North Korea's flagship Taedonggang beer turned 20. What most North Koreans aren't aware of when sipping their national beer is that its distinctive flavor is a legacy of its European heritage. DW's JulianRyall has the details:
With a"crisp and clean finish," Taedonggang lager is extremely popular in the beer gardens of Pyongyang in the summer months — even though drinkers have no idea that its distinctive flavor is a legacy of its foreign heritage.
The brewery produces 70,000 kiloliters of beer a year, utilizing water from the natural springs in the Milim district and barley and hops grown in the North. The factory's beer has an alcohol content of 5.7%, which is unusually high for a beer produced in East Asia but also an indication of its heritage.
"One day, these North Korean government officials and some brewers arrived, although it was very clear that they know nothing about brewing," Todd told DW."There were also some Russian engineers involved and, because of all the languages, it was a very complicated process."It was quickly apparent that Todd would need to walk the inexperienced North Korean brewers through every step in the process required to turn the raw materials into beer.
"They wanted the toilet seats — I remember one walking around with a toilet seat around his neck — and the bolts in the floor," he added."They took the tiles off the wall one-by-one and took them all away.""They told management that they wanted me to go to North Korea to set everything up and start the brewing processes, but it would have been a two-year commitment, at least, and I had a young family at the time and I didn't want to go.
Sadly, she said, international sanctions on North Korea now mean that it is virtually impossible to purchase Taedonggang beer outside the country, while the closure of the border with China due to the coronavirus pandemic has made it even harder to find the beer abroad.
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