Domestic Yeast

[Anchor Lead]

Yeast is essential when it comes to making the distilled Korean liquor "soju", and until now local distilleries mostly relied on imports. The Rural Development Administration has successfully extracted indigenous yeast varieties and transferred the technology to a domestic firm.

[Pkg]

This domestically made leavening labeled N9 was newly introduced by the Rural Development Administration. The yeast was extracted from well-fermented and pleasant-smelling traditional malt, chosen from ten samples collected across the country. The domestic leavening has better commercial prospects than imported counterparts as it's more resistant to heat, capable of multiplying in temperatures as high as 40 degrees Celsius.

[Soundbite] Choi Han-seok(Fermented Foods Dept., RDA) : "By promoting the use of Korean yeast best fit to produce Korean liquor, we hope to export the yeast overseas, just like we imported foreign brands."

The N9 yeast has been used to produce soju, a traditional Korean distilled liquor. The beverage was found to be sweeter in flavor, with a stronger aroma of grains, compared to soju made with imported yeast. The homemade yeast also results in higher fermentation rates, raising alcohol production by some 20 percent. On average, around 840 grams of rice are used to produce a bottle of traditional soju. The new yeast is therefore also expected to boost rice consumption.

[Soundbite] Gyeong Gi-ho(President, Traditional Soju Distillery) : "Consumers tend to seek out fine liquor made with quality ingredients. I believe the market for soju made with domestic yeast will now expand."

The high-end, traditional distilled soju made from domestic rice and yeast will hit the market for the first time starting during the Chuseok holiday next month.