Taedonggang

File:Taedonggang Beer, North Korea, October 2012 (8196688556).jpg

In 2000, Kim Jong Il decided the country needed a showcase brewery.{{Cite book |last=Chambers |first=Paul |url=https://www.google.com/books/edition/Beer_in_East_Asia/GXanEAAAQBAJ |title=Beer in East Asia: A Political Economy |last2=Nuangjamnong |first2=Nithi |date=2023-03-17 |publisher=Taylor & Francis |isbn=978-1-000-85272-1 |language=en}} At that point having good relations with the West, via connections to Germany, the Government of North Korea bought the intact and still in place brewery plant of the closed Ushers of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England for £1.5 million via broker Uwe Oehms.{{cite web|url=https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/kim-jong-ale-how-did-ushers-brewery-of-trowbridge-end-up-in-north-korea-producing-pyongyangs-number-9268051.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220526/https://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/food-and-drink/features/kim-jong-ale-how-did-ushers-brewery-of-trowbridge-end-up-in-north-korea-producing-pyongyangs-number-9268051.html |archive-date=2022-05-26 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live |title=Kim Jong-ale: How did Ushers brewery of Trowbridge end up in North Korea producing Pyongyang's number one beer - and what did it take to set up a taste test back in Wiltshire? |publisher=independent.co.uk |date=18 April 2014 |access-date=2016-10-08}} Concerned it could be used for chemical weapons production, after assurances, Peter Ward, of brewing company Thomas Hardy Brewing and Packaging bought the plant and arranged for a team from North Korea to travel to Trowbridge to dismantle it.{{cite web|url=http://www.wiltshiretimes.co.uk/news/4475589.How_Ushers__Trowbridge_brewery_is_now_the_toast_of_North_Korea/|title=How Ushers' Trowbridge brewery is now the toast of North Korea|publisher=Wiltshire Times|date=2009-07-05|access-date=2009-11-21}} Reinstalled and operational from 2002, the brewery uses German-made computerized brewing control technology.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} Since then, North Korea has had a steady supply of beer.{{sfn|Bärtås|Ekman|2014|p=31}}

On 3 July 2009, a commercial for the product was broadcast on state-run Korean Central Television in a rare move, as there are very few advertisements on North Korean television.[https://web.archive.org/web/20090707072804/http://www.latimes.com/business/nationworld/wire/sns-ap-as-nkorea-beer-commercial,0,4464914.story In apparent first, North Korea airs beer commercial on state TV]. Los Angeles Times. July 3, 2009[http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-pacific/8132199.stm North Korea launches beer advert]. BBC News Online. July 3, 2009 The commercial shows technicians sampling the beer and beer bottles floating in space, shooting out foam reminiscent of a missile launch.{{sfn|Bärtås|Ekman|2014|p=32}} North Korea's Taepodong missiles are sometimes called "Taedong" missiles.{{sfn|Bärtås|Ekman|2014|p=31}} The commercial has been broadcast three times in all.[http://english.chosun.com/site/data/html_dir/2009/11/09/2009110900247.html N.Korea Ends Experiment with TV Commercials]. The Chosun Ilbo. 9 November 2009

Since 2016, the beer has been available in China in limited amounts.{{Cite web | title = N. Korean beer sale in China | author = Lee Jin-a | work=The Korea Times | date = 28 April 2016 | access-date = 5 May 2016 | url = https://www.koreatimes.co.kr/www/news/nation/2016/04/485_203608.html }}

Reviews of the currently produced varieties of Taedonggang beer are somewhat mixed. The most widely available Pilsner style lager is described by The New York Times as a "full-bodied lager a little on the sweet side, with a slightly bitter aftertaste" and "one of the highest quality beers on the [Korean] peninsula for several years".{{Cite web |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/10/business/worldbusiness/10iht-beer.1.10865644.html?_r=0 | title = Brewing beer, Communist style, in North Korea | author = Jon Herskovitz | work = The New York Times| date = 10 March 2008 | access-date = 2016-10-08}} The BBC's Korea correspondent Steven Evans in a September 2016 review notes "an OK beer, a bit bland to my palate more used to magnificent British bitter - a bit too much like ghastly, dishwater, mass-produced American beer, in my opinion."{{cite news|last1=Evans|first1=Steven|title=Sneaking a taste of North Korea's finest beer|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/magazine-37316967|access-date=12 September 2016|work=BBC News|date=12 September 2016}}

A Finnish review of Taedonggang's brown ale notes an alcohol content of 5% and a taste significantly more bitter than most Asian beers.{{citation needed|date=May 2015}} Taedonggang lager resembles British ale.{{sfn|Bärtås|Ekman|2014|p=31}}

Taedonggang beer is named after the Taedong River, which runs through the centre of the capital city of Pyongyang.

Its water comes from upstream Taedong River, barley and rice from South Hwanghae Province and hops from Ryanggang Province.{{Cite web | title = Pyongyang Taedonggang Beer Festival | work=Naenara | agency=Korean Central News Agency | date = 2016-08-17 | access-date = 2017-04-05 | url = http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/society/?life+1+2995 }}

It has been certified with ISO 9001, ISO 22000 and HACCP.{{Cite web | title = Taedonggang Beer | work=Naenara | publisher=Foreign Languages Publishing House | date = 2016-06-11 | access-date = 2017-04-05 | url = http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/trade/?goods+1+1046 }}

Taedonggang beers are sorted by the amount of malt contained, and with numbers ranging from "7" to "1". Type "1" are made of pure malt, and "5" being pure rice. Out of type "1" to "5", the higher the number the more rice and less malt there is. Type "6" and "7" are both Schwarzbier, being "6" is made slightly more malt heavy than the other.{{Cite web | language=zh | title = 朝鲜电商产品 I 朝鲜大同江啤酒1...7号的区别 | trans-title = Chosen Eletroic Products I Differences between Chosen Taedonggang beer type "1"..."7" | publisher = 大力| date = 2020-11-04 | access-date =2021-05-23 | url = https://zhuanlan.zhihu.com/p/274141021 }} Also, Taedonggang beer type "1" and "2" exported to Mainland China are {{cvt|500|ml}}, unlike the {{cvt|600|ml}} version sold in North Korea and they have different package design.

Taedonggang beer is targeted primarily at domestic consumers,{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} but was exported to South Korea during the years of the Sunshine Policy.{{cite book|last=Hokkanen|first=Jouni|title=Pohjois-Korea: Siperiasta itään|year=2013|publisher=Johnny Kniga|location=Helsinki|language=fi|isbn=978-951-0-39946-0|trans-title=North Korea: East of Siberia|page=272}} Limited export to South Korea began in 2005,{{citation needed|date=March 2017}} where it is imported by Vintage Korea, a company based in Dogok, Gangnam, Seoul.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

In mid-2007 availability of Taedonggang beer in South Korea began to lessen and it is widely believed now that it is no longer being imported into the country after the brewery increased the price 70% without warning.{{citation needed|date=March 2017}}

According to expatriates in North Korea it is the most popular brand of beer, and is widely served in restaurants and bars, and in Pyongyang hotels catering to foreign visitors, where a small bottle costs about 0.5 euro.

{{Portal|North Korea|Beer}}

• Beer in North Korea
• Taedonggang Brewing Company

{{Reflist}}

• {{cite book|last1=Bärtås|first1=Magnus|last2=Ekman|first2=Fredrik|title=Hirviöidenkin on kuoltava: Ryhmämatka Pohjois-Koreaan|year=2014|publisher=Tammi|location=Helsinki|language=fi|isbn=978-951-31-7727-0|pages=31–32|trans-title=All Monsters Must Die: An Excursion to North Korea|translator-last=Eskelinen|translator-first=Heikki}}

{{Commons category|Taedonggang beer}}

• [http://www.ratebeer.com/brewers/taedonggang-beer-brewery/4439/ Ratebeer: Taedonggang Brewery]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20120303201422/http://www1.korea-np.co.jp/pk/182nd_issue/2002072702.htm Pyongyang Report: Would you like a Taedonggang Beer?]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20020806085806/http://atimes.com/atimes/Korea/DG30Dg01.html "Pyongyang Watch: Beer Leader"] Asia Times article
• [http://www.naenara.com.kp/en/society/?life+1+2983 "DPRK-Made Beers Enjoy Popularity"] at Naenara

{{Alcoholic drinks}}

Category:Beer in North Korea

Category:Korean alcoholic drinks

Category:Beer brands

Category:North Korean cuisine