HiteJinro Co. is to introduce an ale on Sept. 5, aiming to compete with import brands from countries such as Belgium, the U.K., Germany and Ireland.

This will be the first time that an ale has been released by a major Korean liquor maker in the domestic market. The local industry has mainly focused on the development of lagers.

The company developed the product, dubbed Queen’s Ale, starting June 2010, in collaboration with a leading Danish consulting firm, Alectia.

The difference between lager and ale lies in the type of yeast used. Lager uses bottom, cold-fermenting yeasts whilst ales use the top-fermenting variation.

Ales are generally stronger, and more forceful in taste than lagers because of their relatively fast and warm fermentation.

Queen’s Ale is a “pale ale,” which is a beer product made by warm fermentation using predominantly pale malt. HiteJinro said it uses Cascade hops in a bottle or can.

Its factory prices are set at 1,900 won ($1.65) for the blonde type and 2,100 won for the extra bitter type per 330 ml bottle. The 330 ml cans will range between 1,800 won and 2,000 won.

“Ales take up only 1 percent of the Korean market. We will continue to push for marketing and research activities to pull up the share to some 3 percent within five years,” HiteJinro said in a statement.

The nation’s leading liquor producer has recently enjoyed higher sales in several export destinations thanks to a marketing campaign focusing on tailoring its products to the preferences of local drinkers, while also maintaining a universal image.

Its beer exports to Japan ― in particular ― grew by about 20 percent in 2012 on a year-on-year basis.

Japanese drinkers are also responding to HiteJinro’s Bikky non-alcoholic beer, which was released in March through the company’s Japanese affiliate ― Jinro Japan.

Bikky has 40 percent fewer calories than the company’s regular beers and is popular with female drinkers in their 40s and 50s in Japan.

The price is also an advantage for Bikky because it is exempt from liquor tax.

Its most popular beer products in Japan seem to be Dry Beer and Lager Beer.

Both were released in 2011, Dry is particularly well received and has accounted for more than half of the company’s revenue in Japan.

By Kim Yon-se (kys@heraldcorp.com)