. Still really velvety and buttery and it just stays on, but in a weirdly very nice way.

My Thoughts

I really enjoyed this Nama beer from Suntory a whole lot, it’s really rounded and cohesive and it’s texture is just something else altogether - so ridiculously buttery. The flavours are pretty consistent and they sort of meld into one another, with the rice notes most prominent on the nose and finish (I’m a huge sucker for the rice notes). 

This isn’t a super bright or yeasty beer which I initially thought it might’ve been - rather it’s really rich and full bodied, super super malty. Probably the best texture on a commercial lager that I’ve tried till date.