12.139

24 (Mon) May 2021

Chicken & Sour Cream Pizza

1.5

from My Way Pizza

at home

-Changgok, Sujeong, Seongnam, Gyeonggi, Republic of Korea-

solo

GMTD World Series of Pilsner (2 of 5) (see also WSP)

This project is to taste-test pilsner-style lagers from around the world, mass-market brands widely available in Korea.  16 contenders: 4 from Korea, 4 from Europe, 5 from Asia, 3 from the Americas (would’ve preferred an even 4×4 regional spread, but only 3 contenders were deemed worthy from the Americas, so I included a 5th from Asia).  The contenders are placed into 4 groups each comprising 1 randomly selected Korean beer, 1 European beer, 1 Asian beer, 1 American beer.  The beers are blind-tasted on a 4-point scale for taste and for texture, repeated, tallied to a maxim score of 16 points.  In case of a tie, the tying beers would be tasted a third time to determine the favored beer.  The winning beer moves on to the final round, along with winners from the other testing groups.

Sweet Sixteen

Group B

• Budweiser (USA): The flagship product of Anheuser-Busch, America’s most iconic brewery, one of the top-selling beers in the world, likely the best-selling beer of all time.  I’ve never been a fan, though I don’t have anything against it.  When I was pledging a fraternity in college, we were made to memorize the blurb on the label bottle: “This is the famous Budweiser beer.  We know of no other brand produced by any other brewer that costs so much to brew and age….”  (We also had to memorize the blurb on the Absolut Vodka bottle.)
• OB Lager (Korea): The flagship product of Oriental Brewery, Korea’s oldest brewery, founded 1952, now part of Anheuser-Busch InBev.  Made of rice, rather than barley.  What bugs me about Korean beer companies is that they seem incapable or unwilling to improve the product itself, instead redesigning the packaging and renaming the brand every few years: OB Lager –> OB Golden Lager –> OB –> OB Blue –> OB Lager.
• Pilsner Urquell (Czech): The one that started it all in 1842, an overnight sensation, the style quickly spreading across Europe and over to America, eventually becoming the standard for beer across the world.  I had never given much thought to this brand until very recently, after our return to Korea, where I was suckered into buying it because of the can, which is made in a pleasing matte finish.  It’s now 1 of 2 beers in my regular rotation (the other is Singha).
• San Miguel Pale Pilsen (Philippines): The Filipino classic, which I was privileged to drink at the source while I was stationed in Manila for 6.5 years.  TIP: in the Philippines, where several brands by the San Miguel Brewery are available (see 5.076 Taste Test: the San Miguel Family (GK had also suggested a taste test back then)), the beer would not be ordered as “San Miguel” but rather as “Pale Pilsen” or just “Pale.”

RESULTS

1. Pilsner Urquell (6.5+5.5) (12): hoppy, rich, delicious, long strong finish – undisputed winner of this round – glad that it’s not just about the fancy can.
2. San Miguel Pale Pilsen (5.0+5.0) (10): full flavor, solid finish – proud runner up.
3. Budweiser (4.0+4.0) (8.0): bland yet balanced in flavor, refreshing, nothing to rant or rave about – no wonder it’s so popular among the masses.
4. OB Lager (3.5+2.5) (6): sour, pissy, gross.

My Way Pizza is a pizzeria.  In addition to a handful of standardized formulas, the pies are customizable on the delivery app for base sauces, cheeses, meats, veggies, topping sauces.

It wasn’t good.  The biggest problem was the crust, one of those unfortunate “thin crusts” that’s more like cracker than bread.  I’d ordered tomato sauce + mozzarella + chicken + olives + onions + mushrooms + jalapeños + sour cream, which were all okay.  Except the sour cream, which wasn’t really sour cream but a tangy mayo-like paste that was smothered all over the pie – ick.  Even without the sour cream, the crust would be a deal breaker.

(See also FOODS)

(See also PLACES)