Pyongyang Report: Would you like a Taedonggang Beer?

Pyongyang Report

Would you like a Taedonggang Beer?

People enjoy drinking Taedonggang Beer in a bar in Pyongyang

At last, summer has come. It will be unusually hot this year. How do the Pyongyangites bear the heat of summer? To seek cool air, do they go to seashores or rivers? Of course, they will do that. But this summer, there is a drink that makes people feel cool and refreshed.

Since this spring, Taedonggang Beer has become very popular with Pyongyangities. "I have never drunk such terrific beer," "I won't be able to drink any beer but Taedonggang beer"...Most drinkers fell for the Taedonggang Beer magic.

What is the secret of Taedonggang Beer? We visited the Taedonggang Beer Brewery and a Taedonggang beer bar in Pyongyang city.

Beer Brewery computerized

The Taedonggang Beer Brewery was constructed a little over a year ago in January last year. The factory produces 70,000 kiloliters of beer a year.

"This beer tastes good, and this is because our brewery is equipped with most advanced facilities and we have technical experts who are well experienced in this field. Also we use good-tasting water from the Milim area because water is decisive for the quality of beer." Sin Song Bo, 46, chief engineer, said.

In the brewing room, a few workers operate their computers. The actual conditions of beer as it is processed in tanks and pipes, are displayed on the screen. This process control system was developed by Kim Chaek University of Technology and was manufactured by the Hamhung Equipment Assembly Enterprise. The taste of beer and the production speed are guaranteed by it.

In a laboratory, there are samples of raw materials for beer such as barley, malt, hop, and so on. At present, the brewery uses Australian malt. The facilities for barley processing are not yet installed there, as it takes times to manufacture and assemble them. "We will use barley grown in Taehondan County, Ryanggang Province, or in Ongjin County, South Hwanghae Province, as soon as possible." Kim Thae Ung, chief engineer at the brewery said. "Although we use imported equipment, we aim to make our beer suit the tastes of Koreans by using ingredients from our land," he added.

There is a sample room where various beer brands in the world are displayed. We can taste Taedonggang beer fresh from the tank.

"We will refine the taste of our beer to a world level. I want to serve the best beer to the Korean people who have surmounted difficulties and trials for several years in a row in the past," a waitress said, pouring beer into a glass.

Inside of shop changed

This April, this Chollima Street Soft Drink Shop put up a "Taedonggang Beer" signboard. The board was painted in red. After that, the atmosphere inside the shop remarkably changed.

"Most customers used to be women and children when the shop sold soft drinks, bread and ice cream. But now, men have the shop all to themselves." Pae Son Bi, 52, female manager of the shop, said. She has learned to talk easily with drunken men, as 3 months have passed since the opening of the Beer Bar. "Our work is harder than before. But seeing customers' satisfied faces, I really feel this work worth doing."

There had been some "beer bars" around Chollima Street before. Then, they used to serve Pyongyang Beer, which was produced by Pyongyang Beer Brewery, and there were only a few regular customers there. But this year, Taedonggang Beer Brewery was newly constructed with the most advanced facilities in the Sadong District, Pyongyang, and began to mass-produce beer, and over hundred Taedonggang Beer Bars mushroomed in the central parts of the city.

A day closes with sauna and beer

Taedonggang Beer has caused a storm of sensation among Pyongyang people. Beer bars used to be only for a few beer enthusiasts because it couldn't be said that Pyongyang Beer was much better than ordinary bottled beer people generally drink at home.

Kim Gwang Ho, 35, dropped at a Taedonggang Beer bar in Chollima Street with his fellow worker after work. They work at Pyongyang Gymnasium near the bar. They are engaged in the transportation and installation of sports equipment. It is their daily routine to go to a sauna to sweat and refresh themselves after work, and then go to a beer bar. "Taedonggang Beer has a unique taste, anyway. This beer is stronger than Pyongyang Beer. When I feel thirsty and I drink that beer, I feel...what can I say...cool and refreshed. Anyway, I can't stop drinking another glass after a glass of that beer."

Pyongyangites generally call beer a "soft drink". This means that they don't recognize beer as a liquor, though it is an alcoholic drink. But now, Taedonggang Beer has dispelled this concept. Taedonggang Beer has a special taste and a high alcohol content. Its alcohol content is 5.7%. If you drink it without restraining yourself, you will get quite high.

Kim, who had already got drunk, said, "I had never got drunk before, but today, I feel tipsy on a glass of this drink. Indeed, this alcohol is so strong."

"It is because you have drunk so much, isn't it? Look at the table. How many glasses are there on the table?" Paek, manager of the beer bar, said with a smile.

A glass of beer has a volume of about 500ml and costs 1won 50 jon. People can drink beer as much as they like. The quantity of beer consumed by the beer bar on Chollima Street in a day is over 1,000 liters.

Taedonggang beer bars are sure to be filled with Pyongyangites on hot summer days.

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