Oriental Brewery

Oriental Brewery or OB (Korean: 오비맥주; lit. OB Beer) is a South Korean brewery currently owned by AB InBev, and initially founded by Doosan Group.^[1]

Oriental Brewery Co.,Ltd.

Cass beer, one of Oriental Brewery's leading products
Native name	오비맥주
Company type	joint-stock company
Industry	Drink industry
Founded	18 December 1933; 90 years ago (1933-12-18)
Headquarters	Seoul , Republic of Korea
Area served	Worldwide
Products	Alcoholic beverages: beer and soft drinks
Revenue	1,542,126,174,946 Won (2019)
Operating income	408,959,810,553 Won (2019)
Net income	274,319,564,612 (2019)
Total assets	3,091,787,640,376 Won (2019)
Number of employees	1,994 (2019)
Parent	AB InBev
Website	www.ob.co.kr

History

In 1933, Showa Kirin Brewery (Kirin Company) established Oriental Brewery.^[2][3] Oriental Brewery was privatized in 1952.^[4] Established by the Doosan Group in 1952, it was purchased by InBev in 1998.^[1] In July 2009, it was sold by Anheuser-Busch InBev as the parent company sought to reduce its debt. It was sold to an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co.. Anheuser-Busch InBev (AB Inbev) has retained the right to purchase OB five years from its sale, at predetermined financial terms. In April 2014, AB Inbev executed its right to repurchase OB. OB became a subsidiary of AB Inbev again. Today OB produces several of Korea's most popular beverages including the OB, Cass and Cafri lager brands. All OB beers are brewed from rice, rather than the malted barley familiar to Western beer drinkers. In March 2001, the company merged Cass Beer (State) with the production capacity of 1,120,000 KLE per year, and produced red rock, OBE, KaprI, Budweiser, etc. In July 2002, it was the first beer industry to obtain the ISO 9001 certification from the Korea Standards Association.

It became a foreign company when it was taken over by Dutch beer company Molte Industries in September 2010 and became a subsidiary of Belgian beer company AB InBev in April 2014.

Brands

OB Golden Lager

 

OB Lager

The 4th top selling beer in Korea. OB Lager is a pale, 4.4% A.B.V. pale lager available in cans and bottles, and served on draft in Korea. Originally brewed in 1948; the name was changed from OB Lager simply to OB in 2003; the recipe was altered to include rice. The name changed to OB Blue in June 2006 with another slight recipe tweak.

OB Light

It is an OB Lager with 4.2% ABV.

OB Premier Dunkel

Dunkel/Tmavý Style.^[5]

OB Premier Pilsner

Rich taste with German noble hop. The premier OB Pilsner. Premium all malt beer. Pale lager style.^[6]

OB Premier Weizen

German Hefeweizen style.^[7]

Cass Fresh Cold Brewed

A pale-golden pale lager with a 4.5% ABV. Originally brewed by the Cass Brewery, the brand had been taken over by Jinro-Coors, one of the country's leading brewers. After having around 70% of the Korean lager market in the 1980s, by 1994 Cass had fallen behind Hite as Korea's top selling lager. Oriental Brewery bought the Cass brand from Jinro-Coors in 1999 and built it up again, with OB declaring a 51% market share in 2000. In 2007, the higher alcohol Cass Red was introduced. In 2011 Cass Lager became South Korea's number one selling brand, overtaking Hite.^[8]

The beer became notable after an endorsement by British celebrity chef Gordon Ramsay who described it as "not pretentious", "easy" and "fresh"; citing it as his preferred beverage with Korean dishes since acquiring a taste for the cuisine 15 years ago.^[9][10] His appearance in several of the beer's adverts caused much derision from viewers who found Ramsay's preference for the beer — which was considered to be poor in quality — offending despite his status as a chef very scrutinizing of his food palate.^[10][11]

Non-alcoholic look-alikes of Cass can be found with brand names such as "Cars" and "Cdss". Some noraebang (singing rooms) establishments have been known to try to pass off these imitations as the real thing, as Korean law prohibits noraebang marked as such from selling alcoholic drinks within its premises (noraejujeom establishments are allowed to sell alcohol).

Cass Light

Cass Light is a low-carb pale lager with 4.0% ABV.

Cass Ice Light

Pale lager style.^[12]

Cass 2X

Cass 2X is 2.9% ABV.

Cass Red

A pale lager with 6.9% ABV, this lager contains higher amount of alcohol.

Cass Beats

New from OB since 2015.

Cass Lemon

Refreshing beer containing natural lemon juice. ABV 6.9%. Contains natural lemon juice.^[13]

Cass 0.0

Non-alcoholic beer of OB beer.^[14]

Cafri

Cafri (ABV 4.2%) is perhaps the lightest of all mainstream Korean beers. It is widely available in clear 330 ml (11.2 U.S. fl oz; 11.6 imp fl oz) long-neck bottles but falls behind OB, Cass and Hite in popularity.

Aleston Black Ale

Porter style^[15]

Aleston Brown Ale

British style beer. Brewed with noble hops & pale malt.^[16]

Bergen bräu

Discount beer brewed by the Oriental Brewery for the Japanese Daiei Supermarket chain. The Korean "Bergen bräu" is not the same as the Belgían "Bergenbräu".^[17]

Bergen bräu Neu Welt

Brewed by the Oriental Brewery for the Japanese Daiei Supermarket chain. Korean "Bergen brau" is not to be confused with the Belgium brand "Bergenbräu".^[18]

Bergen bräu Zero

A beer with no sugar. Brewed by the Oriental Brewery for the Japanese Daiei Supermarket chain. The Korean Bergen bräu brand is not to be confused with the Bergenbräu from Belgium.^[19]

Blue Girl (4.5%)

Alcoholic Contents: 4.5% alc./vol (China). There is also a 5% version which is produced for sale in Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan and which is listed separately.^[20]

Blue Girl (5.0%)

This is the 5%-Version, sold in HongKong, Macao and Taiwan only. Brewed by/for Jebsen Beer.^[21]

Blue Girl Draft

Retired from the market. Jebsen Beer and formerly brewed at Oriental Brewery (AB-InBev)^[22]

Dester

Pale Lager.^[23]

Dester Gold (100% Malt)

Dester beer brewed with 100% Malt. At the moment only exported to Malaysia and Singapore.^[24]

Essential Beer

Pale lager style.^[25]

Guam USA Beer Company Island Lager

Guam USA Beer Company Island Lager. Pale lager stye.^[26]

Red Rock

Non pasteurized fresh premium red beer. Amber Lager/Vienna Style.^[27]

Sonderberg

Pilsner lager beer. Pale lager style.^[28]

Suntory The Premium Malt

A deep pilsener beer (ABV 5.5). Original from Suntory Holdings Limited^[29]

Global Brands

Budweiser

Budweiser is an American-style pale lager produced by American brewer Anheuser-Busch, which is a part of multinational corporation Anheuser–Busch InBev.

Introduced in 1876 by Carl Conrad & Co. of St. Louis, Missouri, it has grown to become one of the highest selling beers in the United States, and is available in over 80 markets worldwide—though, due to a trademark dispute, does not necessarily do so under the Budweiser name. It is made with up to 30% rice in addition to hops and barley malt. Produced in various breweries around the world, Budweiser is a filtered beer available in draft and packaged forms.^[30]

Bud Ice

Introduced in 1994 as "Ice by Budweiser", it has more alcohol (5.5% ABV) than Budweiser. It is best known for an advertising campaign that involved a malevolent penguin that stalked Bud Ice drinkers and stole their beer, announcing its presence by singing the "doo-be-doo-be-doo" phrase from "Strangers in the Night".

Hoegaarden

Hoegaarden Brewery is a brewery in Hoegaarden, Belgium, and the producer of a well-known wheat beer.

Beck's

Beck's Brewery, also known as Brauerei Beck & Co., is a brewery in the northern German city of Bremen. In 2001 Interbrew agreed to buy Brauerei Beck for 1.8 billion euro; at that time it was the fourth largest brewer in Germany. Since 2008 it has been part of Anheuser-Busch InBev. US manufacture of Beck's Brew has been based in St. Louis, Missouri since early 2012 but some customers have rebelled against the US market version.

Stella Artois

Stella Artois is a Belgian pilsner lager of between 4.8 and 5.2% ABV which was first brewed by Brouwerij Artois (the Artois Brewery) in Leuven, Belgium, in 1926. Since 2008, a 4% ABV version is sold in Britain, Ireland, Canada and New Zealand. Through a series of mergers, Stella Artois is now ordinarily produced by Anheuser-Busch InBev, the world's largest brewer.

Leffe

Leffe is a premium beer brand owned by InBev Belgium, the European operating arm of the global Anheuser–Busch InBev brewery giant. There are several beers in the range, and they are marketed as Abbey beers. They are brewed in large quantities and are widely distributed.

Löwenbräu

Löwenbräu is a brewery in Munich owned by Anheuser-Busch InBev. Its name means "lion's brew" in German. Most Löwenbräu beers are marketed as being brewed according to the Reinheitsgebot, the Bavarian beer purity regulation of 1516.

Corona

Corona Extra is a pale lager produced by Cervecería Modelo in Mexico for domestic distribution and export to all other countries besides the United States, and by Constellation Brands in Mexico for export to the United States. The split ownership is a result of an anti-trust settlement permitting the merger of Grupo Modelo with AB InBev.

The Corona brand is one of the top-selling beers worldwide. Outside Mexico, Corona is commonly served with a wedge of lime or lemon in the neck of the bottle to add tartness and flavor.

In the United States, Corona Extra is the top selling imported beer.

The Hand Malt Beer

Belgian Wit

Belgian Wit is Belgian-Style white ale.^[31]

5.0 ABV/ IBU 9

Slow IPA

Slow IPA is a low alcohol India pale ale. It has special favors and aromas. The color of beer is like Corona or Pilsner beer.

4.6 ABV/IBU 40

Mocha Stout

Mocha Stout has coffee flavor beer. It contains chocolate stout wite a creamy head.

5.0 ABV / IBU 28

Extra Special Ale

Extra Special Ale is English style beer. The color of beer is strong orange.

5.7 ABV / IBU 23

Belgian Dubbel

Belgian Dubbel is made by Korean Yeot (it can be called Candy).

7.2 ABV / IBU 21

See also

• Korean beer
• Korean cuisine

References

1. "OB". www.obbeer.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-05-11.
2. "1885 - 1949 | Company History | Kirin Holdings". Kirin Holdings Company, Limited. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
3. https://pdf.medrang.co.kr/FSI/2020/053/FSI053-02-07.pdf
4. "(500) Debut of Beer". The Korea Times. 2008-08-07. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
5. "OB Premier Dunkel". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
6. "OB Premier Pilsner". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
7. "OB Premier Weizen". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
8. "Beer Market in Flux as Imports Gain Popularity". The Chosun Ilbo. Retrieved April 7, 2011.
9. Won Ho-jung (19 November 2017). "Gordon Ramsay calls Cass a 'beer of the people'". The Korea Herald. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
10. Jin Eun-soo (20 November 2017). "Ramsay defends Cass against sneers of elite". Korea Joongang Daily. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
11. McCurry, Justin (20 November 2017). "Beer goggles? Gordon Ramsay under fire over Korean TV advert". The Guardian. Retrieved 26 January 2018.
12. "Cass Ice Light". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
13. http://www.obbeer.co.kr/EN/brand/brand.asp?brand=4
14. ""그게 카스라도 싹 바꿔라"". 더스쿠프 (in Korean). 2021-04-15. Retrieved 2021-04-25.
15. "Aleston Black Ale". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
16. "Aleston Brown Ale". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
17. "Bergen bräu". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
18. "Bergen bräu Neu Welt". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
19. "Bergen bräu Zero". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
20. "Blue Girl (4.5%)". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
21. "Blue Girl (5.0%)". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
22. "Blue Girl Draft". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
23. "Dester". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
24. "Dester Gold (100% Malt)". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
25. "Essential Beer". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
26. "Guam USA Beer Company Island Lager". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
27. "Red Rock". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
28. "Sonderberg". www.ratebeer.com. Retrieved 2023-09-27.
29. http://www.obbeer.co.kr/EN/brand/brand.asp?brand=14
30. Budweiser. "OB". www.obbeer.co.kr (in Korean). Retrieved 2018-05-11.
31. "The Hand and Malt". The Hand and Malt (in Korean). Retrieved 2019-03-29.

External links

 

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Oriental Brewery Company.

• OB website 2014-01-15 at the Wayback Machine
• RateBeer
• InBev press release
• 404 Page not found | AB InBev