Korean Job Discussion Forums

kotakji · Joined: 23 Oct 2006

So, after thinking it over for a month and weighing the quality of alcohol in Korea vs. the relative effort of doing it myself (ok so I'm a little lazy hehe) or so I finally got off my ass and decided to get back into beer brewing. With a lot of help from my wife, we found that there is a homebrew community in Korea and she managed to order all the necessary parts. Well fast forward three weeks and yesterday I broke the seal on my first 1.5 liter bottle of nice brown ale. It was a little less carbonated then I would of liked (but that can be fixed in future batches) but the taste came out pretty damn good and sure fire better then the local stuff. Now heres for the good part- after getting nice and toasty last night, I woke up with not even the slightest headache or feeling of chemical poisoning!

Ive been in Korea so long that I had forgotten that one can have a decent number of drinks without having to wake up the next morning feeling like you were doing shots of gasoline the night before.

The bonus is (and a hint for you married couples) that brewing beer is a really good couple activity. My wife (Korean) has really gone into an enthusiastic frenzy over the project even though she isn't a very heavy drinker. Heck we've only drunk 4 of the 24 liters we made in the first batch, but shes insisted that we start the next brew- an Indian Pale which is at this moment bubbling up a storm in my kitchen.

I guess theres no more point to this little post then to share my experience and to recommend it to others. So far, its been a very rewarding experiences, and a great way to spice life up a little.

Cohiba · Joined: 01 Feb 2005

I have been brewing my own beer here for years. The quality,
taste and texture are 100% better then Korean beers and even
most imported beers.

I recommend brewing the "Premium Gold" kits only and using
120g of light spraymalt for conditioning. Also the website says
5 days. NOT! Wait 5 weeks minimum and the beer will be the
nectar of the gods.

I also had a carbonation problem with the cheaper kits but the
Premium Gold kits have superior yeast.

Ryst Helmut · Posted: Wed Nov 08, 2006 5:17 pm Post subject:

Rock on! I've always wanted to brew my own...but now that I'm Stateside, why?

Now, if we were to move back to Korea I'd have our house built with a basement to carry out a myriad of concoctions.

!Shoosh,

Ryst

Destroyer · Joined: 11 Dec 2005

I tried to get into this a while ago, using the company Cohiba's Sig links to. Unfortunately they don't stock glass bottles anymore. Do you guys think brewing in a plastic bottle is OK? If so I might just give it a try!

Kotakji, where did you buy your supplies?

butlerian · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Location: Korea

Thanks guys - this is just what I've been looking for. I used to make homebrew back in England, and I've been getting very tired of drinking Korean beer. I'll definitely check out the website you mentioned - anyone know of any other good links? Also, I couldn't see any bitter on the website - don't they have any in Korea? Thanks again.

kotakji · Joined: 23 Oct 2006

Same place as Cohiba listed actually. Yes they only sell plastic now but you can save up regular old brown bottles or buy them from your local market. I believe the web site does have the bottle cap applicator.

Cohiba- thanks for the advice, My current batch cooking is Premium Gold, I can't wait to see how it comes out- Now when you say go five weeks- do you mean in the fermenter tank or in the bottles?

Destroyer · Joined: 11 Dec 2005

So I'm lookin' at the website, getting back into the idea of homebrew...

What do you use at home? Do you cap your own recycled glass bottles or do you use the supplied PET bottles? I don't really have a prejudice against PET, just thought beer was supposed to be in brown glass.

What do you guys (Kotakji and Cohiba) use?

butlerian · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Location: Korea

A few other Korean homebrew sites worth checking out are:

http://www.bluebrewlab.com/

http://www.housebeer.co.kr/

http://www.winekit.co.kr/

Prices are more expensive than in England, but I guess that's nothing to be surprised about as most imported goods in Korea are expensive.

poet13 · Posted: Thu Nov 09, 2006 4:32 am Post subject:

I tried homebrewing once back in the US. Not sure I could be fished to do it here, but just out of curiosity, outside of setup costs, what kind of price per liter do you end up paying for materials?

JeJuJitsu · Joined: 11 Sep 2005 Location: McDonald's

Let's see--24-4=20 liters left!!!

Dibs!

kotakji · Joined: 23 Oct 2006

Hehe,
Well my first run was with the PET bottles, but i'm gonna start saving up on the 640ml korean glass ones and when I have enough switch to them.

Summer Wine · Joined: 20 Mar 2005 Location: Next to a River

I am heading home to NZ in a couple of weeks. If any of you want me to throw a couple of NZ kits in my suitcase in exchange for some help in getting into it down south in Korea. PM me and I will take the first two orders that come in.

kotakji · Joined: 23 Oct 2006

butlerian · Joined: 04 Sep 2006 Location: Korea

Just to remind you guys, I'll be at the Platinum restaurant in Gangnam, Seoul tomorrow from 6pm to enjoy the food and homebrew. If you have any trouble getting there, pm me and I'll give you my number.

Adventurer · Joined: 28 Jan 2006

Can you actually get a beer kit in Korea? I actually thought of brewing my own beer, but I can't think of anywhere where you can get a beer kit. I wouldn't know where to start. Do you have the beer kit shipped over here?