The Premium Malt’s

Yes, the apostrophe is part of the name. The Premium Malt's is Suntory's flagship beer — the deep-gold, all-malt lager Japan reaches for when an evening deserves an upgrade from the everyday can.

Suntory, a company the world knows better for whisky, launched it in 2003 from its brewery in Musashino, near Tokyo, and built the brand around a single obsession: foam. The ideal serve carries a dense, creamy white cap, and Suntory sells home gadgets whose entire job is to conjure that head from a can; devotees compare pouring techniques the way coffee people argue over crema.

It also slots into a very Japanese custom: beer as a formal gift. Boxed sets of The Premium Malt's are a staple of seasonal gift-giving, which tells you how the beer is positioned — less an everyday drink, more a small ceremony. Suntory's 8.34 million hectoliters in 2025 keep it among the world's biggest brewers.

Deep gold under a dense, creamy foam that is half the point. The all-malt body brings a rounded, bready sweetness — noticeably richer than the standard Japanese lager — lifted by a floral, faintly fruity European-hop aroma and a clean finish. Pour it hard into a tall glass; the head should sit like meringue.