Busan, Ulsan and Pohang

So at the end of April and beginning of May in Japan we have a series of national holidays which gave me over a week off and I decided to go explore the Korean Beer Scene. I decided to land in Busan and work my way North towards Seoul with some stops  in Ulsan and Pohang.

Busan

I landed in Busan and grabbed a bus to Gwangalli Beach which is the main center for craft beer in town.

Gwangalli Beach Area

6 Pack Tap House & Bottle Shop

Located on the same street as Galmegi Brewery & Owl & Pussycat Bottleshop is this taproom with a wall of to go bottles and a big standing bar that serves pints and samples at reasonable prices. Friendly staff who seem to know their beers and taps. The beer was in good shape and tasted nice while the to-go bottles have a few beers on special available which is nice.

Galmegi Brewery

I walked in here planning to try out their beers and then head out for dinner. The next thing I knew I was in an all night drinking session/bottle share with the brewers and their homebrewing friends. A great selection of some of the mose experimental and tasty craft beers made in Korea. I loved their Moonrise Pale Ale which is exactly what I want from an APA hoppy and flavorful but not that bitter. 

The brewers and staff are really great guys and it's a fantastic space: the first floor houses the brewery and a taproom with a half-dozen high tables. The second floor has regular tables and more taps(with the same beers as the first floor). The tasting set is a great value and the burgers looked great. A must visit in Busan and the heart of the craft brewing scene here. 

2nd floor

2nd floor

Owl & Pussycat Bottleshop

This is agreat looking bottle shop in the heart of Gwangalli across the street from Galmegi Brewing. The staff speak English and are really into beer. Tons of imports at somewhat high prices for Japan but average for South Korea. A really good selection and they often do deals like buy 2 bottles get a glass which is fun. The owner Antonio's opening a taproom with 25 taps soo which will be nice. One of the best bottle shops in the Korean peninsula with warm knowledgeable service.

Gwangan Taphouse

Around the corner from Galmegi Brewing on the main drag that runs from Geumnyeonsan Station to the beach. This used to be Galmegi's Pub but recently got renovated and relaunched as the Gwangan Taphouse as locals kept saying "Meet me at Galmegi" but half would wind up at the brewery and half at the pub!

The new taphouse has 25 taps including a wide range of Galmegi beers, some from elsewhere in Korea and a good selection of imports. A small wood-paneled space with a beach view from some seats. Good prices and friendly service who know and respect beer. Plus the guys from Galmegi often help out behind the bar so you may just be talking to the guy who brewed your beer which is cool. It's small but a good hang out spot.

There are also some places with more generic taps like the Thirsty Monk and some small spots that have rebranded Ka-Brew beers in the backs streets near the beach. Not too far away by subway is...

Centum Area

Shinsegae

I came to this area to check out the Busan Museum of Art (free for permanent exhibits) and found a mammoth convention center and across the street a huge Homeplus Supercenter and what's reputed to be the biggest Shinsegae Department store in the world. I mention these here as they're one of the few places to find domestic craft beer in Busan. You can find bottles of beer from Korea Craft Brewery at both places. Homeplus has ARK beers for less money while Shinsegae has the ARK beers at higher prices as well as the Hitachino Nest Korea JJ Ale. Worth a stop to get some souvenirs.

The selection at Homeplus

Haeundae Area

The Booth

Raspberry Stout

The bar itself is funky  with an industrial feel. Tables made of pallets, oil drums as tables, graffiti covered walls (I dug the Homer Simpson) nice little balcony for smokers. Great salty sea breeze. Service was subpar as I got the feeling they felt too cool to serve you & more interested in their own concerns than in doing their jobs. I left the fairly empty bar after one pint.

Oncheonjang Area

Hurshimchung Brau Brewery

To get there go out exit 4 or 5 at Oncheonjang station and use the overhead crosswalk then walk through the shopping center to the far escalor & go down to street level you should come out near a Coffee Bean. Turn left and go a few blocks then grab a right. This gets you to the hot spring + brewery. Past the hotel there is a local market and an outdoor foothbath. It's off the beaten track but is worth a visit for the hot spring alone, add in a German Style Brewpub and it's a can't miss Busan attraction for beer lovers.

  
The brewpub is massive with a stage for shows, dance area and hundreds of tables. The friendly staff wore a leiderhosen type outfit but the banging techno was fairly odd and clashed with the atmosphere. High prices on food though possibly large portions as the dishes seemed meant for sharing. Beers are 6500/24000/36000 won for 500ml/2L/3L. Definitely a place to go with friends to share beers & food. Visiting solo and hungover I tried the weizen, decent, then headed on to explore a new area.

The Weizen

Seomyeon Area

This area has a typical downtown Korean type atmosphere and I don't think I saw any other foreigners at all. There used to be a few German style brewpubs around here: Judy's Nine Brau, Who? Brewery, etc. but I think most have closed while a few new places opened:

Levee Brewing Company

Levee brewing can be found using their map on Facebook it is in the backstreets near Seomyeon Station  on the first floor of the BZ Hotel. The actual brewery/brewpub is in Suwon but this taproom's a convenient place to try their beers. The menu is simple and consists of 3 beers plus 3 food dishes: fries, baked potato & jerky. The staff kindly let me have samples of the beers so I could make an educated choice. I ordered their Irish double Stout which was the nicest one. 6 seats at the bar plus seating for a further 30 at various tables, also some tables at a terrace out front. I really liked the vibe here, friendly inviting and the open terrace style seating  stirred my Montreal soul. Worth visiting. 

An:nyeong Pub

An actual beer bar that's not pretending to be a taproom or doing anything complicated. They're simply trying to be a straight up bar for local beer enthusiasts with 8 taps & 100+ bottles. It's a five minute walk from Levee in Seomyeon making it easy to visit both - again check FB for directions. Here's a screen shot from my ipod touch I used to get from A (green pin Levee) to B (red pin An:nyeong):

Levee to An:nyeong

The line up is a mix of Korean & international beers with a slight European bent. It's a pretty big place with seating for 30-50 people and a foosball table. Good service and decent prices. Pints in Korea tend to be cheaper than Japan though imports can be pricier. I got to try the Akitu Brewing Camellia IPA here which is brewed in suburban Busan which was nice as I'd heard of it but never saw any of their beers on tap elsewhere.

exterior view

Akitu Camellia IPA

That covers the decent places in Busan, the next day I hopped on a bus and took the hour ride to nearby Ulsan.

Ulsan

This city is home to Whasoo Brewing which used to do contract brewing for a bunch of places and suffered the same rebranding woes as stuff from Ka-Brew but to a lesser extent. They're in the midst of a rebranding effort and as such have yet to establish any kind of web presences as well as being exceptionally cagey about themselves. They've refused to give me their address while they figure out how to officially relaunch. Weird.

Anyways, the purpose of my visit was I'd gotten an invitation to check out the Trevi Brau Haus Brewpub. Conveniently located a 5 minute walk from the intercity bus station, it's dead easy to visit. Their new production brewery however is being built out in the countryside making it less visitor friendly if you don't have a car or a ride.

The brewpub has seating for 300 with an Italian inspired food menu featuring pizzas and a German inspired beer menu. This is massive beer hall is serious about their beer making three solid examples of a weizen, a dunkel and a pilsner. The son of the owner, Chanwoo, speaks Japanese & English. The food is good as are the beers. It was my only stop in Ulsan but I was not disappointed. I look forward to seeing what they do with a production brewery!

I was only in town for a few hours but had a great time, I'll definitely need to visit Ulsan again the next time I visit Busan.

Pohang

OK, I visited this steel town to visit a friend working in town and decided to see if I could track down any places worthy of beer exploration. I stumbled on an old list from the Korean Microbrewery Association which had one place in Pohang. My friend and I decided to check it out on a Saturday night.

Trolling the list for Pohang yielded Pohang Bausen Brau. The exterior and interior evoke a German beer hall, the signage says something about it being Polish inspired, the menu is a mix of Italian and Korean while the band is Filipino singing requests (mostly old cheesy Korean ballads when I was there). Humourously odd to say the least. 

If the beer had been good I would have chuckled and enjoyed the weirdness. The staff were friendly and let me peek into the brewhouse, the place was completely dead early on a Saturday night but our cab driver said it is a popular place. 

Beers are served in 0.5L, 2L & 5L sizes! The two house beers are a pils and a "stout" plus maybe a macro on tap. The pils was passable but the stout was vile, though the staff recommended it and said it was what they were known for in town... We left without finishing our beers and headed to Mekju Changgo down the road.

Mekju Changgo  

means beer warehouse in Korean and is part of a countrywide chain. The Pohang location looks like a big log cabin and is just 1-2 minutes from Bausen Brau. A long wall of fridges along one wall hold beer from around the world but with just Sam Adams as far as craft go. Cheap prices and a fun rowdy crowd of drunks(some lady was chewing out her husband when we were there). Typical Korean bar food and a decent selection for a small city like Pohang, also I get the feeling these kinds of places are a really Korean experience.

I like the self-serve fridge concept, the wide variety of styles and the fact they had appropriate glassware for some belgian beers like the Leffe. Worth popping in to if you ever stumble on one while out on the town in Korea.