Well, it's been about 6 months since Gorilla Brewing opened in Busan, South Korea and it is time to go back to my notes and finally publish my blog post from my visit there. I intended to post it before they opened but due to a technical glitch with blogger I lost my whole post and had to start over. Sorry guys but better late than never!
So last January I decided to take my wife to Busan and shortly after that decision was made I heard of a new brewery opening up. I reached out to find out if it'd be open when I went and heard probably not.
Luckily for me, Wayne Gold the owner of Wolfhound introduced me to Andy Green at Gorilla Brewing and helped organize a pre-opening visit.
Located at the far eastern end of Gwangalli Beach, Gorilla Brewing when combined with the newly opened Akitu Taproom help spread out the Busan beer scene from it's birthplace down by Geumnyeonsan Station - home of Wild Waves Taproom, Owl & Pussycat and Galmegi Brewing one of the best craft brewers in Korea.
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| nice terrace and paint job |
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| the building |
After reaching the brewery's location, I saw a building built into a slope. The outside has a nice terrace for warmer weather that should be a cool place to chill out in the future pre or post beach.
Entering, you find a very welcoming space with big windows looking in on the brew house with a convenient bar to rest your drinks.
The long bar's got six taps and they started out with a Pale Ale, Session IPA, Stout and IPA. This has subsequently been joined by a Blonde Ale.
Coincidentally, I was in London last summer and got to meet him at Crate. He's a really friendly guy and talented brewer who enjoys objectively tasting his brews and doesn't pull any punches in judging his own work which really earned my respect.
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| Calum Bennett at Crate in London |
The beautiful brew house in back is pretty cool and they had a few unusual fermenters that lay on their sides. They brew 100L batches and chose the name Gorilla as it is the same in English and Korean. On top of that they could come up with some really striking imagery and branding.
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| Side-mounted fermenters |
It's time to talk about the most important thing for any brewery: the beer.
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| Andy serving up my first taste of Gorilla's beer |
I started off by having a pint of their Pale Ale 5.5%
It's a nice copper color with a classic piney hop bouquet.
Medium-full bodied this is a pale ale aimed at those who enjoy a balanced hoppiness. I found it really easy to drink.
So in no time I was ready to sample the rest of their starting line up. From left to right: IPA, Stout & Session IPA.
The IPA 6%
Straight from the tank, not even kegged yet! A great looking copper color which is what I want out of an IPA with a more aromatic hop profile than the Pale Ale featuring tropical fruits - quite fragrant and mouthwatering. It was incredibly smooth and drinkable - this went down like a dream.
The Gorilla Stout poured a deep black with a tan head. With an aroma of chocolate fudge at first that then opened up to reveal roasty and oat notes. I thought it was a very solid stout though for my personal tastes I’d enjoy a bit of a fuller body.
According to Andy, at the launch party it was by far the crowd favorite among Korean craft drinkers.
The Session IPA 4.5% is a nice copper gold with a subdued nose that slowly opens up to become more aromatic.
The taste is maltier than most Session IPAs I've had making it more British in style and providing it with a fuller body which is a nice touch. The taste is sweet and hoppy - good but I felt this initial batch needed a touch more aromatic hops to make it really pop.
My favorite was their IPA which I've since learned is proving to be their most popular brew since they've opened. After my visit, I felt the Gorilla Brewing was off to a promising start and could start giving Galmegi a run for the money in the race for Best Brewery in Busan.
From everything I've seen online in the last six months, Gorilla Brewing's been embraced by the Korean craft beer scene as a very strong neophyte brewery doing all the right things.
Keep it up guys and I look forward to visiting again someday!
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