Yeongdeungpo’s NEW Original Beer Festival

Did you know that Yeongdeungpo was the birthplace of Korea’s beer industry?

Beer first flowed into Korea during the Japanese occupation. In the early 1930s, Japanese companies established breweries here, mainly to supply beer to settlers and officials. At the time, beer was seen as an upscale, imported-style drink, pretty much reserved for the elite or special occasions. By 1933, Yeongdeungpo became home to two of Korea’s major breweries, which later evolved into OB (Oriental Brewery) and Hite Brewery.

These two beer giants have long since relocated and what was once the birth place of Korean beer is now a beautiful park. You can still find an original OB Beer brewing pot in the center of the park as a reminder of where it all started. Locals even refer to it as “OB Park,” which is why it was the perfect location for Yeongdeungpo’s first beer festival which featured musical performances, food trucks and of course beer!

What really piqued our interest were the 70 different beers from 12 breweries from across the country. This means we got to see and try drinks from places we haven’t even heard of. We naturally tend to gravitate toward’s Jeju beers because they’ve never steered us wrong. Brews from Jeju tend to be light, slightly citrusy and, if you get it on tap, they serve their glasses with a dried tangerine on top. So we got a cup of Jeju Heart from The Ranch Brewing and it didn’t disappoint. It also paired really well with some fresh chocolate filled churros. Yum!

There was a particularly long line for Dongducheon Brewery and their award winning Soyosan Alt beer, so of course, we had to try it. It was darker than I normally go for but, surprisingly, it didn’t feel super heavy. It had light nutty/coffee undertones with a gentle bitterness at the end. I could understand the hype. The hubby tried their stout which was heavier but still hit the notes of chocolate without being overwhelming.

And it all went down smoothly with a delicious plate of pad thai.

Aside from food and booze, there was also a small flea market area for artists to sell their handmade goods. I ended up getting some adorable dog toys for Uyu and a tteokbokki keying for my phone because we’re all about supporting small businesses. And no festival would be complete without live music. There were quite a few singers who preformed and it all built up to an EDM Party at the end of the night. We’re not really into EDM, but Korean EDM is something I could get behind. Especially if they keep playing Huntrix and Saja Boys.

Finally, we picked up two bottles of makgeolli to take home with us. They were our first purchases of the night, but the booth was kind enough to keep them refrigerated for us until we came by after the festival ended to pick them up.

The festival was small, but packed and definitely one of the best beer festivals we’ve been to in a long while. It was, without a doubt, the best beer festival we’ve been to in Seoul and we look forward to attending in the years to come.