Taedonggang
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Taedonggang (Korean: Script error: No such module "Lang".Template:Category handler) is a brand of North Korean beer brewed by the state-owned Taedonggang Brewing Company based in Pyongyang. There are four brands of beer marketed as Taedonggang,[1]Template:Self-published inline though the brand known simply as "Taedonggang Beer" is that described below.
History
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In 2000, Kim Jong Il decided the country needed a showcase brewery.[2] At that point having good relations with the West, via connections to Germany, the Government of North Korea bought the intact and still in place brewery plant of the closed Ushers of Trowbridge, Wiltshire, England for £1.5 million via broker Uwe Oehms.[3] Concerned it could be used for chemical weapons production, after assurances, Peter Ward, of brewing company Thomas Hardy Brewing and Packaging bought the plant and arranged for a team from North Korea to travel to Trowbridge to dismantle it.[4] Reinstalled and operational from 2002, the brewery uses German-made computerized brewing control technology.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Since then, North Korea has had a steady supply of beer.Template:Sfn
On 3 July 2009, a commercial for the product was broadcast on state-run Korean Central Television in a rare move, as there are very few advertisements on North Korean television.[5][6] The commercial shows technicians sampling the beer and beer bottles floating in space, shooting out foam reminiscent of a missile launch.Template:Sfn North Korea's Taepodong missiles are sometimes called "Taedong" missiles.Template:Sfn The commercial has been broadcast three times in all.[7]
Since 2016, the beer has been available in China in limited amounts.[8]
Product characteristics
Reviews of the currently produced varieties of Taedonggang beer are somewhat mixed. The most widely available Pilsner style lager is described by The New York Times as a "full-bodied lager a little on the sweet side, with a slightly bitter aftertaste" and "one of the highest quality beers on the [Korean] peninsula for several years".[9] The BBC's Korea correspondent Steven Evans in a September 2016 review notes "an OK beer, a bit bland to my palate more used to magnificent British bitter - a bit too much like ghastly, dishwater, mass-produced American beer, in my opinion."[10]
A Finnish review of Taedonggang's brown ale notes an alcohol content of 5% and a taste significantly more bitter than most Asian beers.Script error: No such module "Unsubst". Taedonggang lager resembles British ale.Template:Sfn
Taedonggang beer is named after the Taedong River, which runs through the centre of the capital city of Pyongyang.[9]
Its water comes from upstream Taedong River, barley and rice from South Hwanghae Province and hops from Ryanggang Province.[11]
It has been certified with ISO 9001, ISO 22000 and HACCP.[12]
Types
Taedonggang beers are sorted by the amount of malt contained, and with numbers ranging from "7" to "1". Type "1" are made of pure malt, and "5" being pure rice. Out of type "1" to "5", the higher the number the more rice and less malt there is. Type "6" and "7" are both Schwarzbier, being "6" is made slightly more malt heavy than the other.[13] Also, Taedonggang beer type "1" and "2" exported to Mainland China are Template:Cvt, unlike the Template:Cvt version sold in North Korea and they have different package design.
Availability
Taedonggang beer is targeted primarily at domestic consumers,Script error: No such module "Unsubst". but was exported to South Korea during the years of the Sunshine Policy.[14] Limited export to South Korea began in 2005,Script error: No such module "Unsubst". where it is imported by Vintage Korea,[9] a company based in Dogok, Gangnam, Seoul.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
In mid-2007 availability of Taedonggang beer in South Korea began to lessen and it is widely believed now that it is no longer being imported into the country after the brewery increased the price 70% without warning.Script error: No such module "Unsubst".
According to expatriates in North Korea it is the most popular brand of beer, and is widely served in restaurants and bars, and in Pyongyang hotels catering to foreign visitors, where a small bottle costs about 0.5 euro.[9]
See also
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References
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- ↑ Taedonggang Brewery Ratebeer
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- ↑ In apparent first, North Korea airs beer commercial on state TV. Los Angeles Times. July 3, 2009
- ↑ North Korea launches beer advert. BBC News Online. July 3, 2009
- ↑ N.Korea Ends Experiment with TV Commercials. The Chosun Ilbo. 9 November 2009
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- ↑ a b c d Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
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Works cited
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External links
- Ratebeer: Taedonggang Brewery
- Pyongyang Report: Would you like a Taedonggang Beer?
- "Pyongyang Watch: Beer Leader" Asia Times article
- "DPRK-Made Beers Enjoy Popularity" at Naenara
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