Byeongyeong Brewery

How It Began

"Byeongyeong" (army headquarters) became a place name in 1417, when the provincial army headquarters in Gwangsan, Gwangju moved to Gangjin. The liquor the soldiers and the provincial army commander here are said to have enjoyed is the origin of "Byeongyeong Soju," which the late Master Kim Gyeon-sik recreated as a distilled soju. The brewery opened in 1946, just after liberation. Until the Grain Management Act was revised in 1965, it distilled soju from local barley and sweet potatoes.

Master Kim Gyeon-sik came to Byeongyeong looking for work in the late 1950s and joined this brewery. At the time, Byeongyeong Brewery was a large plant with more than 20 regular employees. He started out making deliveries at 4 a.m., learned to brew, and decades later became plant manager.

With industrialization in the 1970s, residents left for big cities and makgeolli came to be seen as a declining industry. Master Kim Gyeon-sik took over the brewery that no one else wanted to carry on. In the early years profits were small, so he kept the brewery going while farming. He described his principle as "making good-tasting liquor honestly and cleanly."

Master Kim Gyeon-sik died suddenly in the summer of 2023. His eldest son, Kim Yeong-hui, who as plant manager had long been learning from his father, stepped forward as heir to the craft. As of December 2024, the brewery is run by the second generation, co-CEOs Kim Yeong-hui and Kim Yeong-hwan. Kim Yeong-hui has said he firmly believes in using only good ingredients to make good liquor.

How the Liquor Is Made

Byeongyeong Brewery does not use imported rice or government rice. It ferments that year's new local rice, new barley and organic rice in the traditional way. Its dongdongju uses water from Mt. Suinsan in Byeongyeong-myeon and new organic rice. The fermentation starter is traditional nuruk, not Japanese-style ipguk.

The signature Byeongyeong Soju is a barley distilled soju carrying on a liquor once brewed from barley when rice was scarce. A base mash is made from glutinous barley and nuruk and aged for more than three weeks, then filtered and distilled to finish at 40% ABV. Only domestic barley grown by local residents is used. It is distilled twice at atmospheric pressure.

Foreseeing an era of distilled spirits, Master Kim Gyeon-sik brought in new oak barrels and stills from 2019. A stainless steel still, whose spirit quality wavered because of pump problems during vacuum distillation, was replaced with a 150-liter multi-plate copper still. In 2021 the brewery brought in port casks and began filling them with rice soju, the base spirit for its distilled liquors. Oak barrels are filled with base spirit at about 63.5% and jars at about 42%, and Satteoju is distilled under vacuum and then at atmospheric pressure and aged in jars for one year.

Signature Liquors and Lineage

The brewery makes three types of liquor: makgeolli, yakju and soju. As of December 2024, its five products are Seolseong Dongdongju, Seolseong Manwol Makgeolli, Seolseong Saengmakgeolli, Byeongyeong Soju and Byeongyeong Satteoju. Byeongyeong Seolseong Dongdongju is a 6%, 1,700ml takju brewed from domestic rice and nuruk, with no added sweeteners.

In 2000, Master Kim Gyeon-sik developed and released Cheongseju, a yakju made with medicinal herbs. Its name means "liquor that makes the world green," and at 18% it is stronger than ordinary yakju (12%). In 2004 he released Satteoju, a 40% distilled spirit. Byeongyeong Seolseong Satteoju is made from Gangjin rice with added bokbunja (Korean black raspberry) and mulberries, giving it a red hue like a Western spirit.

After the master's death, the fermented liquors continued in production as before, but licensing remained an issue for the distilled spirits. Byeongyeong Satteoju, made by steeping bokbunja and mulberries in rice soju and aging it for one year, received a regional specialty liquor license and went into production. Byeongyeong Soju, which had been made under a folk liquor license, could not immediately pass on the master designation, so as of December 2024 the brewery was applying for a new regional specialty liquor license. Kim Yeong-hui said that once the license comes through, he plans to release an oak-aged version as a premium product as well.

Exports began in Japan in 2008. The brewery first exported unpasteurized saengsul (live liquor) so that its yeast and lactic acid bacteria stayed alive, and later expanded to Malaysia. As of December 2024, exports to Japan are continuing.

Recognition

Master Kim Gyeon-sik was designated a Gangjin-gun Master in 2013. In 2014 he was designated Korea Food Master No. 61 by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs for his skill in making Byeongyeong Soju. In 2016 he received the Presidential Award on Farmers' Day for his contributions to producing and passing on traditional liquor.

Byeongyeong Soju received 2 stars at the International Taste Institute (iTQi) in Belgium in 2016. It obtained the national liquor quality certification in 2018 and again received 2 stars at iTQi in 2019, together with Byeongyeong Satteoju. In 2022 it won the top excellence award in the distilled spirits category of the Korea Wine & Liquor Competition. In the distilled spirits category of South Jeolla's Namdo Korean Liquor Competition, it also won the top excellence award two years running, in 2022 and 2023.

Byeongyeong Seolseong Satteoju won the grand prize in the general distilled spirits category of the 2012 Korea Wine & Liquor Competition. In 2013 it received silver medals at the IWSC in the U.K. and the San Francisco World Spirits Competition (SWSC) and a gold medal at the New York World Wine & Spirits Competition (NYWSC), and Cheongseju won an excellence award in the yakju and cheongju category of that year's Korea Wine & Liquor Competition. Seolseong Ssal Makgeolli obtained organic processed food certification and took the top excellence award at the Namdo Traditional Liquor Competition.