CRAFT BEER DEMAND BOOSTS BARLEY INDUSTRY

[Anchor Lead]

The growing popularity of craft beer is helping farmers by driving up the demand for barley. Also, plans to use breweries as tourist attractions are in the pipeline.

[Pkg]

An abandoned old fisheries co-op building has been reborn into an interactive craft beer pub. This pub, which opened late last year, is run by young entrepreneurs who make and sell 14 different varieties of craft beer. Consumers like the deep aroma and rich flavors of their beer.

[Soundbite] Hwang Min-ho(Craft Beer Brewer) : "This is the first brewery to use Gunsan malt. People didn’t expect much at first, but they liked it more than they expected after tasting it."

The craft beer is made with barley produced locally. Barley farmers in the area were having financial difficulties ever since the government stopped buying barley from them in 2012. But now they have secured a steady market for their crop. In the Gunsan area, barley is grown on 32 hectares of land, but it may increase as more craft beer is sold.

[Soundbite] Lee Gil-ro(Barley Farmer) : "I didn’t grow much at first, but I plan to expand the farming area as I continue to secure more markets."

Gunsan City plans to hold a beer festival in September and provide full support to make craft beer a specialty of Gunsan.

[Soundbite] Lee Seon-wu(Gunsan City Gov’t) : "We’re planning weekend events with local artists so that more tourists can experience and enjoy the beer."

Visitors revitalizing the local marketplace brings hope of breathing life back into the old neglected part of the city.