Comments on: Taedonggang Brewery… http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2008/03/10/tedonggang-brewery/ News and analysis of the North Korean economy Sun, 20 Jul 2008 01:07:44 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.3.2 By: Leonid Petrov http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2008/03/10/tedonggang-brewery/#comment-41508 Leonid Petrov Tue, 11 Mar 2008 03:45:50 +0000 http://www.nkeconwatch.com/2008/03/10/tedonggang-brewery/#comment-41508 North Koreans are very proud of their Taedonggang Beer, which, in fact, is of excellent export quality. However, for some reason, its export is allowed only to South Korea (which is technically the same country). The hardware is, indeed, British but the story of brand creation goes back to Kim Jong-il's visit to Russia in August 2001. During his visit to the Baltika brewery in St.Petersburg, the North Korean leader invited its experts to cooperation and, in memory of the tasting, took away a 5-liter keg. See: http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=5037 Some cooperation between this Russian brewery and North Korean Taedonggang took place soon after that. Also, Taedonggang beer owes its qualities to the technological processes of Chinese Tsingtao and Japanese Sapporo (according to the factory's official guide, Ms. Kim Seong-bok). Its byproducts include Taedonggang soju and Taedonggang barley tea. Barley and hop, which are used for Taedonggang beer, come from the northern Ryanggang Province, and the fresh water from South Hwanghae Province. The filtering material is also produced locally. Taedonggang is produced bottled and draft (10° and 12°). But the North Koreans prefer stronger liqueurs and consider beer merely a "beverage", not alcohol. North Koreans are very proud of their Taedonggang Beer, which, in fact, is of excellent export quality. However, for some reason, its export is allowed only to South Korea (which is technically the same country).

The hardware is, indeed, British but the story of brand creation goes back to Kim Jong-il’s visit to Russia in August 2001. During his visit to the Baltika brewery in St.Petersburg, the North Korean leader invited its experts to cooperation and, in memory of the tasting, took away a 5-liter keg. See: http://www.sptimes.ru/index.php?action_id=2&story_id=5037

Some cooperation between this Russian brewery and North Korean Taedonggang took place soon after that. Also, Taedonggang beer owes its qualities to the technological processes of Chinese Tsingtao and Japanese Sapporo (according to the factory’s official guide, Ms. Kim Seong-bok). Its byproducts include Taedonggang soju and Taedonggang barley tea.

Barley and hop, which are used for Taedonggang beer, come from the northern Ryanggang Province, and the fresh water from South Hwanghae Province. The filtering material is also produced locally. Taedonggang is produced bottled and draft (10° and 12°). But the North Koreans prefer stronger liqueurs and consider beer merely a “beverage”, not alcohol.

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