Foreign friends who often go out for drinks are expected to be familiar with the Korean beer brand called 'Hite'. When attending a drinking party, I always choose two types of beer to drink: 'Cass' or 'Hite'. If you ask Koreans, some people like the taste of Cass, but if you ask other people, some people will like the taste of Hite.
However, it seems that few people can answer specifically what the difference is in the taste of 'Cas' and 'Hite'. Of course, 'Cas' is also very popular, but are you wondering what the difference is compared to 'Hite'? Therefore, this time, we will take a look at Korea’s representative beer brand, ‘Hite’!
Introduction to Hite
Hite Beer is a representative beer brand in Korea. Hite Beer is produced by Hite Jinro Co., Ltd., established in 1933, and is the beer that has ranked first in domestic beer sales for 16 consecutive years.
Source: Hite Beer, supermarket price, type, alcohol (bellus64.co.kr)
Hite Beer uses malt and rice as its main ingredients and uses an extra cold method to produce the beer at sub-zero (-1.0℃), just before it freezes, throughout the entire process from maturation to filtration, providing the perfect taste of cool and refreshing pale lager beer. This is the product expressed.
Hite beer is divided into bottles, cans, and bottles by volume, and its alcohol content is 4.5%. Hite Beer is leaping from a Korean company to a global company through various marketing activities. You can check consumer opinion bulletin boards, event information, TV commercials, etc. on the website. Hite Beer is a beer that leads Korean beer culture and is loved by many.
Hite's History
Hite Beer began as Chosun Beer Co., Ltd., established in 1933 by the Dai-Nippon Beer Company during the Japanese colonial period. At that time, beer was sold under the Sapporo brand.
Source: 'Hite' 70 years of domestic beer history - Food and Beverage Newspaper (thinkfood.co.kr)
After liberation, it was privatized and the brand was changed to Crown Beer in 1948, and the Park family took over management rights in 1966.
In 1993, the brand was changed to the current Hite Beer, and in 1998, the company name was changed from Chosun Beer to Hite Beer. Hite Beer was loved by consumers for its cool and refreshing taste.
In 1996, it ranked first in the beer industry, and in 1999, its market share exceeded 50%. In 2001, it achieved its highest sales performance since its founding, and in 2011, it won a gold medal at Monde Selection, one of the world's top three liquor competitions.
In 2011, it merged with Jinro to become Hite Jinro, and is currently active in the Korean and overseas markets with a variety of products and brand strategies.
Differences in taste between Hite and Cass
Hite beer has an overwhelming sweet and sour taste of corn malt and has no hop flavor. You can also feel the astringent and metallic taste that comes from carbonation. The carbonation itself is not as strong as expected, so it feels mild when swallowed, but there is a sticky residue that remains in the mouth.
Cass beer feels much more carbonated than Hite beer. The unique sweet and sour taste derived from corn malt is present here, but the carbonation offsets this. There is almost no hops or other aromas. Thanks to the carbonation, the feeling of swallowing is strong, and the residual feeling after swallowing is less than that of Hite beer.
Source: ‘Just 1% point difference’… Obi and Hite, ‘Zero Beer’ close battle for first place (bizwatch.co.kr)
In short, Hite beer has a soft drink but low carbonation, while Cass beer has strong carbonation and a strong drink. In addition, Hite beer is said to be produced using the extra cold method, at temperatures below zero (-1.0℃), just before the beer freezes, throughout the entire process from maturation to filtration. Cass beer is said to filter out yeast through a non-heat treatment process, which reduces the flavor of the beer and ensures storage at the same time. These differences in manufacturing methods may also affect taste.
