Expats are planning a Spring Beer Festival in Seoul on April 21 to get Haebangchon hopping.

Taking place in bars in the area near Itaewon and also across the main road in Gyeongnidan, the Spring Beer Festival will have 13 brewers offering up their concoctions.

The samples will be free, with the event aiming to spread the message that there is more to beer than the local hof.

“The samples are basically North American craft beers and you don’t get many of those type of beers in Korea. What we’re trying to do is to promote it and educate people,” said event organizer Bill Miller.

“I think you need a groundswell of people who will say, ‘Hey, we like this and we’d like to see more of it.’”

The festival follows other similar events in the area, including two Fermentation Celebrations where brewers rubbed shoulders with picklers and cheese makers to promote their produce.

“A lot of us brewers were involved in the Fermentation Celebrations last year but I think this is the first just beer event that I know of,” said Miller.

“So I hope that we can get the information out there and that not just expats but Koreans are involved.”

The event has been set up by members of Homebrew Korea, an online community of brewing enthusiasts that holds regular gatherings and beer-making contests. Unlike those meetings, this event won’t feature beers that brewers made at home on their own, but the products of communal group brewing sessions.

Using resources donated by Homebrew Korea and Itaewon-based Magpie Brewings, groups gathered to make different types of beer at different sessions ― a West Coast style IPA, a pale ale, an amber beer and a Cascadian dark ale.

Each type of beer was made in five gallon batches, with each batch having the same ingredients and preparation.

“That liquid is all the same,” explained Miller. “The hops and the grain were all the same, but each brewer brought their own yeast, so you’re going to get some varieties that are quite unique.”

“The yeast for most of these beers should be an American strain, but some people brought a Belgian strain, some people brought a British style called a Ringwood, and we had one guy add a makgeolli yeast to his.

“I don’t know if we’re going to be able to explain that right, but the beers are all the same basic component with the exception of the yeast, which is going to bring out that character,” he said.

“It will show you exactly how beers can be different by one variable ― in this case the yeast. Just to show people the things you can do with beer.”

Participation costs nothing, but supplies of samples are limited. Miller pointed out that there were only 5 gallons (17.6 liters) of each beer and only enough for so many 120 ml samples.

However, participating bars are also selling imported and microbrewed North American craft beers with special prices on some of them.

For more information visit the Spring Beer Fest 2012 Facebook page.

By Paul Kerry (paulkerry@heraldcorp.com)