[Gu Eun-mo's Sake Story] Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga, For a Glass of Chrysanthemum Makgeolli

<14> Yangpyeong 'Yangpyeong Malgeunsul Doga'①

Winter Chrysanthemum Scented Makgeolli 'Dongguk-i'
Brewed as Samyangju for a Clean and Sophisticated Taste
Interest in Our Culture Will Continue Through Traditional Liquor

To bloom a single chrysanthemum flower

Since spring, the cuckoo

Must have cried like that

To bloom a single chrysanthemum flower

The thunder in the dark clouds

Must have cried like that again

In the distant back alley of youth

Where longing and regret tightened the heart

Now standing before the mirror

A flower that looks like my elder sister

To bloom your yellow petals

Last night the frost fell like that

I guess I couldn’t sleep

Seo Jeong-ju, "Beside the Chrysanthemum"

Indian monk Vasubandhu (320??400?) said that everything in the world is the result of 'dependent origination (因緣和合)'. This means that all people, objects, and situations we encounter do not exist by chance on their own, but are created through the complex combination of direct causes (因) and indirect conditions (緣).

The poet also says that to bloom a single chrysanthemum flower, the cuckoo cried like that since spring, the thunder roared in the dark clouds, and last night the frost fell like that. Neither the poet nor the readers are anyone but chrysanthemums. Like us, who go through all these connections to bloom our own flowers, there is a brewery agonizing to brew a cup of liquor resembling a chrysanthemum. It is Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga in Yangpyeong, Gyeonggi Province.

A Private Chronicle of Liquor Heading Toward the Brewer’s Path

Looking back, everything might have been a process to walk the path of a brewer. Park Su-jin, CEO of Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga, devoted himself to different liquors in his 20s, 30s, and 40s. Although the liquors that fascinated him at each moment were different, various experiences combined to make him the brewmaster he is today.

He did not start out loving or enjoying alcohol just because he was on the path of a brewmaster. Rather, until college, Park was cautious about alcohol and tended not to drink. He disliked the disorderly scenes caused by excessive drinking. He recalls his role at that time as taking care of friends who were drunk and bringing them home safely.

He began to indulge in alcohol seriously after starting his career. Majoring in Japanese at university and working at a Japanese general trading company, he had many opportunities to experience various liquors. Socializing with Japanese bosses, he was introduced to whiskey and wine, and frequent business trips to Japan allowed him to enjoy sake locally. Park recalls, “At a young age, I was in an environment where I could drink more diverse liquors than my peers. I traveled a lot with a backpack overseas, and my greatest pleasure was finding and drinking liquors unique to each country.”

Distiller used for Memil Soju 'Dong-i'

He says he has no prejudice about alcohol. There is nothing more enjoyable than experiencing various liquors and discovering the unique charm each one holds. Park says, “Chinese baijiu is a representative example. At first, its strong aroma was very unpleasant, but after learning from an expert on Chinese liquors how to drink it properly, I became completely captivated.” Even now as a brewer, he believes “no one can beat someone who has drunk a lot,” so he continues to study and enjoy various liquors.

Park’s decision to make brewing his profession is closely related to the ‘Korean Wave (Hallyu)’. He has believed that if the environment is prepared for our culture to be properly evaluated, it can secure competitiveness recognized anywhere. In recent years, global interest in Korean culture has been hotter than ever, and Park’s desire to work in a field related to our culture has grown accordingly.

After much thought, he concluded on ‘Korean liquor’. It was also the area he was most interested in, and he judged that if global interest in Korean culture continues, it would naturally extend to our liquors. As his heart leaned toward traditional liquor brewing, his body became busy. He learned brewing by visiting traditional liquor education institutions such as Makgeolli School and Gayangju Research Institute, and built his skills by completing a master’s degree in brewing at Seoul Venture Graduate School.

The first candidate location for the brewery was Jeju. He wanted to make a pleasant liquor full of relaxation that could be found in Korea’s top travel destination, Jeju. However, after several trips to Yangpyeong to visit an acquaintance living near Yongmunsan Mountain, he was captivated by the scenery and soon changed his mind. Thus, in 2019, he moved to Yangpyeong, and Park’s brewing began in earnest.

Makgeolli ‘Winter Child Dongguk-i’ Filled with Subtle Chrysanthemum Fragrance

‘Winter Child Dongguk-i (Dongguk-i)’ is a representative liquor of Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga, almost synonymous with the brewery itself. Named after the winter chrysanthemum ‘Dongguk (冬菊)’, Dongguk-i is a chrysanthemum makgeolli characterized by a subtle chrysanthemum aroma, brewed with winter chrysanthemum, Dongguk, as its name suggests. Park personified the liquor, naming it with the thought of breathing life into it.

Chrysanthemum Makgeolli 'Winter Child Dongguk-i' 13% and 8% products

Chrysanthemum came into Park’s sight somewhat by chance. Shortly after moving to Yangpyeong, he took a farming and rural migration education course conducted by the military. There, a fellow farmer who heard Park’s story of moving to Yangpyeong to brew traditional liquor with local agricultural products suggested trying to add the chrysanthemums he was growing, which was Dongguk.

Chrysanthemum has long been widely used as a brewing aromatic ingredient. However, chrysanthemum makgeolli is hard to find because the strong aroma of makgeolli makes it difficult for the subtle chrysanthemum scent to blend elegantly into the liquor. For this reason, Park was initially indifferent. He brewed a batch of makgeolli with chrysanthemum half-heartedly and casually drank a glass with a close senior.

It exceeded expectations. The two looked at each other with wide eyes and smiled simultaneously. At that moment, Park decided to properly brew chrysanthemum makgeolli. He recalls, “I can never forget the wonderfully uplifting chrysanthemum aroma. I thought I should brew liquor with chrysanthemum so others can feel this joy too.”

Park Su-jin, CEO of Yangpyeong Malgeun Sul Doga, cultivates chrysanthemums used for 'Dongguk-i' near the brewery.

From then on, Park devoted himself to developing chrysanthemum makgeolli, completing the recipe after numerous trials and errors, and launched Dongguk-i in October 2021. Park said it was possible because it was a winter chrysanthemum. While chrysanthemums generally bloom in autumn, the ‘Hwang-eoja’ variety used in Dongguk-i blooms late in cold weather, holding a stronger fragrance than autumn chrysanthemums, allowing it to maintain elegance and presence even inside makgeolli.

Dongguk-i is a samyangju, fermented three times, aiming for a clean and sophisticated taste. Park explains, “I wanted to make a liquor that foreigners could comfortably enjoy without heaviness, and I personally filtered the liquor by hand to ensure nothing remains on the palate.” To achieve a medium body, he appropriately used three types of nuruk (fermentation starters) with different characteristics: rice nuruk, improved nuruk, and traditional nuruk.

Park is also a farmer who purchased fields near the brewery to cultivate chrysanthemums for stable ingredient supply. He also grows buckwheat alongside chrysanthemums to use in buckwheat soju, which adds diversity to the lineup. Last year, Yangpyeong Malgeun Suldoga first introduced ‘Dong-i’, a buckwheat soju named after the son of Heo Saeng-won from the novel "When the Buckwheat Flowers Bloom". Park said, “This year, we plan to increase buckwheat harvest to boost Dong-i production. We intend to develop it as a flagship product alongside Dongguk-i, and we are considering overseas markets, so please look forward to it.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.