The aspiration of the developer to make the world's best and finest beer was the starting point of The Premium Malt's story. The ideal beer, brought about by pursuing only the highest quality flavor and aroma, continues to evolve into an even more superior beer.
It was nearly 30 years ago when I was studying beer in Europe, the home of beer. My desire to make the world's best pilsner, the most popular beer style drunk in the world, was the start of developing The Premium Malt's. The primary goal in terms of style was beer brewed in the Czech Republic and Germany–beer with 100% malt content and offering a rich, quality taste. It took a series of challenges to shape the beer, with its characteristic delicate hop aroma–unparalleled in the world–and noble, spicy and quality bitter flavor. Suntory has received many praises and admiration from customers who had drank: “After haring a glass of beer, I get the urge to drink another glass immediately. This is the beer I can drink as many glasses as I want.” I truly hope The Premium Malt's will be tasted and enjoyed by as many customers as possible.
- Developer: Ryuzo Yamamoto
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Born in 1946 in Kochi Prefecture. He graduated from the Department of Agriculture at Kobe University and joined Suntory in 1969, where he has been involved in the development of beer ever since. He served as a judge for the World Beer Cup in 1995 and is recognized today as one of Japan's leading brewers.
Establishment of microbrewery
To produce one of the world's best and finest beer – surely this is a dream anyone engaged in beer-making would have at some stage of their life. This desire was the starting point of development for The Premium Malt's. At that time, brewers were generally only allowed to make beer in large batches, which made it difficult to produce a beer of strong character, considering the slim chance of selling such a product in large quantities. But Yamamoto thought of the small-scale operations of European brewers, wondering if a similarly sized facility at Suntory could be the key. In 1989, Suntory established a microbrewery at the larger Musashino Brewery. This marked the first real step toward Yamamoto's dream of producing one of the world's best beer.
Carefully selected ingredients for best flavor
Suntory use only carefully selected pure ingredients to brew the world-class pilsner. To make an aroma-rich beer, we carefully select aroma hops with a mild bitterness and fine aroma hops with floral aroma. For the malts, we use two-row and barley–but only the large-sized grains and those with a high starch content, which are most suited to bring rich taste and refreshing aftertaste. For the water, we use underground natural water with characteristics of the soft water Pilsen, the home of pilsner beer.
Highly established propriety manufacturing methods
To make the best out of the carefully selected ingredients, it was necessary to take great care in choosing the most appropriate manufacturing methods. Developers placed the greatest emphasis on the aroma of the hops. They studied how to bring out the exact level of the floral aroma known as “hopfenblume.” After numerous trials and errors, the developers were able to come up with the best amount and the timing to insert hops. They call this method of adding hops twice or three times “Aroma Rich Hopping” method. This method was discovered after a decade into the research.
Moreover, the developers made extra efforts in the wort preparation or wort production process. Whereas the mash is usually boiled only once, they adopted a “double decoction” method where the mash is boiled twice to produce a solid, rich brew. The wort is then fermented in a condition best-suited to developing a deeper flavor. This craftsmanship of the brewers added the depth of flavor The Premium Malt's is so well known for.
Through this long journey at last, the team of ware successful in developing a beer that connoisseurs rave about: “The aroma of hops is extremely gorgeous.. This aroma and flavor are comparable to those of other world-best beers.”
