Oriental Brewery spotlights Icheon craft beer ahead of International Beer Day 

Oriental Brewery said Thursday it had held a staff brewing event at its Icheon brewery in Gyeonggi ahead of International Beer Day, which falls on the first Friday of August.

About 50 employees took part, among them Brian Koo, vice president of legal and corporate affairs; Kim Doo-young, director of the Icheon brewery; and June Kim, brewmaster.

The centrepiece was a craft beer made from local produce and named Cheers from Icheon. Brewmasters at the Icheon brewery spent three weeks developing the recipe, working from three of the county's better-known crops: Imgeumnimpyo rice, Janghowon peaches and cornelian cherries from Baeksa-myeon. The ingredients were fermented alongside malt.

According to the company, the rice contributes a clean, soft texture, the peach a light fruit aroma and the cornelian cherry a sharper acidity.

Participants toured the brewery's on-site beer museum, which covers the development of the Korean brewing industry and the company's own history and methods, then tasted six craft beers in the brewery's craft lounge, including Cheers from Icheon.

The second half of the programme was instructional, covering fermentation, maturation and filtration, alcohol production and carbonation. Participants also bottled a separately prepared batch as a home-brewing exercise.

An Oriental Brewery representative said the event was intended to give head office and plant staff direct exposure to Korean beer culture and to Icheon's produce, and that the company would continue to draw attention to the role beer plays in supporting regional agriculture and local economies.

Oriental Brewery, founded in 1933 and owned by AB InBev since 2014, operates breweries in Icheon, Cheongju and Gwangju, and produces the Cass and Hanmac brands.

BY KIM MIN-YOUNG [[email protected]]