Adding to a growing range of local craft beers in Korea, the Hand and Malt Brewing Co. has entered the market with three new beers.

The three new brews are The Hand and Malt Extra Special Ale, Mocha Stout and Blanche De Hwado.

Korean-American Bryan Do set up the company in Namyang-ju, Gyeonggi Province, in April to meet the increasing demand for small-batch beers.

Do started brewing when he came to Korea after graduating in the 1990s, but says he had to give up because of a lack of resources at the time.

After spending a few years in Singapore, he returned to find a booming homebrew scene and a gap in the market. 

“I saw the need for quality craft beers in Korea. There was demand but there wasn’t enough supply,” he said.

He owns Hopscotch pubs in Gangnam and Gwanghwamun, and said he was driven to set up the brewery after seeing the reactions of his customers.

“I saw that there was a lot of people coming into the pub that really loved craft beer … (but) Korea’s craft beer scene needs to grow and a lot of the public don’t know about it, even now,” he said. “I’d say about 50 percent of my customers have never had craft beer before, and we give them samples and they love it. So it’s not just bringing craft beer to Korea, I really want to take it to the masses.”

The company name is based on the combination of hard work in putting together and fine tuning the brewing systems and the use of high-quality ingredients.

“Especially, our goal is to make great traditional beers with select ingredients like European malt and liquid yeast,” Do said.

The company describes the Extra Special Ale as an English Ale with a rich malty taste and subtle hops to the nose. The Mocha Stout has rich malt and coffee flavors and a frothy head, and the Blanche de Hwado is a Belgian Wit which is refreshingly tart with a nice fluffy head and citrus flavor, the brewery said in a press release.

The brewery’s system was installed by renowned American brewer Phillip Kelm, who has set up dozens of breweries all over the world over the last 20 years.

The new craft beers are available at Do’s Hopscotch gastropubs in Gangnam and Gwanghwamun, Maloney’s Pub & Grill in Itaewon and will be on tap at eight other outlets in Seoul and nearby cities by next week. The company said it expects to add many more outlets in the near future.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)