Korean Job Discussion Forums

[shawner88]

Anyone else here tired of Hite or OB....Why isn't there a better variety when there are so many drinkers here?

And why is it so hard to buy a 6-pack at a reasonable price?


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http://korealife.blogspot.com

[thinker]

i think most koreans aren't really partial to beer , they don't care for variety or 100% barley, their beer is full of preservitives (which some people have bad reactions to) and adjuncts, and there's only under 10 different beers (which i believe are all made by the same people)> > >it seems as it's just another method of getting drunk, gives them a break from Soju> > >I've homebrewed beer for years and all of it's been better than their commercial beers> > >

there is a nice beer in a Micro brewery in Busan, but they've got chill have in the beer, meaning it's not clear> > >but the taste was pretty good, i think in another few years real beer making will begin to pick up in korea, when i go back i'll be bringing all my brewing equipment though> > >


is there anyplace in korea that provides really good imports on tap like Guiness, kilkenny, becks etc.> > >? even chinese and japanese beers are pretty good> > >

[IconsFanatic]

[W.T.Carl]

I found OB to be a very drinkable beer. In fact I found it to be MUCH better than almost all mass American beers. If you want good beer, I would suggest that you go teach in the Czech Republic, Slovakia, or Poland. You won't make as much money, but the beer would be much better.

[antiamerican]

The beer here, particularly draft beer, has more bacteria because Koreans think alcohol can kill all the germs. In other words, the water in the beer is not purefied enough.
I've drunk Hite here for years and can really tell you it causes adverse physical problems. I think it's the preservatives they put in the beer here too.
You can get some Japanese beer, such as Kirin and Asahi, which in my opinion, is much better.
And in my opinion, I'd stay away from Korean beer altogether. Ever open a quart and get that smell like BO? Man, I wonder what my liver looks like.

[Cthulhu]

The less said about Korean beer, the better. Unlike China and Japan, who both went to German brewmeisters back in the 20's or earlier to learn proper brewing techniques (with mixed results, but hey, it ain't German beer) the Koreans did it more or less themselves. The results speak for themselves.

Buying draft imports (usually in hotels) is prohibitive, but imports are fairly reasonable in the supermarkets. I pay a little more, but I haven't had Korean bottled in a couple years and my stomach is thanking me. Judging by the distinct absence of headaches I now get from beer, I'm not going back anytime soon.

[canukteacher]

For any Canadians out there I found Molson Canadian at HomePlus (Mullae store in Seoul) last week. It was cheap.......3100Won for a six pack. (BTW........I posted this info last week but for some weird reason it was deleted from the board.............hope it makes it this time:)

CT

[dutchman]

[kimcheeking]

[weatherman]

Ah, beer again. I like beer. I even like Korean beer. Hite is nice and dry, while OB is a little more full bodied. That said micro brewed beer is better, and like all fashions it will/is coming to Korea. The micro brew in Kangnam has a german brew master. Until this comes to every city above 200,000 in population, there are many good bottled beers out there from all over the world. I know, my bar tab always shows.

[Rand Al Thor]

I really like Cafri...

[The Donkey]

The reason for such high priced imports in Korea is the level of taxes and duties that the Korean government places on liquor imports. It is something like 200%. I worked for a Dutch brewery in the US before coming over here. When I was doing research on Korea, one of the things I looked at was the beer market. There are no major breweries represented over here (Hieneken, AB, South African Breweries ect.) Which is in sharp comparision to other Asian nations such as Vietnam, Cambodia and China, which have seen a dramatic increase in foriegn investment at local breweries. When breweries buy into local market brewery they do so in order to introduce, or increase market share of their flagship brands i.e. AB would buy a 49% stake in a local Chinese brewery in order to more efficiently distribute Budweiser in that market at a significatly lower price. Korea on the other hand is a extreamly protective of their industries (just look at the rice and garlic markets) and foreign investment is limited (due to high import taxes). The price of beer and liqor over here also makes it an undesireable market for foriegn brews to tap into due to their high production costs. Imported Malted barley for example is taxed nearly 175% if I am not mistaken. Which means the raw materials to make their beer would be higher.

[dogbert]

OB is a joint venture of Interbrew, the Belgian brewery.

[The Donkey]

Dogbert:
No kidding, I had no idea. Just did some research on it. Interbrew lists the S. Korean market as an developing market, but says little about the joint venture with OB. There is also no mention of the joint venture in their invenstor analysis, which is surprising. Wonder how they view the venture? Thanks for the info though.

Interbrew owns a 34% share in Oriental Brewery Co.Ltd.

[dogbert]

You're welcome.

Interbrew and Oriental Brewery signed the final agreement to purchase Jinro Coors in South-Korea

Leuven, 4 November 1999. - Today, the Oriental Brewery Co. Ltd., signed the pruchase agreement to take over the Jinro Coors Brewery in Chungwon, South-Korea. Oriental Brewery, a joint venture of Interbrew and the Doosan group, has participated at the bidding process on the Jinro Coors Brewery. In July, the competent authority decided in favour of the bid of 454 billion Won of Oriental Brewery. Since then a due diligence and the final negotiation of the acquisition took place. The tentative closing date is December 1, 1999 after obtaining the regulatory approvals.

Jinro Coors is the third brewery of South-Korea with a market share of about 15 % and a production of about 2.4 million HL. Their most important brand is "Cass". The company name will be changed from Jinro Coors to Cass Brewery, and it will maintain its headquarters in Chungwon. Oriental Brewery confirms that they are to take over all employees of Jinro, as stated in its bidding proposal.

Through this operation, Oriental Brewery reaches a market share of about 48 % in South-Korea and a volume of about 7.5 million HL of beer/year.

Since Interbrew entered into the Korean market in 1998, the Korean economy has been recovering well and the GDP is now growing noticeable. By this new investment in Korea, Interbrew group is very pleased to be confirming its commitment to the country and to Asia.