Q YOU’VE BEEN WORKING ON THE BEER DISTRIBUTION AND STORE EXPANSION, SO WHAT LED YOU TO ESTABLISH A CRAFT BREWERY?

Yes, before we founded our brewery, Perfect Life, I was working on distributing imported German beers. After that, I’ve been joining the German Village Beer Festival since 2011. While I was working with them to plan and operate the festival, I found that there were no beers brewed within the village. It was a bit of shame, and I wondered, “How great would it be if people could come by and drink fresh beers brewed right here?” That’s when I decided to build a craft brewery.

Q PLEASE INTRODUCE US TO YOUR CRAFT BREWERY, PERFECT LIFE.

It opened in 2018 is the very first brewery founded in Namhae–gun. It’s a two-story German building (1150m2) built around the concept of “mini Namhae inside the German village.” Its annual production is about 300,000 L, and we sell German dishes that go well with our craft beers from our restaurant and pub on the 2nd floor. We sell various craft beers: Namhae, brewed with eastern prickly pears grown in Namhae-gun; Miners’ Melody Stout, a stout commemorating Namhae German Village, where the Korean miners and nurses who were dispatched to West Germany have settled; and six more craft beers representing Perfect Life’s unique concepts. We are currently studying and developing other unique beers, such as seasonal beer.

Q THE CONTEST’S BEER WAS ABOUT THE KOREAN MINERS AND NURSES DISPATCHED TO WEST GERMANY, RIGHT?

Yes, Namhae-gun has many great tourist attractions. Namhae German Village is the most popular attraction and is living proof that miners and nurses live well. It’s a shame that there are no souvenirs to commemorate them or the village, so I decided to make this beer to represent their stories. Miners’ Melody Stout was made to be a storyteller—to remember the joy and sorrow of those miners and nurses.

Q HOW DID YOU JOIN THE CONTEST?

Because we’re the only craft brewery here, this craft beer, Miners’ Melody Stout, is famous among tourists visiting Namhae-gun. We joined the contest to inform the capital areas and potential customers about the German Village, its stories, and our products. There were multiple more accomplished entries with better designs, which motivated us to enhance the quality of Miners’ Melody Stout design and packaging.

Q ANY FUTURE PLANS?

Perfect Life makes craft beers with barleys that we’ve harvested with local farmhouses in Namhae. After the five-week maturing process, its look and flavor are always deep, rich, and extraordinary. We’re currently using specialty malts because our production capacity isn’t that big yet. Still, we’re planning to gradually increase the Korean ingredients content, creating a farm brewery that runs the entire process, from harvesting to beer production. On top of that, we will expand Perfect Life’s craft beer distribution to the capital areas.