HOMEBREW KOREA

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.

I have been very curious about what the regulations are on starting a brewpub here in S. Korea.  The laws were very strict up to the beginning of this year, where they were finally changed making it much more reasonable.  A brewpub equipment supplier here in Korea filled me in on the details…

Basically, the regulations state that you must satisfy ‘equipment volume’ regulations, not production capacity.  There are basically four main criteria to meet:

1. Your brewhouse (mashing/boiling) capacity is in the range of 250~2500 liters per one brew.
2. Fermentation tanks and storage tanks have a total capacity in of 5000 ~ 25,000 liters.
3. The equipment area should be separated from the service area.
4. Serving taps should be directly connected from the storage or service tanks.

That’s it from what I have been told.  That will then qualify you for brewpub status and away you go.  Whether there are other hoops to jump through, I’m not sure….my guess is there probably are.  From what I have been told (and how I understand it), there are no production criteria to meet; it’s strictly an equipment thing.

Korea needs to develop its beer and brewing industry and from what I have been told, these new regulations should definitely help with that.  Starting a brewpub is something that I would really love to do and it doesn’t seem as impossible as it did before.  I couldn’t think of a more gratifying thing to do than provide people with great beer.  It would be a dream come true!!  I’m sure most homebrewers out there are thinking the same thing.  Haha!

Ohh…And if you are feeling generous and would like to help fund such an adventure, then please, please, email me!!!  :)

This post has been mirrored in the Homebrew Korea Community Forums.