Busan’s Gorilla Brewing rocks Korea’s craft beer scene
Paul Edwards, CEO and co-owner of Busan’s Gorilla Brewing Co. / Courtesy of Gorilla Brewing Co.
BUSAN — Who is Paul Edwards? He’s a man of many hats, one could argue. He’s perhaps best known around Korea as the CEO and co-owner of Busan’s Gorilla Brewing Co. This would be his highest-profile role nationwide, but if you were to ask a Busan local who he is, he might be wearing an education hat. If one were to probe the halls of academia in Korea, you could find him in a hard hat, affixed with a headlamp. We’re getting ahead of ourselves, though. Who is Paul Edwards?
Edwards, born in Wales, moved to Liverpool in England for university, where he majored in geology. He finished his undergrad and made his way to Busan’s Pukyong National University for his Master of Science and eventual Ph.D.
Edwards knows about Korean rocks. “It’s quite varied for such a small country. There’s some really old rocks here. There’s coal. In the northeast, there’s peat. I’m working on a whisky project now and I’d like to use the peat from there.”
Speaking of alcohol production…
Funnily enough, Edwards’ career in beer didn’t start with co-founding Gorilla. It started with co-founding Galmegi, another Busan brewery. He wasn’t content with his amount of shares in the company and wanted a larger say in how things were run, so he set off on his own to start Gorilla Brewing Co.
Gorilla was born in Busan’s Millak-dong as a small craft bar, but quickly grew and moved to their (now defunct) location in Gwangalli. Now there is a Haeundae Gorilla Beach.
Regarding the ethos of Gorilla, Edwards offers four terms: “Diversity, inspiration, creativity and world class.”
While Gorilla may have British roots, it certainly doesn’t shy away from the diversity and creativity angles, brewing various beers from a Thai-inspired spicy mango chili sour to a Chocopie-inspired imperial stout, and then back again to a kimchi beer that uses an employee’s mother’s kimchi. They extracted and isolated the lactobacillus from the kimchi and used it in the beer as a souring agent.
Gorilla has also landed some large contracts, brewing exclusive beers for the Korean Hao’Sum and Dim Dim Sum restaurant chains. They also have a contract with CU convenience stores to brew their pineapple sour and hazy IPA.
Good news, but as Edwards lamented, “We kind of maxed out our brewery a little bit last year, so we stopped being very diverse.”
He’s being modest, because Gorilla still has 10 different beers on tap at their Haeundae location. Choice is not an issue.
But Edwards described going back to the U.K. and seeing breweries that “got a fridge in their bar, and there’s at least 30 different beers in there, right? And they’re banging out two new beers every week. Which is what I think craft beer should be here.”
He likens his beer recipe formulation to his geology expertise. “I still like to be involved in idea creation,” he said. “That was my strong point in geology, too, to come up with novel ideas.”
And what of the future of Korean craft and of Gorilla?
“I want to start doing beers that we like to drink that will grow [Korean craft beer drinkers] as a community,” Edwards said. “What is a Gorilla beer? What makes a Gorilla beer a Gorilla beer? Ideally, I want something that is new and innovative. Obviously, we’re a Korean brewery so I want to do stuff that brings Korean elements into it.”
Apart from beer, Edwards hadn’t planned on becoming chairman of the International School of Busan, but sometimes opportunities present themselves and you pounce. Edwards’ two children attended the school, and one day a teacher asked him to join the board due to him owning a business and therefore having private sector experience. The board consists of 10 people, plus the head of the school. Edwards threw himself into his work there, and within 18 months had been elected as chairman, with great enthusiasm from parents and faculty.
Recognition as a good leader and helping run the school that your own children attend would be prize enough for some, but Edwards’ long-running presence there as chairman had such an immensely stabilizing effect on the school, its faculty and its students that it would end up changing his own life in an unexpected way.
The school had gotten in touch with the department handling the honours system of the U.K. Cabinet Office, which is responsible for the annual Member of the Order of the British Empire (MBE) award. Levels 1 and 2 confer knighthood or damehood on an individual, along with the title “Sir” or “Dame.” Edwards was being considered for Level 5 for “services for international education, charity and Korea-Britain relations,” the latter due to his activity with the U.K. Embassy in Seoul and British Chamber of Commerce in Korea. The British ambassador to Korea was also contacted about this endeavor to get Edwards an MBE and seconded the motion.
This put him among the ranks of other notable Commonwealth figures such as singers Ed Sheeran and Adele, football player Harry Kane and BLACKPINK’s Rosé, who was eligible due to her New Zealand citizenship. It’s a tremendous honor, one that confers the right to put “MBE” after your name on documents.
Edwards divulges that he had suspected something was going on — he had heard snippets of conversations from colleagues, but nothing specific or concrete — but was genuinely surprised when the embassy phoned him to ask if he would accept the award. He did, and the next step involved going to Buckingham Palace and receiving the award from Princess Anne herself.
How does he feel about all this? “I suppose it was nice,” Edwards said while laughing. “I don’t know how to answer that, it’s so new. But I have been getting some emails about business deals.” It’s all hush-hush at the moment.
So, what does the future hold for Edwards? He has big plans for Gorilla, including either franchising the brand or opening more taphouses across the country himself. The aforementioned whisky distillery is in the works, too. Gorilla is one of the first craft breweries in Korea to export, reaching the U.S., Japan, Hong Kong, Singapore and Thailand. Edwards says he’d like to increase the volume and reach of his brews. With “MBE” at the end of his name, I’m sure global markets will be sure to notice.
Visit gorillabrewingcompany.com for more information, or follow @gorilla_brewing on Instagram.
Kevin Grabb is a Canadian home brewer and YouTuber. His channel, Korea Brewing Adventure, covers Korean alcohol from production to consumption.