These three things came together in what I will call The Great Beer Experiment™. This was a test of wits and endurance to categorize the wide range of Korean beer.
Some of you may scoff that we considered ourselves qualified to spearhead such an important study. Please allow me shed some light on our qualifications.
Evan -
1) Graduated in only five years with a Bachelor of Arts in Music Performance
2) Was once a judge for Bozeman Idol
3) Cannot really smell anything unless it is very strong
Ben -
1) Is Korean-American. He probably has genes that can detect the nuances put in place by the Korean Brewmasters
2) Claims to have consumed lots of beer
3) Often looks like this:
and anyone who gets a shirt, tie, pocket protector and Harry Potter glasses painted onto his body must be smart.
Our experiment consisted of the following:
Ritz-like crackers - to cleanse the palate - saltines were unavailable
Water - also to cleanse the palate
Imitation Crab - to be consumed post-experiment, for nothing more than the elation that is experienced when one eats imitation crab
And the beer, followed by its catch phrase
Hite - "Cool & Fresh"
Cass - "Fresh" or "Sound of Vitality"
OB Blue - "The Original Quality Beer"
Max - "Delicious Idea"
We started out by tasting each beer and writing down our description. We didn't look at the other's description so as to not be swayed. No editing was done, all descriptions taken directly from the experiment's notes.
Hite - "Cool & Fresh"
Ben - Strong, but not overwhelming alcohol taste. With a "flowery" taste
Evan - Goes down smooth, very little aftertaste. Doesn't necessarily taste "Fresh" though, and "Cool" is based on your own refrigeration techniques. Taste = Old.
Cass - "Fresh" or "Sound of Vitality"
Ben - Mild tasting compared to Hite, on its own, it has a slight stale taste.
Evan - I will describe Cass as having a "heavier" taste. It lingers a little longer, but not in a negative way. Like a friend more than an acquaintance.
OB Blue - "The Original Quality Beer"
Ben - Stronger aftertaste that takes a moment to be sharp. Has milder "flowery" taste than hite.
Evan - Hello St. Peter! My tongue just died and went to heaven! I would call OB Blue "Full" and "Robust" slightly "Sweet" but still tastes like "Beer."
Max - "Delicious Idea"
Ben - Maltier taste than the first three. Not so much crisp as a taste that sits on the palate. Okay on flavor overall.
Evan - Max Beer: Specially brewed in your grandma's basement. It could be good if they marketed it as such, but with a name like "Max" it is like your Driver's Ed teacher telling you how "...Everclear (the band) totally rocks!!!" in an effort to look cool amongst 14 year olds.
We did two separate taste tests where one member poured the beer into numbered cups while the other played games on my iPhone.
So what were our results? Ben correctly identified half of the beers. Four out of eight tastes he got correct. I identified one. Just one out of eight. I had such high opinions of the beer, also. I hated Max.. but it turns out that I really don't know what I hate. Well, Max is the one I got right, so I guess I can pick that one out. But I really liked OB Blue and I couldn't differentiate that from the other two. Despite our obvious lack of skill in identifying the individual tastes, we both decided that OB Blue is the best. And Max is the worst.
I also felt the individual tastes of the beer became muddled once they got warm. We didn't plan ahead and have the beer on ice and the tasting took a good hour and a half. And Hite's claim of being "Fresh & Cool" certainly didn't stand up.
Most foreigners here have their own names for the beer: Shite, Ass, BO.. and Max.. I guess.. nothing really funny can be derived from Max.
Maxasshite - My attempt at logo humor
The bright side of the story is that a couple nights ago I found a brewery that imports beer from Canada. Real beer. Real delicious beer. For when Max, Cass, Hite, OB and soju just can't cut it.
And the imitation crab was delicious.
As it always is.
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