Sulawon

How It Began

CEO Kang Jin-hee was a full-time homemaker who got into traditional liquor by learning home brewing (gayangju). In 2010 she completed a Korean liquor brewing course at a home-brewed liquor research institute. She then set up Sulawon in Yeoju, Gyeonggi, in partnership with the Korea Home-Brewed Liquor Research Institute. Her son, Lim Seung-gyu, joined Sulawon after graduating from university and serves as head of research.

“Sulawon” means calling liquor (sul) and oneself (a, 我) together. The first liquor released under this name was not makgeolli but gwahaju. In March 2014 it first released four Sula gwahaju that bring out the character of spring, summer, autumn and winter, and the brewery was founded after that, in 2015.

Gwahaju is a liquor that appears in the 1670 text Eumsik Dimibang; its tradition was broken in 1956, and the method was later restored and commercialized. In May 2020 Sulawon was in Daesin-myeon, Yeoju, and that September it planned to expand and move closer to downtown Yeoju. An August 2021 article introduces Sulawon in Jeombong-dong, at the foot of Yeonhasan in Yeoju.

How the Liquor Is Made

The gwahaju Sula starts by soaking Yeoju glutinous rice for about three hours and steaming it into godubap close to rice cake. Very little water is added to bring out the sweetness. The nuruk is used as sugok, soaked in water in advance. Early in fermentation, a spirit distilled from yakju brewed with Gyeonggi rice is added to cause a “small fermentation,” and the liquor is aged at low temperature for six months to about a year.

The dried flowers for the seasonal liquors are added as fermentation and aging come to an end, so that their floral aroma remains. Spring uses plum blossoms, summer lotus flowers, autumn chrysanthemums, and winter the aroma of rice. The ingredients of Sula Chrysanthemum Liquor are domestic glutinous rice, nuruk, dried chrysanthemum flowers, distilled spirit and purified water.

Gyeongseong Gwahaju is brewed from 100% new-crop Yeoju glutinous rice, domestic nuruk and purified water. The spirit added during fermentation is made in-house by atmospheric distillation of a yakju first brewed with Gyeonggi rice, and the brewery has a copper still for this. After fermentation it is aged at low temperature for about a year more before bottling. It is 20% ABV.

The sweet potato spirit Pil is made by fermenting Yeoju sweet potatoes and drawing the spirit with an atmospheric-pressure still. Right after distillation it is about 42%, and Pil is the product diluted with water to 25%. It is aged for two years after distillation before bottling.

Signature Liquors and Lineage

Sulawon's gwahaju begins with the four Sula liquors released in March 2014. The four Sula liquors range from 15% to 20% ABV. Next, it released Gyeongseong Gwahaju, which Choe Nam-seon introduced as one of Joseon's famous liquors in Joseon Sangsik Mundap. In May 2019 it added the sweet potato spirit Pil and Bokdanji, a yakju made with bokbunja (Korean black raspberry).

Gyeongseong Gwahaju Oak is a 25% liquor made by aging traditionally brewed gwahaju in oak barrels. Sula Makgeolli came out after four years of trial and error; it uses only new-crop Yeoju glutinous rice, domestic wheat nuruk and purified water, with no additives, and the brewery makes its own nuruk. Sula Chrysanthemum Liquor is classified as yakju/cheongju, at 15% in a 375ml bottle.

Recognition

Sulawon was one of four sites newly selected in 2021 as a “Visiting Brewery” by the Ministry of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs. At the time of selection, it was introduced as a brewery that restores brewing methods from classical texts and lets visitors experience home-brewing methods.

In 2025, Gyeongseong Gwahaju Oak won the grand prize at the 3rd Gyeonggi Liquor Awards. It is a 25% product made by aging gwahaju in oak barrels. CEO Kang Jin-hee said she has also received the top prize for Pil 40 at the Korean Liquor Competition and the Minister of Agriculture, Food and Rural Affairs Award at the national liquor brewing contest.