As it turns out, there’s a burgeoning craft beer scene in our new city of Busan, South Korea. Things have really changed since the last time we lived here in 2012-2013, when the only decent beer we could get our hands on required 90 minutes into Seoul on the subway and a decent walk to Craftworks. We’ll go back there when we go up North and review it here. I’m happy to see the craft beer scene growing in Korea.
We’re missing the Great Korean Beer Festival in Seoul this weekend, which is lame. Oh well. We’ll head up there soon enough and enjoy a nostalgic walk around. The week we left in February 2013, I cut off all my hair at the Turtle Salon in Itaewon. To celebrate, we went across the street to the new (at the time) bar on the third floor. Some guys were serving their homebrew out of kegs for the first time in the bar. An IPA and a Stout. It was a watershed moment! Craft beer was actually here in Korea.
We went to one of the craft beer places at the beach on out first weekend here, and had a really nice sampler. The Owl and Pussycat on Gwangalli Beach is empty on a weekend afternoon, and we had the place to ourselves!
Having drawn blood biting our tongues at the unbelievable prices for a glass of beer (a couple of them were $30 for a small bottle or $16 for a small pour!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!), we ordered the slightly more economical sampler flight.
We tried the Suri Saison, The Yuzu Pale Ale, the IPA, and the Breakfast Coffee Stout.
I didn’t write down tasting notes, because jetlag. But the Yuzu Pale Ale was the most delicious of the bunch. It is infused with Yuzu juice, which is a type of peppery, unique taste that features heavily in Japanese and Korean cuisine. When I worked at Brewdog we had a yuzu DIPA, the Konnichiwa Kitsune, from their ‘Hello, My Name Is…’ series. This beer was lighter than that, and the pale ale was bright and bubbly.
Speaking of Brewdog, it seems they have taken the advice of yours truly and gotten into the Korean market. Big time. I’ve seen there stuff all over the place. It’s great to know I’ll be able to get some of my beloved Jackhammer over here on special occasions.
Owl and Pussycat would be a great place to impress a date, being right on the beach. I bet the view is great at night. If they have a sale at some point, we may stop by again.
Reverse Retrograde 