Hite Stout
Hite Brewery Company LTD

Poured from a can (most undeservingly!) into a Duvel tulip glass. This is one deceptive beer. Looks like a stout. But once you smell it, you notice that it is indeed some kind of...LAGER!!! Even the label says "Stout: Lager Type." After tasting it I feel duped. Well played, Hite! Tastes like someone poured some vanilla and other artificial flavorings and colors into an adjunct. Yuck! Won't bother with the rest of the review. Managed to finish a glass because...well, I man up to my mistakes. Don't buy it. At the very least pick up a Guinness instead.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I'm always down to try some Asian interpretations of European beer, but after this experience I think I may reconsider. As others have mentioned, this is NOT a stout. The bottle reads "DEEP & RICH" around the neck, neither of which is true. Elaborating in typically polite and overly exuberant East Asian marketing English, it goes on: "Stout offers a rich black flavor topped with sweet, smooth & creamy head." Don't know who they're foolin...

After finishing about half of it and being very disappointed by the complete lack of stoutiness, I resolved to try to appreciate it as a mystery beer that was handed to me in a glass at a party...at which point it wasn't so bad, but still wouldn't qualify as delicious. It's very dark red in color and has a small tan, airy head. There is actually a slight smoky, coffee bite at the very, very end of the sip, which is nice. But, other than that, it tasted like your average mid-priced lager--maybe even a below-average Kolsch. It was certainly better closer to room temperature than right out of the fridge, but that didn't redeem it for me as I'm not a fan of beers this light and watery.

PROS: This is a decent"dinner beer", especially if eating spicy or salty Asian food--that's what I'll be doing with the rest of my 6-pack. Also, the label is fairly nice for an East Asian beer. The labels on the bottles I bought are black with a nice mix of red, gold, and white text. (Kinda looks like one of those ghetto-fabulous malt liquors, but, hey not bad for Korean beer.) Oh yeah, and the cap is twist-off!...Definitely good for a laugh!

from a korean convenience store in beijing, china.

"black bear stout". 330ml twist-cap brown bottle. dated 7-17-2008. poured into tulip

dark cola color, but not truly black- you can see through it pretty easily. amber brown color under the light. some off-white head, but soon fades to wisps and ring. no lacing.

some roasted grain and earthy aromas, slight reminiscence of coffee, with hint of grassy hop.

flavor is like cold, watery coffee at first, with some faint acidity and bitterness. some trace of caramelized malt peeks through, but gets bogged down in that watery acidity and stale coffee. acidity overpowers the bitterness in the finish too.

watery and fizzy, with some rough, astringent and acidic character. maybe some fluffiness when rolled on tongue, but flavor starts to annoy you.

blech...

Pours a dark brown with little head. Overall experience is a little disappointing given the label "stout." However, if the beer is drank without any expectations as to what it should taste like, the experience is good. Decent flavor, even when warm. The second bottle grew on me.

Appearance: Poured with a bit of carbonation. Ended w/ an inch of head that quickly dissipated. Dark colored but not as dark as a typical stout.

Smell: Sweet (syrupy with hints of caramel).

Taste & Mouthfeel: Very carbonated throughout the beer's life. Has that sweet taste to it, then followed by a metallic tinge. Has a slight coffee taste to it near the end. Settles nicely.

Drinkability: For a cheap priced beer, this South Korean beer is pretty decent. I would take this over most American macros any day. While not a true stout by any means, it is quite enjoyable.

First of all, I'd like to say that I'm not entirely sure Hite Brewery didn't change their recipe in the last year or so. I was considering adding this as a new beer, but the website seems to suggest that they discontinued the "Hite Stout." The label is definitely different, and the beer is now called "Black Beer Stout." This beer is more of a watered-down cola color than a "dusky red," and I apparently like it more than pretty much anyone else who's reviewed it, so maybe they altered it.

Then again, I'm giving it a bit of the benefit of the doubt because it really is more of a schwartzbier than a stout, but I think it's pretty darn tasty, and you can get 6-packs for $5 at the Korean grocery.

So it's not really a "black beer" with a "sweet smooth and creamy head" like the label claims. More of a brown with a fizzy tan head that rises to two fingers, but eventually fades to a ring of suds, leaving no real retention.

I get molasses, coffee, and maybe a bit of nuttiness in both the aromas and the palette. It's not the most amazing dark lager you're ever going to drink, but it's got roast characteristics, it's better than the Michelob porter and Amber Bock in my opinion, and for $5 a sixer, I'm going to be buying a lot of it in the future...

"DEEP & RICH Premium Beer Stout offers a rich black flavor topped with sweet, smooth and creamy head. THE HITE."

Had this numerous while stationed in Korea. My first experience was by bottle in Pyongtaek and many times in Songtan. I was actually surprised in this. Taste good, looked good and dark and not to syrupy either. This is actually a decent stout. Roasted malts, some espresso but a very flat head. No real nose and its pretty run of the mill but better than other Korea beers.

Bottle flown back from Korea, just for me, then forgotten in a closet for over a year...or was it two,...so, it's a bit of an aged sample, but thanks, anyway, David!

Now I know he meant when he told me he had a "red stout" from Korea for me to try...held to the light this is not black, nor brown, but a dusky cherry red. Slimoff-white foam stays put on top.

Nose...doesn't give off anything stout-like, instead it smells like a lager. Is this one of those lager-stouts?
Grainy, hsuky, lightly fruity,...vegetal, mineral-y...but missing many characteristics of a stout, but we'll just give that a rest, from now on, anyway...

Taste is clean, smooth, slightly malty, ruby, cherry flavors mingly in with a semi-dark husky feel...Nice enough flavor, and very easy-drinking.

The only words in English on the label, other than "The Hite Stout" are "Deep & Rich-Black Beer" ...unfortunately, it's really none of those, but they must have felt it was close enough.

It held up fairly well, I must add, ...nothing wrong with this bottle, just not delivering what you'd expect if you thought you were getting a stout. It clearly isn't, but this sort of thing is bound to happen. Enjoyable if viewed as a dunkel, perhaps, or a red lager?

Fairly light in body, decent texture, nice flavor...I can't knock this too hard, it came so far just for me...

I saw this for $5.99 at Greenland Market (formerly HK Korean Market) in Van Nuys and I had to try it.

Appearance: The pour is dark brown with red highlights and a white head.

Smell: The nose has lightly roasted malts and grain.

Taste: This isn't much of a stout. I suspect that stout is a catch all name for black beers in countries that don't have much of a history of brewing. This tastes more like a Munich dunkel, Euro dark lager, Belgian dark ale, or even a dopplebock.

There are roasted chocolate malts, although they aren't particularly roasty or chocolaty, and a sticky, syrupy lactose sweetness.

Mouthfeel: Very thin and watery and highly carbonated.

Drinkability: Never mind that this is mislabeled a stout, it would be a weak example of any style. That being said, they would probably get a slightly higher score from me if they called it a dark lager.

I was warned in advance by a pal that this was really a lager in stout's clothing so I wasn't too disappointed when I poured this brew and saw a mostly headless tawny color that was adequately interesting even if it probably results from food coloring and not from barley malt.

The smell was mediocre with mild hints of grain but with none of the typical sharp richness of a creamy Beamish or Guiness.

The taste for me was sweet but clean and compact and better than I expected without being real good. Ah, the beauty of low expectations.. My limited skills detect some chocolate malt in there but not much else.

The beer doesn't sit real well in the mouth due to the high level of carbonation but mouthfeel is otherwise okay with a decent aftertaste.

Although not very good, and not a stout, it's interesting enough to finish without ruing the calories and lost minutes of your life. All in all a mildly benign surprise and head and shoulders over all other Hite products I've tasted, which should tell you how I feel about the country's biggest brewer..

My can says its made with only Malt and hops, and registers at 4.5% abv.

Nice big head with dark brown body, which is transparent when held to the light.
Light roasted malt, with a cheap happoshu smell.
Its hard to believe that this is an ale, this tastes like a dunkel with a massive infusion of chocolate malts. No sweetness, extremely light bitterness, no maltyness, only a faint chocolate flavor on the big carbonic acid flavor. This wouldnt be so bad if it advertised itself as a light dunkel.
WAY too carbonated, no body at all..
This beer was definately a disappointment in terms of style and flavor.

A Korean stout? Hmm, interesting. Oops.

A stout it's not. A pleasant experience it's not.

The label reads "black beer". Black beer it's not. No. Deep reddish brown, looks like root beer with a creamier head, but that's gone in a flash. A bit of clumpy lace lingers for a moment, then skedaddles.

The smell is vegetal, something not barley, perhaps some burnt corn aroma in there, a vague espresso note the only nod to a stout style.

It's a watery brew, with an unpleasant roasted grain flavor. Utterly one dimensional. Slightly sweet and nothing else. Not much of a hop prescence. The slightly sudsy sweetish finish leaves you wanting...something else.

A non-finisher, down the drain.

Saw this brew in a kiosk at the airport on Sakhalin Island in the Russian Far East. A Korean stout, I thought, gotta try it. It was clear that the salesperson hadn't sold one before, as she really couldn't figure out what it was. The can is dark with label information in English and Korean - "The deep and rich taste of black beer - stout." No idea about ingredients. Best before 8/9/04, I opened it on 1/31/04.

As I poured, I could only think of a nice coke: light and clear caramel color with a very fizzy tan head that disappears before you put the container down. The nose is mild, but there's some roasted malt here that raises expectations a bit. The mouth, though, dashes most hopes, as it is very prickly and quite light. Definitely not like a stout. There is some mild caramel in the taste, with a sweet finish, but no discernible hops. As a sweet stout, it is just barely passable. This is, however, a far cry from Storm King, or even Guinness.