Two October beer fests in Seoul

Now into its third year, the Great Korean Beer Festival is holding two back-to-back events this month.

“This is our fifth event,” Kang Da-mi, co-CEO of the festival’s organizer Media Paran, said of this month’s first event, slated to run from Oct. 8 to 11 in conjunction with the Gangnam Festival.

The sixth beer fest will function as a “Craft Beer Zone” within the Itaewon Global Village Festival from Oct. 17 to 18, according to Media Paran.

The Great Korean Beer Festival first kicked off in 2013 as an event where people could taste a wide variety of craft brews in one spot while also enjoying grub, concerts and other festivities.

The idea caught on and now the festival has grown into a regular fixture of Korea’s beer scene, an event -- sometimes held on its own, sometimes in conjunction with other festivals -- where people can tip back their brew of choice for around 4,000 won ($3.40) to 6,000 won a glass.

“Plans are to hold the festival, when it is not in conjunction with other events, twice a year in May and October,” Kang said via email.

This October, the festival will be held twice, first with the Gangnam Festival in Seoul’s Samseong-dong and then as part of the Itaewon Global Village Festival.

For the Gangnam event, around 100 varieties of beer will be served along with food, and concerts and other festivities will also be featured.

Participating Korean breweries and beer companies include the award-winning Hand and Malt Brewing Co., Craftbros Tap House and Bottle Shop, Platinum Microbrewery, Ka-Brew, Jejusien and a newcomer to the event, Kang revealed, Korea Craft Brewery.

In addition to domestic craft brews, beer from overseas breweries like Sixpoint, Meantime and Revolution Brewing will also be available.

Booths will be located through COEX’s SMTOWN Plaza and the G20 Plaza area near exits 5 and 6 of Samseong Station and will run from 1-9 p.m.

Less than a week after the Gangnam event, the Great Korean Beer Festival will be taking part in the Itaewon Global Village Festival.

“We will be running a total of 12 beer booths,” said Kang.

Booths will be open from 11 a.m. to 9 p.m. at the Itaewon Special Tour Zone.

For more information on both events visit www.greatkoreanbeerfestival.com.

By Jean Oh (oh_jean@heraldcorp.com)