Hwayang Brewery
A brewery in Cheongju that makes the four-season Pungjeong Sagye line with hyang-on-gok, a royal-court nuruk; its Chun was chosen as the dinner liquor of the 2017 Korea-US summit.
The brewery's story
Hwayang Brewery makes four liquors in Pungjeong-ri, Cheongju, North Chungcheong: Chun (yakju), Ha (gwahaju, a fortified rice wine), Chu (takju), and Dong (distilled soju). It makes its own hyang-on-gok, a Joseon-era royal-court nuruk cultured from wheat and mung beans, by treading the dough underfoot, brews with domestic rice, and adds no artificial additives. Lee Han-sang, who had been running a photo studio, started the brewery following his memories of his grandmother's ancestral-rite liquor, and its yakju Chun was selected as the official dinner liquor of the 2017 Korea-US summit.
Liquors brewed here
Visit & experience
Hwayang was newly selected in 2020 as a Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs “Visiting Brewery” (찾아가는 양조장). The one experience program on record (as of 2021) is a one-hour distilled-spirit cocktail class at the second-factory experience hall, with the fee given on inquiry. Whether the shop and tastings run on a regular basis has not been confirmed, so please call 043-214-9424 before visiting to check reservations and opening hours. Chojeong Haenggung, the Sejong the Great Baengni-gil trail, and the Siori cherry-blossom road are nearby, so you can take them in together season by season.