“Come and taste the beer freshly straight from the brewery.”
The Korea International Beer Expo (KIBEX) kicked off on the 31st at COEX Hall C in Samseong-dong, Seoul. This event will be held for four days, and it will show all of industry value chains, from ingredients and brewing equipment to breweries, importers and wholesalers, and franchises. A total of 120 companies and 200 booths will be set up with 7 countries participating despite the current pandemic situation. The slogan of this year is 'DRINK DIVERSITY’, where premium traditional wines, natural wines, craft spirits and beverages industries, and retail tech companies participated in the exhibition.
There weren’t many visitors this morning, but the spirit of the event was higher than ever, because many are excited to go out after many regulations, including social distancing has eased off, and a time of recession due to COVID-19.
It is an exciting opportunity to discover the distinctive taste of each local brewery at the expo.
Gamja Island, a brewery in Chuncheon, Gangwon-do, introduced beer using Gangwon specialties such as potatoes, Dakgalbi (spicy chicken), and red bean paste. Among other beers, Arirang Brewer’s Ari-Beer stood out with using the theme of Gangwon Jeongseon Coal Mining Village.
Andong Beer from an Andong Brewery, 'Gose Muryangsu', is a GOSE-style beer made from local products such as agastache rugosa ande Salt fermented for over 10 years. An official from Andong Beer explained, “We thought about an idea for Andong local beer, and came up with a product that using agastache rugosa, which is more pleasing to smell than the unfamiliar smell of cilantro.
Other charm of this year's expo is that there is an opportunity to find the possibility of local ingredients for beer such as hops, malt, and yeast. Korean beer has been made using mostly imported ingredients; however, interests in using local ingredients is also increasing as the domestic craft beer industry expands. Booths from Hongcheon-gun and Gunsan were set up in the center of the expo, and had a big crowd.
In Hongcheon-gun, Gangwon-do, CEO of Heidi Healing Farm, Chungheum Yeon, discovered native hops and continued to cultivate them. It was selected for the rural vitality plus project by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. It completed trial cultivation last year, and expected to be cultivated this year from nine farms. There is also a malt localization research conducted In Gunsan, Jeollabuk-do. Known as the main producer of barley, Gunsan built the first domestic brewery in 2017 to expand the consumption of farmhouses, and created a cultivation complex exclusively for barley beer by distributing ‘Kwang Beer (from Gunsan area in Korea),’ which is one of the barley beer from Gunsan.
An official from KIBEX 2022 said, "This event will demonstrate the possibility that agricultural products grown in Korea are sufficient to produce beer, and serve as a step forward for the domestic beer industry to become a true K-BEER"
By Staff Reporter Hyoju Park (phj20@etnews.com)