Are you obsessed with Squid Games? Are you obsessed with tasty brews? Then this Korean craft beer might be what you need in your life.
Note: As of December 2022 this beer is no longer in production and might not be available. Check out Gorilla Brewing Company’s other offers to find your next beer purchase.
King Kong Beer Stats
Gorilla Brewing Co. King Kong Imperial Stout; 12% ABV; 45 IBU; purchased at Cosmic Cat Donuts (two locations in Pyeongtaek that you can find in the South of Seoul app) for a cool W11,000. Worth it considering the ingredients used. Wow, what a delight this stout was. It appears cute and cuddly on the outside, wearing a 12oz bottle, but when you experience it, you realize why it’s called KING KONG.
King Kong Beer Look Inspired by Squid Games
KING KONG so rich and flavorful. Interestingly, the bottle art was inspired by Squid Games, the extremely popular Netflix series, with the traditional Korean candy, dalgona (달고나) or ppopgi (뽑기), shapes of circle, triangle, star, and the infamous umbrella outlined in dark gray over a black background. I was hoping that the label would be a little more premium, like the price of the beer, but the printing was cheap and the clarity of the images was a little fuzzy’ish.
King Kong Beer Packaging
Should packaging matter? Yes–it’s the first introduction of the beer to the drinker. I think Gorilla should’ve made an embossed font on a matte background for a more exclusive label look. This beer label appeared nicer in the adds, but less so in real life. What I did like about the packaging was the side of the bottle–it had a description of the beer, ingredients including adjuncts, music pairing, food pairing, IBU level, and interestingly, the Original Gravity (OG) and Final Gravity (FG) readings.
Gravity readings are made prior to pitching yeast for fermentation and prior to bottling. A hydrometer is used to measure the amount of sugars and both readings are calculated to provide the final alcohol content. I suppose the brewers wanted folks to know that there were A LOT of sugars prior to fermentation, allowing for the 12% ABV.
King Kong Beer Review
The beer appears very dark brown with no light penetration. There was almost no head, likely due to the heavy, syrupy nature of it. The aroma really popped. It was VERY interesting and extremely complex. I initially smelled cinnamon and dark chocolate, but after a few moments, there was a more particular flavor I couldn’t quite put my hand on.
I then remembered a traditional Korean cinnamon flavored drink, but couldn’t for the life of me remember what it was called. I asked my wife what she thought and she said the same thing, but she didn’t know the name of the Korean drink either. I reached out to some Korean-American friends and one was able to identify it as Sujeonggwa (수정과), a red’ish brown cinnamon drink made of persimmon, ginger, and pine nuts.
I also smelled Sujeonggwa, dark chocolate, slight vanilla, and light licorice. I did a double-take at the ingredients due to the complex aroma and one, in particular, stood out so much, that I had to google it. Tonka beans.
About Tonka Beans
What are Tonka Beans? Apparently, they are a spice loved and used by top chefs and gastronomic enthusiasts across the world. Their flavor is exciting to the senses, giving off a complex mix of vanilla, almond, clove, cinnamon, and amaretto. Even though tonka beans are loved, they are banned for use in food products in the United States by the Food and Drug Administration.
Tonka Beans are also illegal or highly regulated around the world as a food additive as a chemical found in the tonka beans, coumarin, is toxic in large amounts. I can’t say whether tonka beans are regulated in Korea, so if anybody knows, please post. I’m guessing Gorilla took the appropriate precautions when determining how much Tonka to put into the beer, otherwise, I may not have finished writing this review!
Thoughts About the King Kong Beer Flavor
The flavor profile of the beer does fall in line with the addition of tonka beans, as does the additional ingredient of cacao. I could not sense any of the hops added. The consistency was very “think and syrupy,” as the bottle description mentions. Yes, “think” was probably meant to say “thick,” which goes back to my thoughts on skimping on packaging above. The beer is quite creamy, light on carbonation, and very sweet.
The flavor, in addition to the Sujeonggwa, also included a dark bitter chocolate taste, with a hint of vanilla. Honestly, I am now a fan of tonka beans and think this ingredient provided the essence of this King Kong Stoute by Gorilla. Being so thick, syrupy, and rich, I decided to save the rest of the bottle for another time.
How to Save A Beer For Later
Good thing I have a bottle capper used for my home brewing, but I’m sure it would taste just as good with some plastic wrap and rubber bands around the bottle head.
Would I Drink King Kong Again?
I would definitely recommend this stout. It tastes wonderful, although I cannot account for how the tonka beans or high alcohol content will affect folks. Drink at your own risk!
Where Can I Find This Beer?
Cosmic Cat while supplies last.
Cosmic Cat Sinjang
01077345248
Copy and paste phone numbers into Naver Maps to get directions
Hangul Address
경기 평택시 중앙시장로25번길 11
Hand made custom donuts. Pre-orders: Wednesday to Friday (No pre-orders on weekends) Pre-order by messaging their Instagram. You can also find their daily menu there.
Cosmic Cat Paengseong
Hangul Address
경기도 평택시 팽성읍 안정순환로222번길 93-3
American style donuts filled with flavor.
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Founder of the Pyeongtaek Craft Beer Society, Mike Smith is currently studying for a Master Brewers Certificate while living and working in South Korea.
The Pyeongtaek Craft Beer Society fosters friends and a love for craft beers across South Korea. The group provides a welcome and inclusive space to learn about new beers, share beer stories, and generally geek out about all things brewing. Anyone is welcome to join their Facebook group to learn more about Korean craft Beer.