Would you believe that even the Hermit Kingdom is getting in on the brewing action? Starting when Kim Yong-il demanded a state brewery for North Korea and subsequently purchased the entirety of the then-bankrupt British brewery Ushers of Trowbridge (packing up the entire kit and shipping it off to Pyongyang), the North Korean government has been experimenting with beer. The beer produced by the former Ushers kit, Taedonggang, is now among the more popular domestic brews and includes seven different not very uniquely named brews, Beer No. 1, Beer No. 2 and so on. The North Koreans have also messed around with some archaic brewing styles, including the ‘steam brewing’ technique, which produces lager at warmer ale temperatures. Several hotels around Pyongyang now operate in-house microbreweries, which can be visited on Uri Tours' (uritours.com) dedicated beer tour of North Korea.
Megan Eaves is Lonely Planet's North Asia Destination Editor and an unabashed beer nerd. She blogs about her beery travels at Brew Travel. Follow her on Twitter @megoizzy.
Megan travelled to several of the places above with support from the Korea Tourism Organization (visitkorea.or.kr), the Hong Kong Tourism Board (discoverhongkong.com) and the Taiwan Ministry for Foreign Affairs. Lonely Planet contributors do not accept freebies in exchange for positive coverage.
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