Seoul Brewery (Hapjeong)

Seoul Brewery has been brewing since 2018 and has built one of the busiest release schedules in the city's craft scene: more than 50 seasonal beers and close to 40 collaborations to date, according to Beer Asia's Seoul guide. Hapjeong is where it all started. The original brewery and tap house occupy a remodelled small house in an alley near the former Seoul Thermal Power Plant site in Hapjeong-dong, and the brand's first release, the Gold Rush California Common, came out of this building in 2018.

Inside, it is a modern, minimal-design tap house with brewing equipment visible from the bar, and visitors regularly praise the stylish interior. An outdoor deck adds seating for warmer evenings. The tap list rotates often enough to reward regular visits, with the core house beers joined by whichever seasonal or collaboration release is current, so ask the staff what has just gone on.

Food is designed to go with the beer rather than to stand alone. Reviewers note there are no distinctively Korean dishes; instead the snacks are the kind that anyone can enjoy without hesitation, which keeps the focus on what is in the glass.

The tap house is at 10 Tojeong-ro 3an-gil in Mapo-gu's Hapjeong area. Beer Asia lists opening hours of 5pm to midnight on weekdays and 1pm to midnight at weekends, which makes Saturday and Sunday afternoons the best time for a relaxed session. The brand also runs a much larger site in Seongsu-dong, a seven-storey building with a café and tap house, restaurant, brewery and culture hall that opened in March 2023 to mark its fifth anniversary. Hapjeong remains the original and the more intimate of the two, and suits drinkers who want to taste the newest releases where the brewery began.