Makgeolli: the return of artisans

By Julia Mellor

Over the past decade, exports of makgeolli to the outside world have been carefully monitored, waiting for the moment it becomes a global household name.

Millions of won have been poured into advertisements in the U.S., touting the glories of a drink widely, as yet, unknown there with hand-wringingly awkward slogans like “Do You Know Makgeolli?” Yet as reports of drops in makgeolli exports continue to make the rounds on news outlets, an undertone speaking of doom and gloom for the beverage’s future prevails. If all you do is read the news, you could be forgiven for thinking makgeolli and traditional Korean alcohol are on the fast track to nowhere, but in fact nothing could be further from the truth.

In order to get an idea of the context of makgeolli and where it fits into its current predicament, it’s important to take a look at its past. The Joseon Kingdom (1392-1910) could be loosely compared to the era of Prohibition, in that brewing alcohol publicly was illegal unless permitted by the king. As history has taught us, banning alcohol only makes people more creative, and brewing makgeolli therefore became something of a household staple. Just as families had their trusted kimchi, gochujang and doenjang recipes, so too did they have their own traditional alcohol recipes.

The end of the Joseon Kingdom was punctuated by the Japanese occupation (1910-45), which was a turning point for traditional Korean alcohol. Home brewing was promptly outlawed, and whilst the first commercial breweries were established, brewers were ordered to use the Japanese yeast starter koji rather than Korean nuruk. This marked a severe disconnect, resulting in the loss of home recipes across the peninsula that had been passed down the generations orally.

What followed was a century of struggle. Following the Korean War, a rice-brewing ban was put in place due to a food shortage, forcing brewers to use alternative starches to produce their products. The unreliability of ingredients, cold chain storage issues and satisfying a consumer base increasingly reliant on artificial sweeteners set the stage for what we know to be makgeolli today.

Fast forward to now, and we have a very different scene. Not only do we have a much improved cold chain storage, but brewers are free to use rice and experiment however they choose. Brewers of traditional Korean alcohols are reawakening lost traditions, discovering new recipes and methods to produce makgeolli, cheongju (also referred to as yakju) and soju. Small-batch artisan brewers are focusing on the quality of ingredients, learning the various techniques and experimenting with intuition.

So where do they get their knowledge? In that oh-so-Korean way, there are a number of brewing academies across Seoul that have their own teaching style and focus on certain aspects of the industry. People are learning the skills and dedicating their time to practicing and developing their own particular brewing styles. These academies are instrumental in inspiring not just future brewery owners, but home brewers that become messengers to friends, family and beyond.

Brewers without consumers are just people with a lot of booze. But while in the beer or wine industry the product can stand alone, in Korea bar owners play perhaps the most important role in communicating the brew. Many consumers are unaware of the skill, time and quality of ingredients that go into creating artisanal products, and the price tags that accompany them can be startling. But as Korea’s culinary culture continues to experiment and innovate, so too are restaurants and bars exploring the world of Korean alcohol pairings. The community emerging is defined by a strong relationship between brewer, bar owner and interested consumers looking for something beyond the usual.

Makgeolli and traditional Korean alcohol is a long game, not quantifiable by export numbers and popularity polls. What may not yet be seen by the public eye is an industry preparing itself for a kind of rebirth in terms of quality, tradition, innovation and respect for the drink.

Julia Mellor is the co-founder and director of Makgeolli Mamas & Papas Korea (MMPK), an organization providing tourism, consultancy and education opportunities about the traditional Korean alcohol industry in English. She can be reached at mmpkorea@gmail.com.