A Comprehensive Guide to Traditional Liquor and Local Breweries in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province

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Suraju is a distilled soju from Yangpyeong Brewery. If the aforementioned Yangpyeong Saengju is a Samyangju Makgeolli, Suraju is a rice soju.

We sell two versions, 42% and 53% ABV, along with oak barrel-aged versions of each. It is a liquor that allows you to see what kind of aroma soju made from our grains acquires when it meets Western oak.

This product demonstrates the breadth of Yangpyeong Brewery, which produces both fermented and distilled spirits in the same place.

Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga

Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga is a young brewery that opened in 2019. It is said that the owner left the city and returned to the countryside at the foot of Mt. Yongmun in Yangpyeong to start brewing alcohol.

In fact, he was someone who had long disliked drinking. Disliking the disorderly nature of drinking parties, he was the type to look after his intoxicated friends and take them home until his college days. What led him down the path of alcohol was his interest in folklore. Believing that the Korean Wave would one day lead to Korean liquor, he decided to open his own brewery.

I had planned to open a brewery in Jeju, but while traveling near Mt. Yongmun, I was captivated by the local scenery and settled in Yangpyeong.

Meeting chrysanthemums was a coincidence. A fellow farmer who had moved to the countryside, whom he met during a rural resettlement training program, handed him some chrysanthemums he was growing, suggesting he add them to his liquor. Unable to forget the aroma of the liquor brewed with those chrysanthemums, CEO Park began growing the ingredients himself. Now, he personally grows chrysanthemums and buckwheat to infuse into his alcohol.

[Image insertion location — Winter chrysanthemum field or brewery fermentation tank]

Winter Child Dongguk

Winter Child Dongguk is makgeolli brewed with chrysanthemums. The name 'Dongguk (winter)' refers to a winter chrysanthemum that blooms late in the cold.

We use a winter chrysanthemum called 'Hwang-eoja,' which holds a stronger fragrance than autumn chrysanthemums. As a result, the chrysanthemum scent remains vibrant and undiminished even within the makgeolli.

Chrysanthemums are brewed into tea and added to the final secondary fermentation. Three types of yeast are added to the triple-fermented Samyangju, and the sweetness is derived exclusively from Yangpyeong rice.

Since its launch in 2021, it has become the brewery's signature drink. It comes in two varieties, 8% and 13% alcohol, and is virtually the only place in Korea that produces chrysanthemum makgeolli.

Dong-i

Dong-i is a distilled soju made from buckwheat. Its name is derived from Dong-i, the son of Heo Saeng-won, in the novel *When Buckwheat Flowers Bloom*.

The representative personally grew the buckwheat and brewed the liquor. After making the liquor with the buckwheat harvested that year, he aged it in earthenware jars for over a year.

Based on rice with the addition of buckwheat, it captures both a nutty grain aroma and a delicate floral scent. Distilled in a multi-stage copper still, it has a heavy body of 50%.

“As the CEO said, ”I couldn’t sell it because it was too precious,” this is a liquor perfected with great care over a long period of time.

Ubojuchaek

Ubojuchaek is a brewery in Yongmun-myeon, Yangpyeong, that focuses on wheat. It is said to have been named to convey the meaning of "slowly finding the secret to traditional liquor at the pace of an ox.".

The beginning of brewing was unexpectedly soap. It led to alcohol when my wife turned her attention to makgeolli lees to make functional soap. With the help of my wife, a Ph.D. in Food and Nutrition, and my nephew, who majored in microbiology, we gradually improved the quality of the alcohol.

There is a story behind why this place puts wheat at the forefront. At one time, wheat makgeolli was the mainstay of Korean makgeolli. When brewing alcohol with rice was banned in 1965, wheat makgeolli took its place for 30 years. However, as rice makgeolli made a comeback in the 1990s, wheat makgeolli disappeared.

Ubojuchaek has brought back the disappearing wheat makgeolli. Not as a low-cost makgeolli, but as a premium wheat makgeolli brewed with whole grains.

Yangpyeong Wheat Makgeolli

Yangpyeong Wheat Makgeolli is a local specialty alcoholic beverage brewed with whole wheat from Yangpyeong and domestic rice. Due to the use of whole grains, it features a subtle acidity and a rich, full-bodied texture.

It is available in two alcohol percentages: 8% and 13%. The 13% version features a concentrated flavor with layers of sweetness, nuttiness, and tartness.

Yangpyeong Wheat Soju

Yangpyeong Wheat Soju is a 53-degree distilled soju made exclusively from whole wheat from Yangpyeong. It is one of the flagship products of Ubo Juchaek, alongside Wheat Makgeolli. It allows consumers to enjoy the unique character of wheat along with the taste of rice soju. It is also a drink that reportedly impressed overseas buyers when compared to tequila. It received a Silver Award as a Yangpyeong County tourism souvenir.

Ivy Farming Association Corporation

Ivy Agricultural Cooperative Corporation brews alcohol using honey in Gangha-myeon, Yangpyeong. Established by a group of beekeeping farmers, the entire process from honey harvesting to brewing takes place in one location.

CEO Yang Gyeong-yeol was selected as Korea's Top Agricultural Technology Master by the Rural Development Administration in 2023. He is the first person to be selected in the field of beekeeping. The story of the liquor began with an overflow of honey. In the spring of 2008, as honey poured down like a storm, he was deeply troubled about how to consume it.

“If I made wine, I could empty a bottle of honey in an hour.” That is how Korea’s first honey wine was born. The drink he produces is mead, or honey wine. It is said to be the oldest alcoholic beverage in human history, made by fermenting honey and drinking it in Northern Europe, where grapes were difficult to grow.

Honeybee

Honey Bee is a honey wine fermented with over one-third domestic honey. It has a smooth alcohol content of 8%. Only pure floral honey free of sugar is selected and used. Dried tangerine peel is added to this, resulting in a subtle bitterness that follows the sweet honey aroma.

It won the Grand Prize at the Korean Traditional Liquor Competition in its first year of release and received the Gold Award at the Monde Selection for three consecutive years. It tastes best when chilled.

Honeymoon

Honeymoon is a 10% ABV honey wine made with more honey than Honeybee. The yeast consumes the honey for a longer period during fermentation, causing the alcohol content to increase.

As the honey content is high, the honey flavor and floral aroma are deep, and the finish is dry. The name 'Honeymoon' comes from an old custom of having newlyweds drink mead for a month.

It was selected as the beverage for the presidential inauguration banquet in 2022 and won the Grand Prize in the Other Alcoholic Beverages category at the 2025 Korean Traditional Liquor Competition.