Korean beer: Last throw of the dice

I am a beer drinker. I like my beer and am always happy to sample something new. Before coming to Korea I had read that the country is a nation thats likes to drink and have a good time. It's true, people here love having fun and equally love their booze. Just one thing, the beer is very poor.


I have gone through periods here where I would drink it often in a bar and those where I would only touch it just to be sociable with co-workers. I would never buy it to drink it at home. There can be no defense, it is just bad - in total contrast to the Japanese who have some fine brews. I think things will change over the next ten years when Koreans realise what they've been drinking is essentially an inferior copy of American brands like Budweiser and Miller, the kind that are unversally regarded of as low quality. I think tastes will start to change farly quickly judging on the availability of higher quality beers in the supermarkets.


I just bumped into a co-worker in the local store. I was buying a few cans of Japanese beer (Asahi Premium) when he suggested I try a new Korean beer, OB Golden Lager. It is only 1,350won so I decided to give it a go. A lot of foreigners who I have met in Korea have defended the beer but I think they are either seduced by the cheap price or don't know better. Was I about to be seduced by it's taste?


On the positive side, the initial taste is OK. It also looks better with a slightly richer colour. On the negative side, it does not taste 'good'. There is no unpleasant after taste but then again there is no real after taste. Like most beers here it is quite weak bordering on watery and doesn't taste like the 4.8% it claims. It doesn't drive you away from it but doesn't make you feel like drinking another. OB Golden Lager is the best Korean beer I've had. I hope that will change as the years go by.

IELTS test, Uzbekistan food and Russian beer

My wife has been so busy this month. Every day she has to get up early to make the hour long bus trip to work to teach Winter camp. Despite this, she has been studying for an IELTS test - an internationally accepted test for English proficiency. Over the weekend she went to Busan to take the General test.

Unfortunately there was no test taking place that weekend in Daegu which meant that she had to get up at 4am to get ready for her 6am train to Busan on Saturday. She had to be there before 9am to take three parts of the test, listening, reading and writing. Worse though was the fact that she had to make the same trip again on Sunday for the speaking part which she tells me took only fifteen minutes. Understandably she was tired all weekend.

Because of her busy schedule my wife doesn't know how well she did. If she thinks she can get a better score she can always take the test again but will have the benefit of being able to have studied longer for it. The test costs around 200,000won or £110. She took the General test but there is also a harder one, the Academic test. Ihe difference between the two is the Academic one is to prove that you can study in higher education (where only English will be used) and the General is more to prove your ability and we're using this for proof of her level when we apply for her visa for England.

She had no idea what time she would be arriving back in Daegu but thought around 3pm or after. Luckily the test finished fairly quickly so she made it back before 2pm where she met my co-worker Ivan and myself. I would have gone with her to Busan but because there was no way of knowing beforehand what time the test would be over we decided there was no point me going with her just to be sitting around for a few hours.

I met Ivan downtown and took him to the Uzbekistan restaurant, Samarkand. I told him not to expect too much but at least have a beer. He said some of he food reminded him of food he tried on a trip in Europe but not as good. I tried mainly the same dishes as before but also tried a meat and spice filled pastry.



This time the service was better and the portions were back to normal but the meat in the pastry and the dumplings was still a little fatty. The kebab style meat I tried again was really, really good and by far the best dish I've tried there in my three trips. Alas there were no talent contests on the TV that I'd seen before. Instead we were treated to a series of Disney cartoons in Russian and Tom and Jerry.



Thinking that this may be my last chance to sample the beer here I had two. There were three choices, Baltika 3, 6 and 9. Ivan went for the lighter 3 but I tried the 6 for the first time. It was dark and reminded me of the Japanese stout by Asahai you can get here, but at 7% was much stronger. It went down well but I didn't go for a second. Instead I went back to the stronger Baltika 9 which is a hefty 8% lager. I may go back again before my time is up, just for the beer because at 5,000 for a 500ml bottle it is good value here.

Waiting for the free beer

Waiting for my flight at Incheon airport. Not long to go now. Am headed to Helskini then to Manchester. Have to admit the thing on my mind is what beer will be on the plane? I've never had Finnish. Can't wait.

What the duck

I nipped into the local supermarket to buy a beer (to combat the heat, I swear!) and what greets me on the way home? Why, but two ducks in a pen. No idea what they were doing in the local playground. Perhaps pets, perhaps dinner. Judging by the dirty water and their food - some lettuce leaves - they weren't too well looked after. Random stuff in Korea. I'm off to drink my beer, this heat drives you quackers.

5 day self-challenge

Lately I've not been looking after myself as much as I should though I've actually lost weight recently so can't be doing myself too much harm. I haven't been treating my body badly at all but considering I have a black belt test on Saturday I need to be in peak condition so need to make a few last minute changes.

Firstly, stop drinking beer. I've been having a beer or two - no big amounts - as I watch the World Cup games. This has to stop for this week. I need to drink water or juice and only those two. I can't believe I've lost weight so cutting down on the booze would really help keep the weight down, for now. If I can couple this with eating some healthy food then that would be great too.

Secondly I need to try and sleep a but more than I have been. That's easier said than done because it's s humid at night that sleeping is just plain difficult. There have been a few late nights watching England so I need to limit these for now too.

Thirdly and most importantly, exercise as hard as I can when at my taekwondo dojang. Really push myself to my limits and give everything. I still don't know if it will be enough but I've got to give it a go. My memory seems to serving me well right now, it's certainly better on the poomsaes but my technique, well it need a lot of work.

What I put into this week will be what I get out of it eventually. Hopefully it will be a nice new black belt and not something to be disappointed about.

Summer starts here

It reached 30°C today as Summer officially started for me. There's no backing off now for say three months or so. I am comforted by the knowledge that however hot it gets outside my workplace is quite cool and so far I haven't even had my fan on at home or had the windows open at night. The air conditioner was on in the staff room for the first time today and nobody was complaining. It's 11pm and I've had to buy some beer to cool off, at least that's my excuse.

And what will Summer bring for me? I've been checking out prices for a plane ticket for a trip back home and have found one that has good arrival and departure times. It comes at a cost though, some ₩1.68million, some ₩380,000 higher than quoted to me for May. Still it's worth paying to go home especially as this time my wife is coming with me. A week at home in July at the height of Summer, sounds good to me.

And turning to more sobering events on this peninsula as International investigators have officially blamed North Korea for the sinking of the South Korean warship Cheonan. My take is this, I don't see how South Korea can win this one. If they attack then can they really win? North Korea is so unpredictable to this casual observer. If they do nothing then they look very week, to their countrymen and to other countries. They are stuck it would appear to me. International sanctions being tightened will only work if China co-operates and is that really likely? Perhaps it is time for China to decide what country they want to actually be. Time to finish this glass of beer.

Black belt on my mind

Back at taekwondo after missing two classes last week and my body is feeling it. I had - and still have - a cold all last week which had been compounded by the yellow dust which left me lethargic, a dry throat and with a lengthy headache. I think this week I'll be doing a lot of stretching. My kicks were pathetic today and IF I'm going to get better then I need to be more flexible.

Last week we started learning (properly) the new poomsae. The one we're currently studying is number six (Taegeuk Yuk Jang) which will be for the red belt. Previous to today we'd only practiced half of the movements but we ended up finishing the entire pattern. It felt difficult but as the class was ending everything clicked and I didn't want to stop practicing. I'm now very confident of passing the belt test, be that next week or the week after, health permitting.

Looking at my calender, and if all things go according to plan we could be taking our black belt tests at the end of June. I say according to plan because that depends on passing the upcoming tests, being in good condition and reaching a standard that means we are ready to take, pass and excel in the test. I don't want to make up the numbers. I want to pass and look as good as I can and not be the token 'foreigner/외국인' who is given a pass just for turning up.

That's about eleven weeks to go so plenty of time to improve and to reach some kind of peak condition. I'm used to these type of tests but nerves will start to kick in the nearer it gets to it. In order to do well I need to loose some weight, get fitter, become more flexible and practice a lot more. That means exercising more, getting out more and stopping the drinking for a bit. Easier said than done. A plan at the very least.

Uzbekistan restaurant in Daegu

On Saturday we tried something new, a new restaurant, new food and more importantly, new beer. Wandering through the streets of down town Daegu looking for a bite to eat we once more passed through an area that is home to a Daegu Uzbekistan restaurant.


Also, I've been pining for more European cuisine. It's hard to get decent European food in Korea, never mind the insular Daegu. In Korea many restaurants that claim to serve Italian, French or even Spanish style food often give you a combination of European food made to suit Korean palates. Often the results are disappointing messes.



I've always been curious as to what they serve and how good it would be but never took the plunge until now. The food wasn't fantastic though this is perhaps partially due to the dishes we chose. Not being able to read Russian and not strictly trusting the Korean translation I chose foods that resembled more Western foods. This was a mistake. The food was a bit bland but I think I would go again to try more authentic dishes. What we ordered did not seem to us to be representative of Russian/Uzbekistan food but we could be wrong. The dumplings were good, containing discernible meat but the rest left me a bit flat.



Onto more important matters, the beer. Never having been anywhere near Russia and never having has the chance to sample one of their brews I jumped at the chance to sample the beer. The Korean translation read "Russian beer" so I didn't know what brands were available.



The waitress asked if I wanted strong or normal. I chose strong and the wife chose normal. I was expecting a 5/5.5% lager. What I got was a mighty 8%, and it tasted pretty good. I associate beers of that strength back in the UK to be unpleasant, tasting more like a bitter treacle but this was light. After a while I began to feel like I was drinking 8% beer but I would definitely drink this stuff again.



It's worth pointing out that this was a big beer, 500ml, not the normal 330mls you get in most bars and it was only 5,ooo won. A Bargain. After doing some research on Wikipedia I have found that the beer I drank was Baltika 9 (Krepkoe) and my wife drank the Baltika 7 (Export Beer).


If you are in the area and fancy a change, this place may not or may not meet your needs but its worth a look at, especially if you are missing European style food.

The restaurant name is Samarkand

New Asahi beer in Korea. Style Free and taste free

Being in Korea, for a drinker like me, means a limited choice of decent beers. There are convenience stores seemingly on every street corner but they are littered with a poor selection of Budweiser, Miller and Korean beer which is, FACT, the worst quality of beer in the world. Big chain convenience store will have Heineken, maybe Hoegaarden and usually Asahi and from time to time different lagers or even Guiness. It's the supermarkets, particularly the bigger ones where you find a decent selection.

I have to say the selection is light years ahead of what it like just four years ago, so I am thankful. Browsing the local Lotte Supermarket I found this beer over the weekend - Asahi Style Free. Here I point out that I prefer Sapporo infinitely more to Asahi but I haven't found Sapporo in Korea for nearly a year now, much to my great sadness. However, Asahi does produce a few quality beers.

Intruiged by the packaging and the name I bought a few to try. Sadly the name should be Taste Free. It is similar but not as bad as Korean beer, having many of the problems of Hite, Cass etc etc. Some research into the matter and I find out that it is sugar-free and seemingly not made from malt or hops. What demographic does this fall into? Who buys beer based on its sugar or lack of? It is also only 4%. No style and no substance. Despite this I am eternally hopeful of stumbling on more beers in Asia that I haven't sampled before. I wonder where my drinking will take me?

Koreas forbidden fruit

It is Sunday night and as usual there is nothing on TV and I don't really feel like leaving my apartment to go out either. I toy with the idea of getting some beer (there is none in my house) but I'm trying to cut down and also to lose weight but still the idea of having a beer interests me. I can either go to a shop to buy some or go to a bar. As I consider my next move I find an article on the BBC website - a commercial for North Korean beer. Wikipedia considers to be 'resembling a British ale' - can it be true? Whilst I admit to drinking South Korean beer from time to time it is vile, tasteless, impure and not really beer. Taedonggang beer on the other hand is reported to be stronger and significantly better than it's peninsula partners. At the time of writing, my findings lead me to believe that it is very hard to get hold of and is perhaps now not even imported to South Korea - god damn Korean instability. Perhaps if I lived in Seoul I could come across it. I truly wonder what this tastes like and whether or not I will ever get my hands on it here in the ROK.

Selling Beer in Korea (a low blow)

Right now the poster below is plastered all over a lot of the bars in Korea. Proving once again that the only thing that truly sells big name products and brands here are celebrity endorsements. Those funsters Big Bang are at it again, only this time they are telling you to buy beer. Korean beer, and they are telling you that it's probably the most fun you can have known to man.

As many foreigners here have figured out, the local brews are of dubious quality and certainly not enough to get anywhere near this excited. Once again an example of Koreans over egging the pudding. A product cannot be good, it must be the most amazing product ever made and buying it will send you into a state of bliss. I have noticed that reactions to even the most mundane product are so over the top that you cannot help but laugh. Such is the exaggeration on their faces it looks like three of them have all been punched in the testicles mere seconds before the snap was taken. For the full commercial/music video and a further insight into how beer commercials run like click the link below

Side effect of the season

For now the evenings are cool but that won't stay that way for too long. The novelty effect of the weather may be wearing off after just four days as the thirst has kicked in much earlier than last year. I refer to the desire to have a beer. A cold beer after work or hapkido. There is no substitute that I can find here. Perhaps it's for the best that I momentarily have only 1,000₩ in the house, bar an assortment of coins. Not enough to buy even the poorest beer Korea has to offer (for some arcane reason my bank card cannot be used from midnight-7am so no withdrawals available as I type). There's always tomorrow.

If you ever wanted to know what a Korean bar looks like

A new bar opened recently just around the corner from where I live. Last night I went there to check it out. Here's a slice of bar life, Korean style. Normally I can't stand Korean beer. In fact it's the worst beer I've had in the world. I don't particularly like drinking it as it is mainly tasteless, gassy, too light and gives me a bad stomachache the next day. However, sometimes I will have a few pints and just go with the flow, like last night and a good time can be had.



Most Korean bars seem to be dark inside but conversely brightly lit with neon, making the experience feel very different from most bars back home. At first it can be a little off putting and doesn't quite seem right, but after a while it kind of grows on you. However, light is not proportionate to quality.



At these type of bars, foreign beers such as Heineken or San Miguel, Becks etc etc are nearly triple the price of the supermarket and double the prices of the 24-hour convenience stores so it doesn't make much sense to drink them instead of the local draft which is about 2,500₩. Along with the beer you always get some kind of snack, varying from bar to bar but usually some moreish polystyrene-esque 'thing', or fruit and sometimes even fish. Here they also gave us some baked sweetcorn and cheese. On tables in these bars (and restaurants) is a button which when pressed gets you the attention of the severs.



Korean bars never open early but often close late. Music is mandatory in these establishments. but not the kind you may be used to. It's pure pop, pure Korean pop. The kind of music that doesn't sit well with a beer. If your conversation is good then it's easily blocked out. Make up your own mind wether or not these places are tacky but there are worse places to spend some free time at night especially if the companies right. By the way, the new bar is called Stay-Holic, which is ever so Korean.

Playing Patience

Right now I am struggling for motivation at Hapkido. I've been told that I have to wait until my next test (end of November) to find out my result. I've passed, I'm sure, but until I receive my belt there will be a seed of doubt. Getting my own black belt will be a huge boost to me here and can't come quick enough. These days, training is just me and the assistant and/or the Master. Nobody else. Nobody to compare myself to and to see if I'm getting better and nobody around my ability level to aspire to. After the warm up and some technique work I usually get to hear the dreaded words "Self training!", which means just me, trying to improve, on my own.

Added to that is the fact that there are two moves I've been working on for over two months that I can't yet do. I practice them every week and one I am so close to doing.... Keep trying, I can do it, they say - and they mean it. The mind is willing but the body doesn't always comply. I don't have the previous aches and pains but I lack energy at times. I've been slacking off lately. It's hard to get myself going when I know its over six weeks away till I can go to the next level. Drinking a beer is now what I want to do after finishing training. I try to resist, but sometimes I give in. I must try harder, but after a days work it's sometimes what I need (here in Korea).

*EDIT*

I've just got back from training. I can't deny that there have been times lately that I've thought about quitting, giving myself more free time and getting more sleep. Nights like tonight remind me why I go. As mentioned before, I've been working on some moves for ages, trying maybe hundreds of times with the same depressing results. Today, I successfully managed one for the first time. It's hard to explain the move (a kind of flip forward from a position of lying on your back) but it requires speed, power and timing. I felt like I'd won something, such was the joy running through me and the acknowledgement of my Hapkido Master. I tried maybe 30 more times but to no avail, mainly due to tiredness. However, I know my training is working and I am improving slowly but surely