What is a dry beer, sake or drink? Asahi Super Dry Beer compared with non-dry beer and sake, and dry sake

I went for a S$6 beer tasting workshop that answered this question with side-by-side samples to compare. It was organised by Asahi Beer in July 2023 for the launch of their updated Superdry Beer taste. They not only let us try different types of beer, but also sake, because the concept of dry and not dry started from sake.

In a nutshell, 'dry' means that the beer or sake taste drops off, ends or disappears from your palate quickly. I believe people would describe that as the malty or grainy taste. For non-dry sake or beer, the taste lingers for a good 5 to 10 seconds. When it is dry, it is shorter, like 3 seconds. So naturally, super dry means the taste fades super quickly. 

For Asahi Super Dry, it was an extremely crisp 1 second. So basically you get a quick burst of beer taste in your mouth lasting a second, then it fades to nothing. I found that extremely refreshing, like drinking chilled or iced water, but with an interesting flavoured twist at the start.

Dry beers, and especially super dry, are apparently great for cleansing your palate, so they can be paired with any flavor after the beer. We were given snacks that were sweet, salty and spicy to try, and cleansing each flavour with Asahi super dry did work like magic. I can imagine that for some complex menus where the chef is ambitious, a small sip of dry sake or beer might be a useful tool to insert between courses that don't really pair well.

It was a great learning experience. I enjoyed my beer with Singaporean-style fried oyster omelette. Super dry is now my favourite beer type. I also love that they now have 0 alcohol versions, so I can drink it without worrying about dehydration or liver damage. It would be a dream come true if they also have versions without the fizz so it no longer harms teeth... Would be a perfect 0 sugar healthy alternative to tea or water that I could guzzle daily!!!