Beer usually dominates the alcoholic beverage market in summer, but other alcoholic beverage manufacturers are hitting back this year with a slew of fruity, light, sparkling alternatives.

The most visible trend is in carbonated alcoholic drinks.

Lotte Chilsung Liquor, which set off a boom of fruit-flavored, soju-like liqueurs with its brand Soonhari Chum Churum, expanded into the carbonated category this year to make up for the declining sales of its Soonhari lineup. 

In February, Lotte released Seoljungmae Apricot Soda, building off its apricot wine line Seoljungmae. The soda has just 4.5 percent alcohol, and was described by Lotte as being similar to moscato sparkling wines that are gaining popularity in Korea. The company released earlier this month the first carbonated drink in the Soonhari line, the Soonhari Soda Tok Apple. Made with a white wine base, the Soda Tok has just 3 percent alcohol, far lower than the original Soonhari’s 14 percent.

“There is a clear demand for light, fizzy drinks,” said a spokesman for Lotte Chilsung Liquor, adding additional flavors of the soda version of Soonhari would be released in the future.

These moves seem to be a response to the sudden rise in the popularity of drinks such as Brother Soda by Bohae Brewery. Released last year, the white wine-based Brother Soda, which tastes like cream soda and has just 3 percent alcohol, is popular especially among female drinkers looking for a lighter alternative to heavier drinks like soju.

This year, Brother Soda hopped onto the fruit-infused beverage bandwagon with a strawberry-flavored seasonal edition in January and a new green apple-flavored summer edition to be sold through to October.

Beer and soju powerhouse Hite Jinro threw its hat into the ring with Iseul Toktok, a peach-flavored carbonated drink named after its trademark soju line Chamisul.

Traditional Korean liquor is not to be left out: makgeolli maker Kooksoondang has come out with white grape and candy soda flavors of its canned makgeolli soda line iCing. 

“In the summer, people aren’t looking to drink heavily and get drunk,” said a Kooksoondang spokesman. “They want something light, cool, and refreshing. That’s why beer is popular in summer, and RTD (ready-to-drink) products like iCing are coming out to try and break into that market.”

Despite fruity and light liquors challenging the market, demand for beer is expected to remain strong, said a PR representative for Oriental Brewery, which makes the lager beer Cass.

“If you look at the way that Koreans consume beer, it’s usually not about the taste of the beer itself but the way it’s paired with food like fried chicken,” she said. “The best beer to pair with greasy food is something that you can drink down with water, with a crisp feel that balances out the grease.”

That smooth swallow is the focal point for Hite Jinro’s summer marketing with its “All New Hite,” which saw its trademark beer brand overhauled on April 20. According to Hite Jinro, the most important change is in how ingredients like malt and hop are mixed to optimize the smooth texture of the beer. 

For beer lovers looking for a richer flavor, beer brewers are offering promotions with all-malt beers to commemorate the 500th anniversary of the Reinheitsgebot, or the German Beer Purity Law, which limits the ingredients that can be put into beer. In Korea, the most popular all-malts are Oriental Brewery’s Premier OB, Hite Jinro’s Max, and Lotte Chilsung Liquor’s Kloud lines.

By Won Ho-jung (hjwon@heraldcorp.com)