Beer

When I first arrived I strolled the aisles in search of an alternative to Korean beers Hite, Cass, and OB. To my surprise I did find a few Belgian and Mexican beers. The bottles were dusty and expensive. For our obligatory housewarming party I bought damned near ever good beer available from every E-mart, Lotte, and Homever. Eighteen months later the selection seems to have improved but the price has not. I do not expect those prices to change either. I adjusted my expectations on beer prices and continue to politely say "no thanks" to the Korean beers while coughing up the dough.

Below is an ongoing list of the places I frequent near Songdo and what non-Korean beers they have. I'm not saying all of these beers are what I call good so I marked an astric next to beers I feel are exceptional for the area. If it does not have a notation, it may suck or I have not tasted it yet. This list will continue to be updated.

I'll leave you with one comment on K-beer. I was recently back to the states twice. On both occassions I had the pleasure of cruising nice Korean supermarkets. In all occassions a few Korean beers were available in the large 2 liter bottle...and they were dusty and lonely. Koreans may miss home when they move to the States but they don't miss their beer. But, Korean beer does have it's place with the food. No, Korean food is not bad, it just goes well with their beer and in a way unlike I've ever seen. Crisp, light, and tastless is a good compliment to offset the variety of Korean flavors.

Homever (Has the best selection but is a bit more expensive)
Erdinger Weiss
Erdinger Weiss* (dunkel) This is outstanding!
Duvel*
Leffe Blonde*
Leffe Dunkel*
San Miguel*
Hoegaarden*
Moosehead
Budvar
Coopers
Paulaner in several styles*
Paulaner in mini kegs!* (warning: same price as buying bottles)
Sam Adams
Tesco brand Lager
Heineken and Heineken Dark (sometimes)
Heineken mini kegs (again, same price as bottles)
Guiness
Oettinger
Asahi
XXX (sometimes)
Corona (sadly, limes are not available in Korea)
Miller

E-mart
Duvel*
Leffe Blonde*
Leffe Dunkel*
San Miguel*
Hoegaarden*
Heineken and Heineken Dark (sometimes)
Guiness
Miller
Oettinger
Asahi
XXX (sometimes)
Corona (sadly, limes are not available in Korea)
Budweiser

Lotte Mart
Duvel*
Leffe Blonde*
Leffe Dunkel*
San Miguel*
Hoegaarden*
Heineken and Heineken Dark (sometimes)
Guiness
Miller
Asahi
XXX (sometimes)
Corona (sadly, limes are not available in Korea)
Budweiser