We’ve been pleasantly surprised with the craft beer scene in several countries throughout Asia, but after all our sampling would have to say Korea’s is the best.
There is a wide selection of “domestic” type beers in Korea – Cass, Hite, Kloud – available at convenience stores and pretty much every restaurant/bar.
These are all fairly inexpensive, and are a particularly good pairing by the pitcher with Korean Fried Chicken:
Beyond this, however, it seems as if there’s a craft brewery on every corner in the cities – at least in Seoul and Busan.
Our friend Jason (whom we met up with in Singapore) actually spent 4 years living in Korea working as a Brewmeister. Of course we visited his brewery – Artmonster – during our visit:
This was just one of many others we were able to visit during our time in Seoul and Busan. We even found one with a “secret” front door – locals were definitely laughing at us by the time we figured this one out:
Beyond the number of breweries, the beer quality and variety was all top-notch. From dark porters to crisp lagers, New England to West Coast IPAs, and everything in between – plus some Korean-specialty varieties thrown in for good measure. If you’re looking to do a self-guided craft beer tour in Asia, you’d be hard-pressed to pick a better place than Korea!
