Cheongju's Sewang Brewery

A slight departure from beer to share the Marmot's history and photographs of the Sewang Brewery in Cheongju, Korea. The brewery, which has been producing rice wine under the management of the same family for three generations, is a Registered Cultural Property by virtue of being Korea's last architecturally "old" brewery still standing:

Sewang Brewery was founded in 1929 by brewer Lee Jang-beom, and has changed remarkably little since then. The beautiful wooden brewery building, designed by a Japanese architect and constructed by Korean builders, was completed in 1930. Built of fir and cedar transported all the way from Mt. Baekdusan, the factory has managed to make it through the decades virtually in its original condition. It helps, of course, that it still does what it was purpose-built to do — produce high-quality takju (a.k.a makkeolli) and yakju using old-fashioned techniques handed down over three generations. This is very, very special place where architecture, history, cultural tradition, and the fine rice and water of Jincheon-gun blend into one.

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