Brewer dedicates 'Mt. Paektu beer' to father

Bryan Do, founder of the craft beer brewery The Hand and Malt Brewing Company, tastes beer at the company's taproom in Naeja-dong, Seoul, Feb. 19. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

Ex-Microsoft director keeps success record in brewery

By Nam Hyun-woo

The recent summit between the United States and North Korea came as a special moment for Bryan Do, founder of craft beer brewery The Hand and Malt Brewing Company, who released a craft beer recently created from water from Mount Paektu on the North Korean-Chinese border.

“The idea itself was crazy,” Do said in an interview with The Korea Times. “I wanted to thank my father for his encouragement and do something that can recall the memory of his hometown of Pyongyang.”

Do, a former director at Microsoft leading the Windows and Office category's consumer group in Korea, founded the craft beer brewery in 2014, marking himself as one of the early starters of craft beer in the Korean market.

Do's father was a businessman who moved to the U.S. in 1973 and set up the business of exporting pearl products from Mexico to Korea. As an entrepreneur, his father taught Do, who built a successful career, to be adventurous, saying “why are you making the richest people in the world richer?”

“My father encouraged me a lot when I started the brewery. I always feel grateful for that and want to thank him with something, and came up with the idea that he loves talking about his memories of Pyongyang and moving away toward the South,” Do said.

However, finding a way to express his feelings through craft beer was tougher than it seemed to be.

First, Do thought of mixing Hand and Malt's hops and North Korean hops or malts but found it impossible due to the economic sanctions on North Korea.

Bryan Do, founder of craft beer brewery the Hand and Malt Brewing Company, speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the brand's taproom in Naeja-dong, Seoul, Feb. 19. Korea Times photo by Choi Won-suk

“So we tapped into the water from Mount Paektu,” he said. “Since the mountain is lying across North Korea and China, we can supply water from the Chinese side.”

Nearly 10 months after the idea popped up, Do came up with Sowon Pale Ale on Feb. 21, which is a single hop and single malt beer with 4.5 percent alcohol by volume based on the waters of the two Koreas. Sowon means wish in Korean.

The can is also wrapped with a label decorated with calligraphy by Jeong Ju-hwan, whose hometown is also the North, and the label itself is made of expensive hanji, a traditional Korean paper made of mulberry.

“The process was very tough. So we just made 2,500 liters of Sowon and it isn't profitable at all. If it's popular, we may brew more of it, but the more we make it, we see more losses,” Do said. “We can have profits from other beers. This is our service to the people and promotes the wish for peace.”

On Feb. 27, when U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met for their second summit , Hand and Malt also held a small gathering of people whose hometowns are in the North at a restaurant in Seoul specializing in North Korean cuisine.

Bryan Do, founder of the craft beer brewery the Hand and Malt Brewing Company, center, makes a toast with participants during an event at a restaurant specializing in North Korean cuisine in Seocho-gu, Seoul, Feb. 27. The event was held to commemorate the second summit between the U.S. and North Korea with the brewery's Sowon Pale Ale, a beer based on water from Mount Paektu in the North. Courtesy of the Hand and Malt Brewing Company

As an early starter in the Korean craft beer market, Hand and Malt started with facilities capable of producing 1 million liters of beer a year. Do said he thought the output would be enough running for eight to 10 years, but increased demand sent him looking new investors and expanding facility.

In April last year, AB InBev, the owner of Oriental Brewery, purchased Hand and Malt, and the company is currently building new facilities. Though the deal's value was not disclosed, market watchers say it was at least 10 billion won.

“I wanted to provide tasty beer for more people and that's why I started the company having a plant-level facility,” Do said. “Hand & Malt will continue making consistent and quality craft beer, and will provide some fun with this kind of crazy idea from time to time.”