12.144 Taste Test: Backshelf Beers

12.144

29 (Sat) May 2021

Backshelf Beers

at the Cabin

-Changchon, Seowon, Hoengseong, Gangwon, Republic of Korea-

solo

At E-Mart, I came across a display of beers that I hadn’t noticed before. I had never heard of the brands, many of which were written in Korean, so I assumed them to be independent breweries from Korea.

I grabbed the ones that were labelled as lager/pilsner, thinking they might be included somehow in the beer-tasting project that I’m currently undertaking (see World Series of Pilsner). I took them to the cabin to do a taste test.

A closer reading of the labels – after the tasting was conducted – revealed that only 1 is Korean (Gentleman Lager by Playground Brewery), 2 are American (Bohemian Pilsener by Patagonia Cerveza, Longboard Island Lager by Kona Brewing Co.), and 1 is Indonesian (Romantic Day Lager by Bali Hai).

The Gentleman Lager (second from left) is a bit cloudy, like an unfiltered craft beer.

RESULTS

Bohemian Lager (5.0+5.0) (10.0): dry, balanced flavor, flat finish – the only one that tasted like an actual lager/pilsner, though otherwise unremarkable; turns out that Patagonia is part of the Anheuser-Busch family, a spin-off “premium” brand, which would explain the high production quality.
Longboard Island Lager (4.5+4.5) (9.0): okay but a hint of peach, like Snapple – as a Hawaiian brewery, perhaps the beer was intended to taste “tropical?”
Gentleman Lager (3.0+3.5) (6.5): sweet, honeyish, jammy aftertaste – like “craft beer” by Korean microbreweries these days (see for example 12.125 Garlic Mayo Burger), making me wonder if this is an actual style or just a sign of inexperience.
Romantic Day Lager (2.5+2.5) (5.0): yuck – during the tasting, I assumed that this was the Korean beer.

None of the beers are interesting enough to be entered into the World Series of Pilsner, though I will include the photos and notes in the consolidated WSP post.