In the Brewpub Race, Pyongyang is Apparently Winning
While Seoul and Korea are home to nearly sixty brewpubs according to the Korean Microbrewery Association (pretty sure this number is actually a bit higher), Pyongyang in the north boasts a whopping 150 brewpubs according to Yonhap News via the North Korean Central News Agency and are “are alive with customers every day”.
The brewpub situation in the South is definitely getting better, but I would still argue that more needs to be done to attract business people and brewers to opening a business. What really needs to be done, and fast, is modifying the outrageous restrictions that basically prohibit all but the biggest of breweries (see Hite, Cass and OB) to bottle and sell their beer in the stores and supermarkets. This would allow for small breweries to operate and sell their beer to stores and would drastically change the beer scene in this country. Can you imagine buying a decent Korean made IPA or an Imperial Pilsner?? Obviously some people are still interested in protecting the big breweries and their stranglehold over the Korean beer market, ironically of which Cass and OB aren’t even Korean anymore. OB was bought out by InBev in 1998 whom then sold it to an affiliate of Kohlberg Kravis Roberts & Co. last year.
I haven’t had it in a few years, but I remember the North’s Taedonggang being vastly better than the swill available down here in the South. The article states that the Taedonggang Brewery received a ISO 9001 rating in 2008, meaning it has met global industry production standards. The breweries are also pump out rice beer and black beer according to the article. I would love to be able to try some other North Korean beer and compare it to what’s available here.
Hopefully, sooner rather than later, the right people in power will either read this or will develop a love for quality beer and set in motion a plan to change the restrictive laws prohibiting growth in the Korean beer industry. Quality new breweries and the ability to have their beer sold in local stores is a day that couldn’t come soon enough for myself and many, many other beer drinkers here in Korea.
