BC Craft Beer News - Mission Springs a big hit in Seoul

The latest trend for craft brewers is to expand their interests and horizons to Asia, and that is exactly what the Mission Springs Brewing Company has done.

In June of this year, Mission Springs Brewing Company opened their first 40-seat Springs Tap House prototype pub in the Itaewon district of Seoul, South Korea.   This was followed by a second opening in October, in the Cheongdam district.   Both have been witness to such tremendous success that two more Tap Houses are on the drawing board to open in the following year, according to co-owner Brock Rodgers.

Rodgers was visiting his son, Santino, in Korea, in the fall of 2012, and the idea to both open a pub style restaurant and import Mission Springs brews was brought up by local importers, Daniel Kangas and James Pollina, of Indulge Korea.  Only one thing stood in the way - shipping costs.  While it can be somewhat inexpensive to ship cargo to South Korea, shipping empty kegs back for refilling can be extravagantly overpriced, not to mention environmentally unethical.  

Now employing fully recyclable kegs and shipping only one way is something that the Mission Springs Brewing Company is expressly proud of.   There is also discussion of opening up a brewery in Seoul within the next couple of years to even further decrease their ecological footprint.  Indulge is now distributing Mission Springs products in kegs to the restaurants and bars, with talk of bottles going soon at the retail level.  Since June, Mission Springs has already sent over 25,000 litres of beer across the Pacific Ocean.  

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