Visiting South Korea (2017 Winter Update)

Discussion in 'Rest of the World' started by nerdboy19, Jan 25, 2017.

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  1. nerdboy19

    nerdboy19 Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2015 South Korea
    Trader

    I found this kind of thread very helpful when I'm traveling around the world, and I thought I could help other people a little. I wrote Must "Try", not Must "Hit" because you can try their beer at lots of craft beer pubs, and few of them are hard to visit. It's a rough list, and there are plenty more great places to visit.


    Must Try Breweries & Brew Pubs
    • Amazing Brewery (Seoul)
    • Goodman Brewery (Guri)
    • The Hand & Malt (Namyang)
    • The Booth (Pangyo)
    • Wild Waves (Busan)

    Other Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs

    • Pongdang (Seoul, multiple location)
    • Pyrus Taproom & Bistro (Seoul)
    • Four Seasons (Seoul)
    • Magpie (Seoul, Jeju Island)
    • Budnamu (Ganneung)
    • Galmegi (Busan)
    • Akitu (Busan)
    • Gorilla Brewing (Busan)
    • Brewery 304 (Asan)

    Highly Recommended Craft Beer Pubs
    • Borimaru Taproom (Seoul)
    • Red Cottage (Seoul)
    • Seoul Makju (Seoul)
    • Mikkeller Bar Seoul (Seoul)
    • Pong Dang Craft Beer Company, Shinsa (Seoul)
    • Amazing Brewery (Seoul)

    Recommended Bottle Shops

    • Craftbros Bottle Shop (Seoul)
    • Uri Super (Seoul)
    • Beer Lab (Seoul)
    • Borimaru Taproom (Seoul)
    • Beer Wine Place (Seoul
     
  2. IsaacCraft

    IsaacCraft Initiate (0) Feb 2, 2013 South Korea

    Thanks for the list. I live here in Korea, and I've been to Magpie and it was fantastic. My wife has been pregnant, and she loves beer so our drinking has taken a hit. After the baby comes this month I plan to take her to visit many of the brewpubs around Seoul. Your list makes that an easier to define task.
     
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  3. Robomunky

    Robomunky Initiate (0) May 14, 2015 Washington
    Trader

    Thanks for making this. Recently took a trip to Seoul and hit a few of these places.

    It was really great checking out the beer scene in Seoul. It's clearly just starting to explode and everyone I talked to was enthusiastic like I haven't seen in years.

    Highlights:
    Amazing Brewing was the best across multiple styles and had a pretty cool space to boot. Highly recommended.
    Pong Dang - the small taproom in the Gangnam area was just okay but I stopped by the one in Itaewon on a different night and really liked it. They tout their lighter beers but I found their stouts to be much better.
    Magpie - only got to try two beers here but both were very good, especially the barleywine.
    White Rabbit Taproom - the owner is the nicest person I met in the entire country. Tiny but cool little taproom with tons of personality. His Black Rabbit stout was excellent.
    Mikkeller Bar was a cool spot in a cool area. Worth a stop if you have time or are nearby but not really worth squeezing in.

    Overall, I had a great beer experience in a city I didn't really expect it in, which was just the cherry on top of the best vacation I've ever taken. Seoul is an amazing city and I can't wait to go back.
     
  4. Ungespundetes

    Ungespundetes Initiate (0) Aug 28, 2010 Antarctica

    Wild Wave's tap room has moved (I have the address lying around somewhere). It's quite far from the centre but so worth it.

    Just got back from 2 weeks in Busan and Seoul and am quite surprised by the quality of craft beer and craft beer bars in both cities. The smoking ban is much much appreciated. I enjoyed the craft beer scene in SK more than in Japan for several reasons.
     
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  5. nerdboy19

    nerdboy19 Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2015 South Korea
    Trader

    Long time no see to this thread.

    Korean craft scene is growing super fast. Check out Mysterlee brewing in Seoul, and Wild Waves in Busan if you don't have much time. Lots of great pubs are opening, and lots of great beers are getting imported. Yes the prices are stupid, but who never thought we could drink TGB in this country. Always welcome for questions if you are visiting South Korea. Cheers :slight_smile:
     
  6. ISaidDankNotDrank

    ISaidDankNotDrank Aspirant (298) Oct 23, 2016 California

    Just visited Seoul and will second the recommendations of Amazing Brewery. Had a good IPA, a so-so New England IPA (all of the Asian breweries I went to haven't seem to gotten the hang of this style, at least by Los Angeles standards), and enjoyed Rocket Man, a Belgian quadrupel. They also serve a pretty good sausage platter, they take US credit cards, and they're kid-friendly (brought my 9 year old). I suggest using the Naver Map app to find this place, it's on a side street a few blocks east of Seoul Forest
     
  7. dcgunman

    dcgunman Pooh-Bah (2,682) Jul 1, 2009 California
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

  8. jdurey

    jdurey Crusader (475) Feb 26, 2018 South Korea

    If in Songdo just outside of Incheon check out:

    Thirsty Monk: has several (nearly all) variants of Weihenstephaner on tap, as well as Big Eye from ballast point. Excellent food too. Located in the Orakai Hotel.

    Cave Beer: Brew their own IPAs. On par with “mass produced” IPAs in the US. Their pizza is out of this world as well. Reasonably priced.

    Amazing Brewery: Similar to its Seoul counterpart, but the atmosphere is less family friendly. Service leaves much to be desired, but the beers are, um, amazing and varied. Food is ok but you don’t go there for the food.
     
  9. nerdboy19

    nerdboy19 Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2015 South Korea
    Trader

    Ok I need to make some few changes, it's been a long time lol.


    2019 Summer Visiting South Korea


    Must Try Breweries & Brew Pubs
    • Seoul Gypsy (Seoul) : A gypsy brewpub specializes in wild brews. Korean beer geek's favorite.
    • Seoul Brewery (Seoul)
    • Myster Lee (Seoul)
    • Wild Waves (Busan, different locations)

    Other Recommended Breweries & Brew Pubs

    • Magpie (Jeju Island)
    • Gorilla Brewing (Busan)
    • Amazing Brewery (Seoul, different locations)
    • Art Monster (Seoul, different locations)
    • The Ranch (Daejeon)
    • Brewdog Itaewon (Seoul)
    • Goose Island Gangnam (Seoul)

    Highly Recommended Craft Beer Pubs
    • Stan Seoul (Seoul) : Has HF on tap sometimes.
    • Seoul Beer Project (Seoul) : Has limited offerings.
    • Sour Pongdang (Seoul)

    Recommended Bottle Shops

    • Craftbros Bottle Shop (Seoul)
    • Beer Lab (Seoul)
    • Cepdor (Seoul) : Sells wine too, and you can drink it there

    Some tips

    1. The tax for beer in Korea is around 170%, so if the original price is $1, the selling price is over $2.7 at least. So....the beer isn't so cheep here in Korea.
    2. However the labor cost is pretty cheap, so drinking at a bar is a more reasonable (or economical) choice.
    3. No tip in Korea, and the prices are all tax included.
    4. The public transportation is really well built, you don't need a rental car for most cases.
    5. My favorite part, it's normal to walk around after midnight. Lots of students or workers after school & work. No need to worry about getting home late :slight_smile:
    6. Uber is forbidden in Korea, taxi is cheep though. Starts from $3 and $8 for a 10km(6miles) drive.
    7. Motels are everywhere in it's usually $40 for a night. Not a bad choice if you want save money.
    8. Don't eat some weird stuffs. Try Bulgogi, Galbi and Spiced Chicken. Don't know how we got here, but fried chicken is a soul food for Korean.



    DM me through BA or Instagram(@mpnerd) if you need any more information. Cheers.
     
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  10. nerdboy19

    nerdboy19 Initiate (0) Sep 20, 2015 South Korea
    Trader

    Oh and I forgot... look for "Wine&More" if you are looking for bottle shops close to you. It's a chain liquor store run by a big company, great line-up, very accessible and cheep!
     
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  11. dcgunman

    dcgunman Pooh-Bah (2,682) Jul 1, 2009 California
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    I’m heading back this Thursday for 5 days. Last visit was In April.
    From my last visit I would highly recommend Neighborhood Pizza in Songdo. This is the place if your looking for Galmegi beers. They have all the Galmegi beers on tap plus other local guest beers. The bonus is the pizza. Outstanding. It’s on a very small street/alley like. Might be a bit hard to find if your taking the subway to Songdo Station and walking to Neighborhood. Taxi would be the best source. I’m definitely stopping in again this trip back. Pizza and Galmegi!
    I’m going to add a couple of more places from our April trip. I made it to Gangnam area and hit up Goose Island Seoul. I don’t do the Goose. Only on my planes when they have something Goose in cans. I’m glad I stopped in at the Goose Seoul Brewery. This place was beautiful and good size. But very pricey. Average price ₩9000 per pour. Some over 9. A full menu of Seoul brewed beers and the usual Goose offering. It’s also a restaurant. I met the head brewer who is from Norway or Finland. Sorry I don’t remember his name. I don’t think I’ll re visit on this trip. I wanted to check out Mikkeller Seoul last time but ran out of time. Down the street from Goose is World Of Beers. Over stayed here. Beer heaven with food. But I stuck with the local Korea craft offerings. There’s a few other bars/pubs in the Gangnam area (bartrekseoul.com) that I’d like to check out. I may just stick to the City Center area this trip. But would like to find a nice bottle shop for beers to go.
    One other place I’d like to mention is The Cinder Bar in Incheon. Warren the owner just opened a second location next to Incheon Airport. Looks like I’ll be stopping in the airport location just before our 6pm flight back to America. I met Warren 5 years ago when we stayed in Incheon. Very nice guy from Kiwi Land. Check out the cinder Bar on IG. He had 3 tap handle back then. He had Lost Coast Tangerine Wheat on. Soon after that he got a keg of OG Sculpin. It took off from there. I’ll be bringing him some bottles and cans.
     
  12. dcgunman

    dcgunman Pooh-Bah (2,682) Jul 1, 2009 California
    BA4LYFE Society Pooh-Bah Trader

    Where is Wine&More?
    Edit: looks like there’s one next to our hotel. Let’s hope so.
     
    #12 dcgunman, Oct 27, 2019
    Last edited: Oct 27, 2019
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