The third beer

I'm not really much of a beer drinker, but I do like hearing about new products. I was surprised to read today about the latest beer trend in Japan: beer brewed with protein from peas or soybeans instead of malt. Apparently by lowering the percentage of malt in the product, breweries can create a beverage which falls into a lower tax category - and can be sold at high volumes for a lower price than normal beer. This category of beer is referred to as the "third beer", following normal beer and happoshu, another low malt alcohol beverage.

I have to wonder what soybean beer - like Kirin Nodogoshi Nama and Asahi Shin Nama 3 - tastes like? The ads I've seen promise a refreshing, crisp taste. But I don't think I believe it. To me, normal beer is bad enough, and these new products almost sound worse. Are they here for good - or are they just a passing trend?

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