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 What
is the ideal beer that fully satisfies the customer? At the outset
of the development of Super
Dry, our development team asked this basic question. In the mid
1980s, Japanese brewers tended to believe that beer must taste
bitter and heavy. Based on some results of blind taste tests,
the industry’s dominant “common sense” position
used to be that the customer in general could not tell one beer
from another and, therefore, could not truly appreciate subtle
tastes in beer.
Despite such beliefs within the brewing industry, our development
team instituted two bold new assumptions: the customer can appreciate
subtle differences in beer; and the standard of good tasting
beer changes as times change. By the 1980s, the Japanese diet
had been drastically diversified, and wine consumption during
meals had steadily risen during this time. In addition, there
was a definite trend in people’s preference for light,
dry wine and sake.
People apparently choose many products based on flavor, so why not
beer as well? Although it sounds like a natural question, this
concept was outside the existing common sense in the Japanese brewing
industry. To prove that our two assumptions were on target, we
completed a large-scale survey of 5,000 beer drinkers in Tokyo
and Osaka. |
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| Searching for the best yeast |
 The KARAKUCHI Concept
The results of the survey of 5,000 respondents directly included the true voices of the customers. The majority of respondents offered comments such as, "I want to drink lighter, more refreshing beer," or "I like beer light enough so I can drink several glasses," and "I want beer that goes well with any kind of dish."
From heavy and bitter tasting beer to light, refreshing beer - we identified a significant change in customer preference for beer. That is how we conceived a new type of beer: KARAKUCHI, draft beer.
Beer taste is determined by its basic ingredients, yeast, and the malting, the
brewing and fermentation processes, and the combination of all of these. The
development of a new KARAKUCHI beer recipe began with the exploration of virtually
infinite combinations of the kinds of yeast to be used with various kinds and
relative amounts of the other ingredients, and how they are prepared and brewed.
Searching for the best yeast
Yeast plays an especially crucial role in beer making. It "eats" the sugar content of wort (a sweetened liquid made from water and barley), converting it into alcohol and carbon dioxide. In order to obtain a crisp KARAKUCHI taste, the sugar content in beer must be reduced to its minimum level.
Searching for the best yeast
Asahi yeast strain No. 318, which was chosen from the collection of hundreds
of different strains in our yeast bank, boasts outstanding efficiency in fermentation.
In other words, it eats up sugar content effectively and helps realize the clear,
crisp taste we intend to provide. It also helps produce a sophisticated aroma,
which is consistent with our original development concept.
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| Repeated tasting sessions |
 Once Asahi
yeast strain No. 318 was chosen, our next step was to choose ingredients
and decide on manufacturing processes that were suitable for the bioactivities
of No. 318. Our development team selected the ingredients, the ratios of their
use, and the malting and brewing processes, and they experimented with various
combinations of them and altered their conditions, until they achieved the taste
we wanted.
Repeated tasting sessions
So, the tasting of various beer samples continued in the search for the right
KARAKUCHI taste. The team members drank and tasted trial beer products along
with sashimi and a wide variety of other Japanese, Western, and Chinese foods.
The key phrases we chose to describe KARAKUCHI included "a beer so clear and
sophisticated we may help ourselves to more," "a beer suitable for sashimi," and "a
beer that doesn't interfere with the taste of food." Repeated tasting sessions
After repeated tasting, we finally came upon the right KARAKUCHI beer and
the original recipe for Super Dry was born, which to today has not changed. Super
Dry's sophisticated clear taste was devised to make sure that it goes well with
all foods, and that the first sip of great tasting flavor continues to linger
even after a few glasses. Unprecedented branding and packaging Unprecedented
branding and packaging
Our unprecedented KARAKUCHI beer needed a bold new name and face (packaging)
to match its taste. We believed that the name should directly represent the taste
that we had achieved; the taste that the customer wanted all along. We chose
the English word Dry, meaning karakuchi, and added the adjective Super to stress
its crispness. The beer was named Asahi Super Dry. Unprecedented branding and
packaging
The creation of Super Dry's packaging was another example of defying the conventional
wisdom of the brewing industry. Basic label designs had generally been made for
bottles, but Super Dry label designs were developed for cans, as we expected
the growth of canned beer consumption in the future. The Super Dry label design
is composed of a metallic silver background that represents the metal surface
of a can with distinctive black letters on it. This simple, sharp design expresses
Super Dry's crisp and clear taste.
Unprecedented branding and packaging
The unique design proposal was controversial among development team members
and decision makers in our company, because it was first viewed by some as too
unconventional for a beer label. After many discussions, however, we brought
about a consensus that we should stick to the theme of originality for this new
beer. Enthusiasm and energy were apparent for positioning Super Dry as a leading
product and for trying to change the common perception of beer in Japan. |
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 In order to obtain the sophisticated, clear taste of
The taste that the customer waited for
The taste that the customer waited for
Super Dry went on sale in Japan on March 17, 1987. As soon as the product hit
the store shelves, it became an instant bestseller. Sales expanded rapidly from
major cosmopolitan areas to nationwide. While we were all convinced that we had
achieved our goal of realizing the taste that the customer wanted, the actual
production of Super Dry fell short of the growing demand. Once again, we had
to take an unprecedented action: placing an apology in the newspapers for not
producing Super Dry fast enough to meet the demand.
The taste that the customer waited for
Soaring sales and the popularity of Super Dry shook the beer industry in Japan.
Other breweries also introduced dry beer in the following year, and so-called
Dry Beer War broke out. Nonetheless, Asahi Super Dry has continued to grow its
sales, consistently being chosen for its original taste.
The taste that the customer waited for
In response to an expanding demand for Super Dry, we pushed ahead with a large-scale
capital investment in order to bolster our production. By 1990 all our production
facilities were updated with most advanced technology and equipment. The revamping
of production helped us supply more Super Dry, and its sales passed the milestone
of 100 million cases* only 3 years after its introduction. *One case is equivalent
to 20 large beer bottles, approximately 12.66 liters.
The taste that the customer waited for
Since the launch of Super Dry, we have hitherto continued to improve on its production
technology and quality management, and we have conducted various activities to
bring the fresh and crisp taste of Super Dry to customers around the world. Our
challenge and our search for innovation will go on to ensure that Super Dry tastes
as good as ever.
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