OB Brewery Showcases Local Ingredients and Korean Beer Culture for International Beer Day
Key Takeaways
- •Approximately 50 OB Brewery employees participated in an International Beer Day event at the company's Icheon brewery in Gyeonggi Province, with senior executives including SEVP Koo Ja-beom in attendance.
- •The event featured a limited-edition beer called "Cheers From Icheon," brewed with locally sourced ingredients including Icheon rice, Janghowon peaches, and cornelian cherries from Baeksa-myeon.
- •Attendees toured the brewery's beer museum and sampled six craft beers while learning about South Korea's beer industry history and OB Brewery's corporate heritage dating back to its founding as Oriental Brewery in 1952.
- •Employees participated in a hands-on educational session covering brewing processes such as fermentation, maturation, and filtration, including a bottling experience.
- •OB Brewery officials expressed commitment to promoting regional ingredients and supporting the sustainable growth of local agriculture and communities.
OB Brewery announced Thursday that it commemorated International Beer Day — the global celebration observed annually on the first Friday of August — with an employee event at its brewery in Icheon, Gyeonggi Province, highlighting Korean brewing traditions and craft beers made with regionally sourced ingredients.
Roughly 50 employees participated in the program, titled "A Glass Brewed in Icheon." Attendees included Senior Executive Vice President Koo Ja-beom, Icheon Brewery Director Kim Doo-young, and Brewmaster Kim Jun-kyu.
Participants toured the brewery's on-site beer museum, where they learned about the evolution of South Korea's beer industry, OB Brewery's corporate history, and the overall brewing process. The tour underscored OB's longstanding role in that history; the company, originally founded as Oriental Brewery in 1952, has operated for decades as one of the country's largest beer producers. Following the tour, attendees sampled six craft beers at the facility's dedicated craft lounge.
Among the offerings was "Cheers From Icheon," a limited-edition beer developed by the brewery's brewmasters specifically for International Beer Day. The brew incorporates locally grown Icheon rice, Janghowon peaches, and cornelian cherries from Baeksa-myeon. Icheon is widely recognized in South Korea for its premium rice production, making the grain a fitting anchor ingredient for a beer branded around the region. According to the company, it is characterized by a smooth texture, subtle fruit aroma, and refreshing acidity.
Employees also took part in an educational brewing session that covered fermentation, maturation, and filtration. The program explained the processes by which alcohol content and carbonation develop during production and included a hands-on bottling experience for participants.
"We organized the event to give employees from our headquarters and Icheon brewery an opportunity to experience Korea's beer culture and the distinctive qualities of Icheon's agricultural products," a company official said.
"We will continue highlighting the value of beer and regional ingredients while supporting the sustainable growth of local agriculture and communities," the official added.
Source: Korea Herald
