Korean Job Discussion Forums

[steroidmaximus]

Sux. Hard. No flavour, no body, laden with chemicals. I agree with a previous poster: the best beer I've ever had was in Slovakia: gimme a Topvar any day. (which was the last time I looked the only brewery still 100% owned by Slovaks).

Anyway, funny story: I was in the Coex at a 7-11 and saw they had Stella Artois going for 1100 Won a bottle (usually around 3200). Imagine their surprise when I walk up to the counter with all 18 bottles they had, and asked if they had more. No dice. There was a store near a local army base that was selling bud for 1000 won a bottle. When I find deals like that, it's time to fill up the bottom shelf of the fridge.

[Cthulhu]

Yeah, 1100 for Stella is a steal. The best regular price I've seen it is W2100 at Carrefour. Sometimes the convenience stores can have surprising deals. The LG25's here in Busan had Kaupzeiner (German weissbier similar to Paulaner) for W2600 for a 500ml can. Needless to say I stocked up until they suddenly disappeared as quickly as they came...

[shawner88]

[W.T.Carl]

That is because the Korean Gov't slaps a high tariff on imported goods of any kind. Just compare the prices of decent wine in the shops that handle them. At least Korean beer is drinkable.

[here it is]

OK, so the consensus is that Korean beer sucks. Are you sure you're targeting the right victim? Is it the beer you don't like or the style?
In the 1996 World Beer Cup Competition, in the category of American Style Lager, the gold medal went to...OB Lager, Oriental Brewery Co Ltd, Seoul Korea. The silver went to the now defunct Nex, Oriental Brewery Co Ltd, Seoul Korea. So...by the standards of some experts, OB does what they aim to do very, very well. The problem may be that many of us are not so enamored with American Style Lager. This information comes from Charlie Papazian's Home Brewer's Gold, prize winning recipes from the 1996 World Beer Cup Competition.

In addition, there has been no mention of Hite Prime here. It's brewed according to German Brewing Purity Laws and is quite nice, in my opinion.

[weatherman]

I should add, that Korean brewers are making a try at new tastes these days. Hite prime is a all barely brew, and very good. Cafri has been mentioned and is light, but weak. A good beer to get as a chaser with your shots of tequila is exfeel, which is a low calorie beer with a smooth taste. Hite Stout to me is just Hite beer with caramel coloring, and a little chocolate flavoring. Really it is nothing special. Oh, the other day I saw Guinness in a bottle. Of course I tried it, but it will always and forever be better on tap, not completely sure of the cost either, but maybe it was 9000 for one bottle!

[Al Gore]

Hite Prime really isn't bad as Korean beer goes, I think its the best of the bunch, followed by OB, but I haven't seen it on tap anywhere. A big bottle is the same price or only a little more than a 12 oz can, so by all means , go with the volume. OB on tap can be quite refreshing, especially in summer. Three Alley Pub in Itaewon in Seoul has the best selection of imports on tap in Korea and a good selection in bottles as well, but is a bit pricey and the clientele can be a bit bothersome at times. All this talk is making me thirsty...

[here it is]

I'll amend my statement on Hite Prime. I believe it is the better than any mass produced and consumed North American Style Lager in the States (mass being defined as, oh, say larger production than Sam Adams or Sierra Nevada). Also as good or better than Labatt's Blue / Molson Golden (the 2 mass produced North American style lagers I can think of/have had from Canada). Molson Export is superior in my mind, but mind you, that's an ale...different style.

To comment on Hite Stout...well, it certainly disappoints as a stout, b/c it clearly isn't one. If advertised as a brown ale, or some spin-off of a porter, well, it'd be ok. But as a stout, not even close.

Anyway, Hite stepped up to the plate when they didn't have to (held most of the market), went down swinging with the stout but hit a solid double to the fence with Prime.

[Al Gore]

Ah, Sierra Nevada... and baseball, too! You're speakin' my language, bro :

[half_pint]

[Bulsajo]

I bought Stella and Grolsch at Samsung plaza Sohyun sta. (Bundang) before, but I think it was a promotional deal and not regularly in stock (maybe someone would know). It was great, the Grolsch was cheaper than what I would pay for it in Canada.

[Keepongoing]

I was here 30 years ago as a soldier and that was very different OB back then--back then it was formaldehyde. I like it

[Tiger Beer]

[riley]

Yack. The korean beer here makes me sick. It's good for getting drunk and getting a headache and that is it.
Is it me, or do Koreans not care about what they are drinking? It seems like the #1 thing is to get drunk, not if it's good quality. Soju, bad beer, 12-year old scotch, its all the same.

[jajdude]

Being a drinker I thought I would throw a bit in. The Korean-made beer is lousy, generally watered-down and includes formadelyhyde. ANd that includes locally made budweiser and heineken. They do have a lot of good imports at higher prices. One of the better ones is "Icehouse" at about 2000 won in some stores. And I think Beck's Dark is good for a bit more. But when it is made here it has more poison than Canadian made or wherever "real" beer is made... you know where I'm at... still I drink the local stuff given few options where I'm at, except to pay a lot. I'm not even sure about the coronas sometimes... you think it is really imported but..

.......hey for the worst beer ever, go to Taiwan, the "corona" says as usual made it Mexico, but it damn well isn't.... those guys are the king of poison! Absolutely every beer there is loaded with formaldehyde or something equally awful. Not a good place for beer...