Micro Breweries In North Korea Becoming More Popular

[Initech]

For a country that commonly experiences famines, North Korea has a surprisingly large range of beers. And if you're a microbrewing enthusiast, it might be the last country you'd think of visiting on a tasting tour. That's exactly what Josh Thomas did, though, from 30 March to 6 April this year.

Thomas, who lives in Hong Kong and works in advertising as a creative technologist, is a self-confessed lover of all things beer. Though an amateur microbrewer himself, he "might be moving over into the professional realm soon with some mates", he told Wired.co.uk. "I've been brewing beer for a number of years, and love to travel the globe trying beers from different cultures."

North Korea has a robust domestic beer brewing culture, despite its isolation from the outside world. Famously, the regime bought a British brewery in 2000 for £1.5m and had the whole thing shipped and rebuilt on the edges of the capital, Pyongyang. That formerly German-owned Ushers equipment now produces Taedonggang beer, one of the most popular domestic brands (and, like every other enterprise in North Korea, it's state-owned).

The people of North Korea love a beer as much as Europeans or North Americans, but the culture around brewing is obviously different in some unique ways. Thomas' itinerary in his trip took him to many of the same museums, parks and national monuments that every tourist to North Korea sees, but it also featured special stops at some North Koren breweries where he could share knowledge with locals and sample the local suds.

http://www.wired.co.uk/news/archive/2013-04/29/north-korea-breweries

Beer - it's what brings the world together!

[HarveyDarkey]

1. Interesting, thanks for posting