Brewer's unwavering enthusiasm for traditional spirit

The Korea Times

The Korea Times

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Thu, December 7, 2023 | 23:12

Korean Traditions

Brewer's unwavering enthusiasm for traditional spirit

Posted : 2018-01-28 17:02

Updated : 2018-01-31 15:50

Hong Jin-ho, the owner of Odae Seoju Brewery located in the rustic Olympic host city of PyeongChang, has been making homemade potato wine, seen in the below photo, for over a decade since he took over the business from his father. / Korea Times

Homemade potato wine included in presidential gift set

By Jung Da-min

Homemade potato wine, better known as "seo-ju," has been a mission-driven project for Hong Jin-ho, the owner of Odae Seoju Brewery located in the rustic Olympic host city of PyeongChang.

The family-owned business has never been profitable since he succeeded it from his father over a decade ago.

There were numerous times he tried to give it up and go into another lucrative business. But every time a sense of mission and his passion to pass the traditional drink on to the next generation held him back to continue making the traditional drink.

Hong, 48, sees his brewery business as an unavoidable fate he couldn't have escaped. His father, Hong Sung-il, first explored it in 1970-80s as an agrobusiness to diversify income after wrapping up his two decades in the potato starch business.

The younger Hong was then a college student in his early 20s. He joined the family-owned business after graduating from college.

"Potato wine is an enjoyable, delightful drink with 13 percent alcohol content," he said.

The 1970s and ‘80s were the golden days for homemade alcoholic beverages. Hong says there were plenty of breweries around PyeongChang at that time.

"There were no written recipes for potato wine. It has been passed down from one generation to the next through oral traditions," Hong told The Korea Times. "My father had a friend who was initially from North Korea. He knew how to brew potato wine and taught my father."

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It remains unknown since when Koreans have enjoyed potato wine, due to a lack of written records. However, Koreans are believed to have enjoyed it since the 18th century when the potato was first introduced to the country.

The homemade alcoholic beverage was popular among the farmers who slashed and burned forests to create land for crops. They grew potatoes in the newly cleared land and made wine with unwanted potatoes that were left over after they ate. Potato and rice are two main ingredients. It takes 30 days to brew potato wine.

"Unlike other pricey traditional alcoholic beverages, potato wine was popular among farmers involved in slash-and-burn agriculture in the eastern province of Gangwon. Working-class people consumed it," he said.

Slash-and-burn agriculture was popular during the 1910-45 Japanese occupation. In 1926, 30,000 farmers were involved in slash-and-burn agriculture. The number increased to 70,000 in 1935 and has since declined as the Japanese authorities cracked down on them.

Potato wine was popular in the eastern province partly because it is home to highland potatoes. About 80 percent of the nation's highland potato production comes from the region and PyeongChang accounts for nearly 70 percent of it.

Brewing potato wine is a daunting job as it requires lots of labor and patience. Hong recalled there were times he was skeptical about his job.

"I tried many times to quit because brewing requires lots of labor but income doesn't actually reflect such a painstaking process mainly because potato wine is cheap," he said. "It's cheaper than any other homemade alcoholic beverages."

The unit price of potato wine (300ml) is 2,500 won. Hong's annual income from the sales of the traditional alcoholic beverage is merely tens of millions of won.

"It's not a profitable business at all," he said.

To cut the production cost, Hong makes potato wine alone without hiring any employees. The main income source of the family-owned business is natto, a food made from fermented soybeans with Bacillus subtilis. Hong is exploring other items to increase income.

He has no other siblings who could succeed his father's business. It has become his lifelong mission to inherit the homemade potato wine tradition and pass it on to descendents. "If any of my daughters are interested in succeeding it, I would be happy to let them know how to make it," he said.

The homemade potato wine was chosen as one of the items to be included in the presidential gift set. President Moon Jae-in will send the gift sets comprising of samples of organic crops with Hong's wine to select people of all walks of life as a gift on the occasion of the Lunar New Year Holiday in February.

This has kept Hong busy as he has to make as many as 15,000 bottles of potato wine.

damin.jung@ktimes.com