Even though it was only two months ago, visiting North Korea almost feels like it happened an age ago, but not only did it happen, I did some cool shit, such as visiting the Rason Brewery.
What is the Rason Brewery you ask? Well, the place that makes Tumanggang Beer, the newest beer from DPR Korea to hit the international market. What though was it like? Well here is my guide.
What the Rason?
The Rason SEZ is North Korea’s answer to what happens when you mix capitalism with central planning and add a splash of dried squid. Wedged up in the corner where Russia and China politely nod at each other, it is the kind of place where you can pay in dollars, yuan or rubles, but good luck finding a decent cup of coffee.
There is seafood everywhere, the hotels are better than you would think, and the beer flows as freely as it can in a place where the outside world is a very relative concept. Is it worth visiting? I think so, but then I am weird.
Origins of Rason Brewery
I will try and explain the Rason Brewery without being too convoluted, but basically this place was made to give a North Korean solution to local beer issues. You see, the main beer of the DPRK, namely Taedonggang, was too hard to “export” to Rason, so the SEZ was importing beer from China for the masses.
To solve this they made a big state-run brewery to service the proletariat. And? Well, it’s gone really well with there being enough excess beer that they now export to Beijing, Dandong and even Yanji. Alas, it is unlikely to go much further as the beer is not pasteurized—which you can read about in my article for Perceptive Travel.
And as it turned out, the Rason Brewery was one of the very few places we could actually visit in the Rason SEZ, so visit and indeed drink we did.
What is it like visiting the Rason Brewery
As stated, there is not all that much to do in Rason save the odd revolutionary site and opening a bank account. This means that visits to factories are a good craic as Rason goes. We actually visited the Rason Brewery on our second to the last day and just after visiting a soju factory.
The factory here was actually pretty interesting, particularly if you like beer, and overall had a very North Korean state-run enterprise feel to it, something I have witnessed and felt many times, such as at the 3 Revolutions Exhibit. Of course, we were told about how beer was made and how socialism works so well, but hey, that’s the shit I love. And then we went to the bar!
The Bar at Rason Brewery
Being a brewery meant that the end of the tour was to take part in their very own bar. This was very much in the North Korean style and consisted of North Korean tables and chairs while we were looked after by the beer master himself. Here he explained that Rason, or rather Tumanggang Beer, was made through a rice and hops mixture and despite what people said was not influenced by the former Czech Brewery. In fact, we asked so many questions that the beer master honestly thought we might be industrial spies.
And the beer itself? Bloody good and indeed a very clean brew, similar in some respects to other North Korean beers, but also with its own purity, which according to the brewmaster came from the fresh water that it was made from.
Overall, I have to say that it was a fabulous experience and something that gave extra respect for everything in the North Korean beer scene.
Click to check out my Rason Tours with Young Pioneer Tours.