The Beer Safari
#50Name: Black Beer StoutBrewery: The Hite Company (Est. 1933)Origin: Seoul, South KoreaStyle: StoutAlcohol Content: 5.0%Cost: 1,800￦ Black Beer Stout, my favorite Korean beer. Admittedly that doesn’t say much since rating the taste of Korean beer is kind of like holding a beauty pageant for angler fish. Admittedly, these beers are drinkable, but when it comes to flavor, they are pretty much bottom of the barrel (most are comparable to the flavor of Bud Lite). The flavor of Black Beer Stout, like basically all other Korean beers (and American light beers), is highly influenced by the use of rice in the fermentation process, which certainly lowers the cost to produce, but it also seriously compromises the flavor. Anyone who’s ever tasted a Korean beer side by side with a classically produced German beer will notice the different flavor character immediately. Regardless of all the bashing that I’m doing, beer snob that I’ve become, I can honestly say that Black Beer Stout is definitely the best Korean beer, for no better reason than that it clearly sets itself apart from the others. Say what you want about this beer, the one thing that it has going for it is that it tastes like nothing else in the Korean market. To me, that counts for something.

#50
Name: Black Beer Stout
Brewery: The Hite Company (Est. 1933)
Origin: Seoul, South Korea
Style: Stout
Alcohol Content: 5.0%
Cost: 1,800￦

Black Beer Stout, my favorite Korean beer. Admittedly that doesn’t say much since rating the taste of Korean beer is kind of like holding a beauty pageant for angler fish. Admittedly, these beers are drinkable, but when it comes to flavor, they are pretty much bottom of the barrel (most are comparable to the flavor of Bud Lite).

The flavor of Black Beer Stout, like basically all other Korean beers (and American light beers), is highly influenced by the use of rice in the fermentation process, which certainly lowers the cost to produce, but it also seriously compromises the flavor. Anyone who’s ever tasted a Korean beer side by side with a classically produced German beer will notice the different flavor character immediately.

Regardless of all the bashing that I’m doing, beer snob that I’ve become, I can honestly say that Black Beer Stout is definitely the best Korean beer, for no better reason than that it clearly sets itself apart from the others. Say what you want about this beer, the one thing that it has going for it is that it tastes like nothing else in the Korean market. To me, that counts for something.

1 year ago