Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

Hey all, this in not meant to be a rant, I just want to know if anyone else gets headaches from Korean bear, and if anyone has any ideas why this happens.

In effect I am asking if anyone knows why this happens(for example you have an idea what they are using to make the beer).

I had 3 glasses of beer last night over a 5 hour period(hangin with friends waiting for a movie, not drunk as I don't like getting drunk). And I stopped drinking the third glass as I was getting a headack.

Has never happend with American, or European beer.

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

Hey Matt, 

I would have thought the same thing, but as I sat trying to finish the last one, it just made me feel worse untill I stopped drinking it all together...

 

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

I'm happy to be the one who does the ranting here.

I'm the same as yourself and Mr. Gaasenbeek.  I can only drink about one, MAYBE two ASS or SHITE (that is, if I can even stomach the wretched taste) before I get an awful headache.  I feel like such a douche because whenever someone buys me a beer, obviously they're buying me ASS or SHITE, and I have to politely decline because I know that the minute my lips touch the glass, it's like saying "Yes, please, I'll take a headache with that!"

On the flip side of that, whenever I buy beers, unless someone absolutely insists on drinking the garbage...I refuse to waste good money on ASS or SHITE, and usually upgrade to Redrock or Budweiser, or whatever.

I'd like to think of Korean beer as the option for those foreigners whose aim is solely to get smashed out of their minds as quickly and cheaply as possible.  These are the people who have lousy taste in beer, pure and simple.  So long as it's cheap, and it gets them drunk, they could care less about the taste.  There's another word for them...I seem to have forgotten...oh, yes...alcoholics.

The odd time that I do go out, I just stick with either Hoegaarden draft or bottled imports.  Two large Hoegaarden draft beers at a Thursday Party, 20,000won, and I've got plenty of quality beer in me with a sweet buzz to carry me through the night.  But I'm never going out with the intention of getting hammered.  I just want to enjoy a good quality, ice cold beer over conversation with some friends.

Korean beer is on such a sub-level of quality that it doesn't even really qualify as beer.  This is why you and I are getting these headaches: IT'S NOT BEER! 

Most Korean beers are chemically brewed, and don't use hops or barley, but rice.  Much like soju, the result is a five alarm hangover with a headache that makes you want to put a shotgun into your mouth.

Not sure how reliable the wiki article is on Beer in Korea, but it says that of all of the Korean "lagers" (such a term should be used VERY loosely, as we're not even talking about beer...we're talking about goats piss), only Max and OB Golden Lager use 100% barley malt.  Hence, why we see those OB and MAX ads going out of their way to show people in golden fields of barley (sing it, Sting!).  They have to actually REMIND people that yes, beer actually gets brewed with hops and barley!

Obviously, Japanese beer is superior in every regard (pick a label, they're all pretty damn awesome), and that's because they actually use hops and barely in all of their beers.

Anyway, Korean beer is pathetic.  It's not beer.  It's on par with soju in terms of how it's made.  That's why you get headaches.  Pay the price and drink real beer...or pay the price with a nasty headache.

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

Yep the same. I can sometimes drink a few glasses and be ok, usually not though. Draft can be worse than the bottle stuff of the same name. Maybe some places don't clean out the lines often enough and the added contaminants add to the headache brew.

 

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

Korean beer is made with cheap ingredients and they have to add a lot of chemicals to make it look and taste like normal beer.  Some of these additives also speed up the fermentation process or serve as a preservative.

Asian beers in general tend to have a lot of additives.  I've heard glycerin mentioned as one cause of headaches from Indian and Thai beers (the infamous Changover).

Korean beers don't use much (if any) real hops.  Hops flavors and preserves beer.  It's not that strange to use rice in addition to barley.  American Budweiser lists rice on its label as if that were something to be proud of.  In general beers made with rice have a lighter taste and color, but aren't necessarily bad.  Beer Lao is a pretty good beer made with rice that doesn't have the chemical taste or hanvover of Korean beers.

I also get strange hangovers from Korean beer.  If you want pure beer, stick to German imports.  Their purity law is strict enough that even the cheap German beer in the half liter cans at Emart are better quality.  

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

Thanks for the info, I was serios about not wanting to rant and I am very happy to have the info.

I have never had a hangover, but in Korea I have come the closest, and I hate the dreaded headache. When others are buying I defer to their offer, but when I buy, I choose imports, mostly cause I really like beer. Not the buzz but the flavor and Korean beers pretty much have none...

 

Thanks again~

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

the tap beer is the worst hangover... cafri gives me much less of a hangover... stella equals no hangover... i start with half a bottle of soju and move on to stella... this keeps me from spending too much on the stella

 

Re: Korean Beer... headache (not a rant)

If you 've been drinking a think you know many korean drink for the the buzz and to be drunk  not to enjoy the taste . Korean beer i think is made to make people drunk and buzzy fast . I do not think Korean beer is famous outside of Korea . Koreas like to do the bomb that is mix beer and soju to get drunk fast . For my money i like a beer from netherlands