Leaving Korea: Parting Shots

With the hard earned homebrew equipment passed on to caring hands and the return flight to Chicago booked, it's time to say goodbye to brewing in Korea. My stay here has been much shorter than anticipated, and the batches of beer I was able to brew was frustratingly low due to hot apartment temperatures. However, rigging fishing equipment for the purposes of homebrew was exceptionally fun, and learning to brew and measure in metric was a treat. I'm not entirely sure I want to go back to imperial units of measure...

I digress. During my brief stint as a homebrewer in Korea I managed to pick a few tips and tricks along the way that never made it as their own post. So this is a small compendium of what I've learned while brewing here and some of the websites that have made life much easier. If there's something missing, or anything you have a question on, please feel free to leave a comment below!

Tips

Make Ice at Home

Sounds ridiculously simple, right? Just make some ice at home. Fill up a tray or two and you should be good... unless you're attempting to make enough to chill 4kg of boiling hot wort. Obviously wort chillers and plate chillers would be the best option, but they require a sink that actually cooperates with you and allows attachments. I've yet to be lucky enough to have one of those. Also, chillers take up more precious space, which should always be factored into the decision making while living in Korea.

In the past I would hop down to the liquor store and pick up a few bags of ice to lug back home. Not the biggest deal in the world, but it's still annoying and on a hot day can create quite the watery mess. I might be game for doing that here, but few of the local marts carry big-ol-bags of ice like those back in the States.

Easiest solution: reuse your water bottles. Since the tap water here is almost as bad as Hite no one drinks it, which forces you into buying a lot of bottled water (or a water filter if you're fancy pants). One of the fine side effects of this is having a ton of rather large plastic water bottles you can repurpose.

Invest in a Bench Capper

This wasn't a must for my home operation in the States, but it was essential here. The vast majority of the bottles I was able to find here have rounded tops that make it almost impossible for the winged capper to clamp on to and force the cap on. With the bench capper it's not an issue. Simply adjust the back to any height you need, 350ml or the bigger 500ml bottles are both quite easy. Not to mention it saves your hands quite the workout.

I spent a little more than I would've preferred on mine through Beer School, but it's the one and only piece of equipment that will be making the flight home with me. Worth every penny.

Resources

Seoul Homebrew

Unfortunately for me, this site wasn't up and running when I first arrived and started brewing in Korea. As I mentioned in the Getting Started post back in April, Beer School was my preferred website... but... well... things change. Beer School was a great option when nothing else existed, but there was the whole Beer in a Can mixup and then mystery ingredients for my first BIAB batch, so my confidence in their abilities has slightly diminished. Could still be a great source for materials if needed.

However, Seoul Homebrew has a wealth of materials and resources and it's all in English. Moreover, it's actually run by folks who know homebrew and has everything from starter kits and recipe kits for the novice to multiple grain options for the more experienced brewer. Hell, they even have their own recipes section with in-house materials to try out different styles. The only downside to the site is the lack of activity in their forum, but that may pick up in time and leads quite nicely into the next resource website.

Homebrew Korea

Though it seems there were once ambitions of become a true homebrew store, this site is an amazing knowledge resource. A self-proclaimed "community of brewers for brewers," their Community Forum tackles everything from starting equipment to water testing. Though some of the post dates are older, the group is still quite active and will often post about community events or exciting news in the world of Korean beer. While Home Brew Talk is still probably the best forum for the hobby, Homebrew Korea offers more specifics of brewing in The Land of the Morning Calm.

Nikobrew

Should you have issues finding the hops you'd like on Seoul Homebrew, this lovely little site will have your head spinning at the options available. They have roughly 100 ordering options on their hops page. As far as shipping goes, it's not exactly cheap, but it's not going to break the bank for what you'll get in return. Up to four full pounds of hops is a scant $25 through USPS Priority International. Check out their Shipping page for more info.

Brew Your Own Magazine

Speaking of hops, oh my what a substitution chart they have over at BYO! You can scroll through the various styles, get substitutions and they even give an idea of what the flavor profile will be. Back in the States I didn't have to worry about substitutions very often, but here in Korea it's been a gigantic part of every single recipe development and this gem of a site has come in handy on more than a few occasions. Should you need a grain substitution chart, there's one housed right here on Brew Day.

But back to BYO. This is also a fantastic source for recipes. A great deal of the ones we've developed on this site have either come directly from BYO, or are a very close adaptation. All in all, I'd highly recommend just subscribing to BYO. They even have a digital edition for those of us far far away.

Phnom Penh Stout

Hailing from the capital of Cambodia, Phnom Penh, this stout does its gloriously designed can justice. With a smokey aroma, it tastes just slightly fruity and quite roasty with a nice lingering aftertaste. Being the first beer I've had from Cambodia, I wasn't sure what to expect, but being a stout from Asia I have to admit my expectations weren't exactly sky high. I was pleasantly surprised by its complexity and full body. It's a damn tasty stout that goes down quite easily and makes you want to reach for another one... or four.

Bell's Expedition Stout

Bell's Expedition Stout is an Imperial Russian Stout available during the winter months. This is a BIG beer clocking in at 10.5% ABV and reportedly with a starting specific gravity of 1.110 (Bellsbeer.com). This beer has an indefinite shelf life (if stored properly!) and would be a great candidate for cellaring and comparing vintages years down the road. Having attended Bell's Brewery's Vintage Beer Tasting earlier this year during Kalamazoo's Beer Week, I can personally attest to the Expedition Stout's ability to become more interesting and complex with time. 

This beer pours a silky jet black with a thin head that soon dissipates. Being a Russian Imperial Stout, this beer has big complex malt character that drips of succulent dark stone fruit. No alcohol flavors are apparent upfront, but it is clear that you are drinking a big beer.  Expedition stout has excellent mouthfeel befitting such a behemoth and is well balanced between sweetness and bitterness. This is my standard for Russian Imperial Stout and would rank it "Excellent" on any scale. 

Galmegi Brewing Company Summerbrewfest

Photo by Mallory Dowd

On the verge of their Fall Brewfest may I present one of the finest brewers in all of Korea, Galmegi Brewing Company. Filling the amazingly large void as Busan's first craft brew pub, Galmegi is located a few short steps from Gwangan Beach in one of my favorite areas of the city, Gwangali. More of a nanobrewery than a microbrewery, everything is made in Korea with mountain stream water, German barley, American hops, and imported yeast strains from around the world. But that's just where they get going. The amazing infusions they put together for their Summerbrewfest would make quite a few breweries Stateside take note. Here's what they had on tap:

For whatever reason I've never really considered myself a saison kind of guy, but this one hit the spot on a hot summer day. I took in Galmegi's Summer Saison while perusing the literature at Fully Booked, a fine little used bookstore/coffee shop/beer lounge located in the heart of Kyungsung. 

The beer itself was complex with a floral and fruity aroma to match its flavor. The yeast was quite prevalent and earthy with hints of bitterness cutting through it. Not a ton of body for this cloudy elixir, but that's to be expected. The overall taste was slightly dry with just a little more sweetness than I'm accustomed to with saisons. Still not my favorite style of beer, but this one was done well for those that enjoy em. 

After making my way over to the pub itself, I sat down with a pint of their Soulless Ginger. Holy shit was this good. As the name would indicate, the ginger is the star of this brew from start to finish. What you smell up front is floral, fruity, and blatant. That doesn't really go away as you drink... until the aftertaste, which was quite yeasty and hung around.

While there certainly are ginger beers being made in the States, I haven't made my way around to trying one yet, so this was the first of its kind for me. Summers here in Korea are more than a touch hot and brutally humid, and this beer was a treat to take down on a sticky night. Crisp and refreshing, I wish I could have it by the six pack here on Geoje... but that's the case with just about every beer other than Hite.

Anyway, here are the other selections they had on tap for the Summerbrewfest I was a little too... out of sorts to take notes on.

Dry EB CiderLemon Basil Wheat

Ginseng Pale Ale

Grapefruit IPA

Sunbi Stout (by Busan Brewery)

While I gave all of them a try, I managed to leave out a full review for both the Grapefruit IPA, and Sunbi Stout. The IPA had grapefruit infused both in the brew and on the spot through some contraption I remember being impressed with... but little else. The stout was one of the best things my mouth had the joy of tasting since landing on these shores. Again, no notes on those beyond that. It was a lot of beers in by the time I tried those two.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed everything Galmegi had to offer and am more than happy to head back for their Fall Brewfest this weekend. If you're here on the South side of the country I cannot recommend them highly enough. Much like Craftworks in the North, they're a very welcome oasis in the beer desert. However, Galmegi is much more experimental with what they're brewing and have strayed quite far from the ol standbys you'll get from the bigger Korean microbrew. This is absolutely no knock on Craftworks, more of a comment on how innovative the brews are at Galmegi.

Finding Galmegi

3-4 3rd Floor, Namcheon-dong, Suyoung-gu, Busan, South Korea
Located at Gwangan beach across from Saigon on the third floor. By subway, get off at Geumyeonsan Station and take exit 3. Follow the road towards the beach, and they are the second building up from Stabucks on the 3rd floor of the Sejin Building.

Hours:
Mon - Fri: 6 - midnight
Sat: 2pm - 2am
Sun: 2pm - midnight
Phone: 010-4469-9658
Email: galmegibrewing@gmail.com

Seoul Beer

Photo by Mallory Dowd

While Cass and Hite are still very much the Houses Targaryen and Baratheon, fighting constantly over the Iron Throne of the Republic of Korea, there are some up and comers vying for attention. The Lord Baelish's of the world, if you will. Personally, I will not compare anything I enjoy to that wretched worm, but you get the idea.

Not shockingly the vast majority of these upstanding beer barons are in Seoul, the King's Landing of Korea. While most of the country is still growing into its very large shoes, Seoul is a step ahead in almost every respect: the arts, culture, diversity, food, and most importantly around here: beer. While a lot of Korea still very much feels like a small town, Seoul is becoming a world city and craft beer is starting to take hold.

If you find yourself in the heart of the Land of Morning Calm, here are some watering holes to stop by. They're broken down by neighborhood to make your travels a little easier.

Itaewon

Craftworks Brewing Company

Myeongsan Bldg, Yongsan-gu, Itaewon 2-dong 651

+82 2-794-2537

11:00am–3:00am

Always save the best for last? No. No thank you. Craftworks is far and away making the best beer in the country. This statement sounds bold, but there really isn't a shit ton of competition. However, if competition were plentiful, Craftworks would still very much hold its own. A self-proclaimed "foreign-run brewing enterprise," Craftworks has the largest selection of craft ales and even a stout.

On tap you'll find their Bukhansan Pale Ale, Geumgang Mountain Dark Ale, Bäekdusan Fefeweizen, Halla Mountain Golden Ale, Jirisan Moon Bear IPA, Seorak Oatmeal Stout, and Namsan Pure Pilsner. While these are pretty standard fair for most microbrews, I cannot describe what an absolute delight they are here. Again, beyond the novelty of simply having them, Craftworks does all of these standbys quite well. They even have two seasonals, the floral and summery Gwanaksan Kölsch, and the pumpkin pie flavored Hobak Pumpkin Spice IPA.

During my visit I sipped on the Jirisan Moon Bear IPA and Geumgang Mountain Dark Ale. The Geumgang is a lightly hopped nut-brown and ridiculously drinkable. As with most beer folk, I truly love a good IPA and the Jirisan does not disappoint. With Centennial, Cascade and Chinook hops all playing gleefully to the sound of 95 IBUs, the strong citrus and floral notes simply serve as palate pleasers.

In fairness to reality... I didn't actually get either of the beers I tried on tap at Craftworks itself. Despite claiming the hours of 11:00am–3:00am, they were closed for my 1:00pm lunch visit. On a Saturday. Such is Korea. Luckily, Vatos Urban Tacos is a short walk from Craftworks Taphouse and has a few of their beers on tap. The tacos themselves were tiny and not altogether great, but the atmosphere and the beer are worth the visit if you're in the mood.

Regardless of where you get it, be sure you get these beers. This is one of maybe three craft beer places in the country that isn't strictly serving Dunkel and Weizen. German style beer is good an all that, but Craftworks has beer that'll please the 'Merican tastes one such as myself craves.

Finding Craftworks

Come out exit 2 of Noksapyeong Station. Walk until you hit the pedestrian underpass and go under. Take the left exit in the underpass. Cross the street to get to Noxa Lounge. Craftworks is a few doors down from Noxa. Or use the Google Maps link from the address above.

Hongdae

Castle Praha
Castle Praha Building, 395-19 Seogyo-dong, Mapo-gu
+82 2-334-2121
11:30am–3:00am (Sunday and holidays 11:30am–midnight)

It's a fucking castle. A castle with Czech beer on tap. This place is Medieval Times meets beer hall meets TGIFridays and yet it's still spectacular. Their offerings include a Granat lager, a slightly bitter pilsner, the dark Dunkel, and surprisingly tasty Red (the Dunkel and Red are featured in the photo). Perhaps more shocking than the level of cheese this place gets away with are the prices of ₩5,500-₩7,000 for a glass of their in-house goodness.

Before fully taking the reins of the citadel of Hongdae, brewmaster Kim Heesang studied under the guidance of his Czech predecessor, Zdenek Fousek. Now solely responsible for the barley pops making their way to oversized wooden tables, Mr. Kim has made a seamless transition into serving the Eastern European style brews so many know and love.

As for the beer itself, it will not disappoint. The dunkel is malty and smooth with just a tiny hint of bitterness. The red was a little off from what one may expect of a true ale and wound up tasting more like a red lager, but in fairness that may actually be what it was. The translations don't always get it 100% right. Either way, it was enjoyable enough to finish the glass while sitting on the third floor balcony of a fucking castle! It's a castle in the middle of Seoul!

Finding Castle Praha

Come out Hongik University Station at exit 9, walk straight until you get to Bobo Hotel (about 550 meters), and make a left. Castle Praha will be down the third alley on your right.

Slightly confused?

Yeah, so was I. Just use the Google Map link if you can. Or, if all else fails, the Korean word for castle is seong (성). Just ask around on the streets of Hongdae and a local will most likely be able to point you in the right direction.

Oktoberfest Beer Hall
162-6 Donggyo-dong, Mapo-gu
+82 2-323-8081
4:00pm–1:00am (Sunday and holidays 4:00pm–midnight)

This short list concludes with the Hongdae branch of Oktoberfest. Much like Castle Praha, it's a chain and has five branches around Seoul. This one is the closest to the castle, so that's where I went. The interior is extremely massive and truly feels more like a beer hall than anything else. Though some of the enormous copper pipes are simply for decoration, others serve up their in-house Dunkel and Weizen.

If you're sick of reading about these two choices on this blog you are not alone. As I've mentioned before, the Korean crème de la crème of beer always comes down to these two. Though I'm pretty sure it's the simple ingredients list that leads to these being brewed everywhere, others have told me it's due to a love of German beer. Regardless of the reasoning, or a slightly jaded perception, these are solid brews. The Hefe tastes slightly of banana and cloves with a dry and tart edge, and the Dunkel is toasted maltiness in a glass. Snack on some encased meat while you're at it and you can't go wrong.

Finding Oktoberfest

Take exit 9 from Hongik University Station, then follow the road until you come to Oktoberfest on your left. It's slightly hidden, but has a big ol yellow sign that should help. You'll most likely pass it once or twice if you don't have GPS on you.

Honorable Mentions

My visit to Seoul was a brief one and unfortunately didn't revolve around beer the entire time. This is a list of places I had hoped to visit, but just couldn't fit em in.

• Reilly’s Taphouse - Itaewon gastropub serving up 30+ premium domestic and imported craft/micro beers on tap & fine cuisine.
• Bars with a View - CNN Travel list of bars with some great views of the city.
• FREE REFILLS! - List of places to drink on the super cheap, including a Makkeolli refill station, ₩8,000 all-you-can-drink, and a BYOB – Brew Your Own Beer place.

Southern Tier Creme Brulee Stout

So... not exactly the best picture, right? Here's the thing: this beer is so knockdown amazingly delicious I managed to forget even considering anything outside of the jig my taste buds were dancing for the first 3/4 of the glass. I couldn't hear people talking in the bar, the speakers made no noise, time simply stopped when I first tasted Southern Tier's Creme Brulee Stout. Unbeknownst to me, this Imperial Milk Stout has been brewed in Lakewood, New York since 2008. Somehow I had to travel all the way to Good Beer Faucets in Tokyo to get my first taste.

When there was actually beer left in that tulip glass, the luscious elixir pours a slate black and smells sweetly of vanilla, custard, and brown sugar. The flavor isn't far off from what you smell with caramelized sugar being the most prevalent. Vanilla and custard combine with quite the alcoholic punch to deliver a nicely sweet and balanced, rich and milky finish. It's surprisingly medium-bodied for an imperial stout, but makes up for its name with 9.5%ABV.

With most beers this sweet, I usually wouldn't plan on making a night of drinking them... but I'd be up for the challenge with this good'un. Hell, throw a nice big scoop of vanilla ice cream in a glass and simply marvel at how amazing life can be.

Iwate Kura Oyster Stout

Both shellfish and beer could be considered bosom buddies of fermentational greatness... but how about a shellfish beer? Even while sifting through the amazingly large selection at Popeye Beer Club, the words Oyster Stout still stand out. I believe my internal answer was "why the hell not?"

The Iwate Kura Oyster Stout brewed by Sekinoichi Shuzo in Ichinoseki-shi is unique in as many ways as its ingredients would suggest. Using only the fermented shells of the oyster to add to the flavor, the stout has a hint of fishy aroma right away. The roasted malts, coffee, dark sugars, and caramel you would expect in a stout are mixed with a slightly salt watery taste that's mainly covered by the alcohol (which rings in at 8.00% ABV). There's also a very tiny hoppy bitterness at the tail end as well. Surprisingly, it's the alcohol flavor and not the saltiness of the oyster shell that hangs around well after the sip is done.

I ordered what I thought would be more of a science experiment than anything, and wound up with a damn drinkable stout. I wouldn't plan on an evening of only oyster stouts, but I would definitely drink it again if the opportunity presented itself.

Shiga Kogen Porter

While not enjoying the samplers at Popeye Beer Club, I took in a full pint of the Shiga Kogen Porter. Traditionally a maker of sake, Shiga Kogen has dipped its creativity into craft beer and has done... alright. This is an incredibly drinkable porter with a nice roasted barley smell, with flavors of chocolate and pale malt coming through relatively well. But... it's amazingly under-carbonated and has an damn near watery mouthfeel, which combines with the lack of complexity in the flavors quite poorly. Whether it's for good or bad this taste hangs around for a quite a while. I've had far worse beers than this, and I wouldn't turn one down, but I'm not going out of my way to get it again.

Popeye Beer Club

Nestled on one of the many small back streets in Ryogoku, Tokyo, Popeye Beer Club originally began as your typical izakaya (居酒屋): a casual place for after-work drinks with some food. They now have over 70 beers on tap, which is simply unheard of in Southeast Asia. The vast majority of those on tap are from Japanese breweries, which I'm happy to report are far more plentiful and delicious than those in Korea. The average price for a pint was ¥1,000 ($10.00), so it's not the cheapest game in town... but they have 70 craft beers on tap. 70. Craft. Beers. In Asia. Overpay and rejoice!

The food left a little something to be desired, but that's not why one heads to Popeye, so who cares? As for the beer, I dabbled in a few full on pints before settling on the 10 Sampler Set (pictured above). Here's what was included:

• Honda Sangyo Inc. Preston Ale Pale Ale
• 5.0% ABV | 14 IBU | 5 SRM
• Decent body with caramel malt and a bit of peach. Nice level of hops, but nothing overpowering. This won't be winning any awards, but it's solid.
• Popeye Extra Pils
• 4.5% ABV  | 35 IBU
• Maybe I'm just not enough of a fan of Pilsners, but I found this to have a bland, mild flavor and quite lacking in body.
• Swan Lake Amber Ale
• 5.0% ABV | 25 IBU | 13 SRM
• More hoppy than one may expect from an amber, this had good balance and aroma with a great aftertaste.
• Baird Brewing Co. Divine Vamp Series 3 IBA
• 5.9% ABV | 75 IBU
• Nice level of bitterness with a touch of roasted flavors and a creamy mouthfeel. Had a truly amazing floral and citrus aftertaste.
• Fujizakura Kougen Festweizen
• 5.5% ABV | 10 SRM
• Malty and creamy "beer milkshake"with a buttered popcorn aftertaste. Strange and delicious.
• Swan Lake Porter
• 5.5% ABV | 20 IBU | 43 SRM
• Nice roasted roasted coffee aroma and flavor, with hints of chocolate. The mouthfeel fell flat, but it may simply have been under carbonated.
• Yo-Ho Brewing White IPA
• 6.2% ABV | 7 SRM
• Damn decent white ale with peach, pineapple, stonefruit and other tropical flavors. Not quite enough hops to be an IPA though.
• Michinoku Fukushima Brewery Black Bitter
• 4.5% ABV | 50 IBU
• Tastes like a roasted chocolate bar, quite a bit of caramel as well. Not really bitter, but quite smooth and quite nice.
• Baird Brewing Co. Shimaguni Stout
• 5.0% ABV | 24 IBU | 38 SRM
• Good amount of chocolate and coffee as to be expected. Also had some earthy/leafy hops. However, this was far too flat, resulting in a water-like mouthfeel.
• Yo-Ho Brewing Barley Wine
• 9.4% ABV | 35 SRM
• Smelled kind of like buttered toast. Had a sweet toffee flavor,  mild bitterness, and a certain warmth as it went down. Barley wine has never really been my jam, but this one was on the better end.

Should you find yourself in Tokyo looking for some great beer, Popeye is located at 2-18-7 Ryogoku, Sumida-ku, Tokyo. To get there by public transit, head to Ryogoku Station (Sobu, Oedo lines). They're open Monday-Saturday (closed Sunday) with food service from 11:00am-8:00pm and beer from 5:00pm-11:00pm.

Whiskey Barrel Aged Scotch Ale

Whiskey Barrel Aged Scotch Ale

I really wanted to start barrel aging beer, so I bought a 10 gallon barrel from Farmhouse Brewing Supply that previously held Sorghum Whiskey from Old Sugar Distillery in Madison Wisconsin. Stouts are the most typical barrel aged beers in my opinion, so to change things up a bit, I thought I would try something different. I decided to try my hand at a Scotch Ale, which is also heavy, malty, and that would go well with the whiskey.

To develop recipes, I compiled an Excel spreadsheet to calculate a beers gravity, IBUs, and the amount of water to use. With the help of Designing Great Beers by Ray Daniels (A fantastic gift from Woodtooth Brewing) I  developed the recipe below.


Scotch Ale Recipe
11 gallons; Target Gravity 1.080; IBUs 30
Grains
14.5 lbs Pale Malt
14.5 lbs Pilsner Malt
1 lbs Roast Malt

0.5 lbs Crystal 80˚L
Hops
2.7 oz. East Kent Goldings
Yeast
WLP004 Irish Ale Yeast

This was a BIG beer with >30 pounds of grain. It was brewed in March with the help of my good buddy Matt. After primary fermentation it was time for the barrel, but before putting any of my beer into the barrel, I first needed to hedge my bets and prepare my barrel a little.

Preparing the Barrel for Beer

To prepare the barrel for beer, there are a few you need to check. The first thing is to inspect your barrel for cracks and leaks. The second is to open it up and smell. If it smells sour/acetic the barrel is probably bad. When I opened this barrel it smelled AMAZING like cinnamon and dark stone fruit, needless to say, the barrel was good.

Upon inspection, there was some whiskey still inside the barrel. I wanted to save as much flavor from the barrel so I drained the whiskey into a glass to save while I prepared the barrel further.

Then, I heated water to 180˚F, filled the barrel to the brim and let it sit for awhile to kill any unwanted bugs. I drained the water (the smell was also fantastic) and sealed the barrel and let it cool.

I knew the barrel would be heavy with eleven gallons of beer inside, so I placed it in it's aging spot BEFORE filling. I picked out a quiet corner in my living room away from heat vents and windows that would fluctuate the temperature. I then added the eleven gallons of fermented Scotch Ale and the whiskey that I had previously drained.

Once in place I left it alone to age. As of this post, the Scotch Ale is still aging.
I have high hopes for this beer and will be bottling it this fall.

Grain Substitution Chart

Who? Weizen

A few months ago m'lady and I were ready to enjoy a German-ish Saturday lunch with some fine hand crafted beer at Who?. Visions of schnitzels, human head sized pretzels, bratwursts, and sauerkraut danced through my hungry little mind while attempting to find the place. It was going to be magnificent... had they been open for lunch. As has been the case with just about every bar I've since been to in Korea they don't open until 5:00pm or later.

Lunchtime drinking just isn't as common... at the bar. Should you care to partake in a mid-afternoon beer, I cannot recommend highly enough the glory of a Mart sit. Simply buy a can of whatever's available at the 7-11, CU, or GS 25 and sit on the plastic patio furniture and take in the wonders of the great outdoors. It's cheap, it's easy, and it's legal public drinking. There is literally nothing to dislike about it.

When it comes to the Weizen at Who?, it's fantastic. When they have it. Aside from the rather late opening time, Who? also didn't have their signature beer on tap for my first visit. Not sure if they ran out, forgot to make some, or were hoarding it for ze Germans, but they were flat out. The server looked at us like we were half crazy for expecting the beer advertised all over the place to actually be available. C'est la vie.

Anyway, we went back, they had it, and it's quite good. It pours a cloudy and wonderfully pale yellow with thick head that dissipates rather quickly. The aroma was very fruity and floral with a taste that matches. It's rather sweet up front, but balances out quite nicely with floral notes and grassy hops to finish out. It borders on slightly over-carbonated, but that's what helps make it ridiculously crisp. This was flat out the perfect beer on a 30°C day in Busan.

Who? Dunkel

Difficult as it was to leave an Abbott and Costello reference out of a post about a place named Who?, I've scrapped it. You're welcome. Whether you want to call it Who? Haus, Who? Bar, Who? Pub, or any of the other myriad of options on their signage, the fact is they brew damn solid beer; and in the craft beer desert that is Korea, this Busan pub is a welcome reprieve.

The interior of Who? is vast, cluttered with kitsch that doesn't quite land, and feels more like a Korean Chotchkie's than a bar. However, it's still a damn pleasant place to sit by the window and take in a few pints... if they have em. Upon my first visit I managed to find the place after quite a bit of map searching, block circling, and pit stops only to be told the in-house beer they specifically advertise was not on tap. On a Saturday afternoon. These things happen.

As for the Dunkel itself, it is flat out scrumptious. Dark brown in color, topped with thick and feathery foam. A fine malty aroma carries into the taste brilliantly with the smallest hint of bitterness. It's quite full-bodied, and has the perfect amount of carbonation. Even on a 30°C day, it was refreshing and ludicrously easy to drink.

Finding Who?

Here's how to find this lovely little hideout:

• Take Line 2 (green) or Line 3 (orange) to Seomyeon station
• Leave through Exit 7
• Walk South (away from Gaya-daero) on Seomyeon-ro for roughly 400m
• The bar has a street entrance on the left
• Or you can just use a smart phone and this Google Map link

Brew In A Bag: A Step by Step Guide

Brew In A Bag Equipment 

If you're already up and running with an all-grain or extract setup, you'll need very little to get going with Brew In A Bag (BIAB). Mainly... well... the bag.

As has been the case with quite a few other items, I was lucky enough to have MacLeod 9 send me a proper LD Carlson nylon bag from the States, but any light weave, strong fabric would work just fine. Emphasis on strong. You'll be lifting up to 10-15kg of wet and unruly grains, so make sure the bag can handle it.

The other vital piece of equipment most likely came with your brewpot if you bought it here in Korea: a false bottom. The grain bag will be standing in the brew pot for quite a while with BIAB, so there's a very real risk of burning the bag and the precious grains within it if it's left alone on the bottom. By tossing in the false bottom the grains are kept from the danger zone and will allow the water to circulate more freely. If you don't have a pot specific false bottom a metal colander flipped upside down will do the trick.

 

BIAB Brew Day

1. Prepare Water

Unlike extract or all-grain brewing, the water you start with will be the water you use for the day. You'll want around 40% more water than your target volume to make up for what will be lost to evaporation during the boil, soaked into the grains, and left in the pot as trub at the end. The amount of water you'll use can (and most likely will) vary depending on your setup, so be sure to take some notes.

I use 20 liters of water to get roughly 14 liters of finished product each brew. Unfortunately, I've had to tweak things slightly to use 20 liters since I have the misfortune of a brewpot that's a wee bit too small. I have 18 liters of water in my main brew pot and 2 liters in a kitchen pot that will be used as sparge water later on. This is not the traditional way to BIAB, but it's any easy out in a pinch for space.

Once the water in your main brew pot is ready to go, get it slihgtly hotter than your target mash temperature. This will help make up for the cooling effect of adding the room temperature grains.

2. Add Grains

When your strike water's ready, slowly submerge the grains into the pot. This is the moment of truth if you're unsure about the amount of water you put in, so be sure to take your time. The last thing you want is to find out you have too much near-boiling strike water as it pours all over your foot.

Once you're sure everything fits nice and snugly, stir the grains until they're submerged and wet.

On a side note, here's the first big no-no of my setup: the bag doesn't fit around the brewpot. It's still quite doable to brew this way, but it's amazingly annoying compared to having a bag that fits. Keep this in mind when purchasing (or making) your bag.

3. Mash

With a target mash temp of 68°C and 60 minutes to keep it in that range, you'll have to get a little creative. One of the easiest solutions is to put the brewpot lid on and grab an old towel. Wrap the towel around the pot to try and keep the heat as close to your target temp as possible.

Throughout this process you'll also want to stir the grains occasionally to ensure the water temperature is the same throughout the brewpot. Otherwise the thermometer readings will be thrown off based on where you place it in the pot. Stirring will also help prevent the proverbial danger zone at the bottom of the pot mentioned earlier.

If at any point the temperature cools too much, don't be afraid to remove the towel and turn the stove back on. Try to keep the mash as close to your target temp as possible by any means necessary.

4. Drain

After the mash time has elapsed, carefully lift your bag from the pot and let it drain into the wort. This step provides another great reminder about buying a seafood pot here in Korea: pot specific strainers. Most of these giant crab-killin pots will have a specifically sized strainer that fits perfectly on top and will cost all of ￦4,000. Buy this every time. The other option is to hold the soaking wet grains while they drain into the brewpot... it ain't fun.

While the grains are draining, it's an optimal time to get the 2 liters of sparge water up to temperature in the standard sized kitchen pot. Again, this is not part of the traditional BIAB process, but I've found it's a great way to utilize the grains to their fullest.

A number of your "extra" items can make this step a breeze. The first thing you'll want to do is grab your bottling bucket (all good and sanitized and whatnot) and place the false bottom from the brewpot into the bottom of the bucket. By doing this you'll allow the grain bag to continue to drain while pouring water over the top. A lot of times folks will simply leave the bag in the bottom of the bucket to drain, and that will work... but not as well.

Once your 2 liters of kitchen pot water is up to temperature, just pour it over the grains in the bottling bucket and let it drain for 15-20 minutes. Unless you're working with a ridiculously strong burner, you'll have at least that much time to add your new sparge water back into the brewpot before the wort gets up to a boil.

5. Boil

If you've done an all-grain or extract batch before, then these steps are nothing new to you. You're on easy street. Should you be completely new to brewing, it's still pretty close to easy street.

Crank the heat on your burner to bring your wort to a gentle, rolling boil. Since you're heating roughly 16 liters of water this will take a little while, but it'll get there. Once the wort is boiling follow your recipe's hop addition schedule for bittering and flavoring hops.

6. Chill the Wort

Once the boil is finished you'll want to get your wort temperature down to 21-26°C. 26°C is about as high as you can go without running the risk of killing the yeast you'll be adding shortly. There are a number of ways to get your wort cooled down, with a wort chiller being one of the most efficient. Unfortunately, I've never had a sink that would allow attachments, so I've always used the ice method, which works just fine. Also, a wort chiller can take up quite a bit of precious space in the tiny apartment world of Korea.

This is a step where the ￦5,000 tub is worth its weight in gold. I make quite a bit of ice at home the night before my brew day and throw it all into the bottom of this tub and it works quite quickly to cool the wort. Stir the water occasionally to ensure the pot is being cooled equally on all sides and add more ice if necessary. If there's anything I've learned for this step it's that you can never have too much ice. Fill your entire freezer the night before. You won't regret it.

7. Pitch the Yeast

Once the beer is in the 21-26°C temperature range, transfer it to your fermenter. Though it's a good idea to use your auto-siphon to transfer from the brewpot to the fermenter, I just pour straight from the bucket through a strainer. You'll run the risk of more trub (what will be left in the bottom of the fermenter at the end of fermentation), but I've never noticed a drastic enough difference to justify the amount of time spent using the auto-siphon.

After your beer is in the fermenter rinse your strainer real quick and pour the beer right back into the brewpot. Then back into the fermenter (always through the strainer). By pouring the beer several times between the fermenter and the brewpot you'll help aerate the beer and create a better environment for your yeast to properly ferment the beer.

When the transferring and re-transferring is all done, record your Original Gravity. Then add your yeast. For the batch pictured I had a dry yeast packet of Safale S-04 (English Ale yeast) which I added straight to the fermenter and stirred in. A common practice is to rehydrate the yeast... but I don't. There are a lot of good reasons to do this, but I've never had any issues with the results of simply throwing the dry yeast into the fermenter and stirring. If you can get it easily enough, I recommend liquid yeast which ends the debate of rehydration altogether.

8. Ferment

Pop the lid on your fermenter and place it in a cool and dark place that has a fairly constant temperature of 15-21°C. If you don't have such a place, wrap the towel you used during the mash around the fermenter to prevent light from getting in. In roughly 12 to 24 hours the beer will be actively fermenting, which is pretty cool to watch if you have a clear fermenter. In opaque fermenters you should notice your airlock bubbling away.

Total fermentation time can vary, but the average is 8-14 days. I almost always give mine 14 days, but have occasionally left it for 21-25 days with no issues. You'll know fermentation is finished when the airlock bubbles less than once every 60 seconds. The beer will also be quite cleared up at this point, with the bottom quarter or third of the fermenter still a bit cloudy. When the fermentation is completed, record your Final Gravity and get ready for bottling.

Brew In A Bag In Review

1. Prepare Water
2. Add Grains
3. Mash
4. Drain
5. Boil
6. Chill the Wort
7. Pitch the Yeast
8. Ferment

If you have any questions, comments, or concerns, please comment below.