Youngwon Lee’s craft beer brand Dokkaebier puts extra emphasis on “fun.” His pop-up taproom in February 2020 buzzed with people drinking, eating, and having fun just as dokkaebies like to do in Korean folklore. Now under the COVID-19 restrictions, fun is taking place at homes as Youngwon delivers his full-flavored beer right to his customers’ doors. Despite the curveball thrown by the pandemic, Youngwon’s flexible business strategy and sharp focus have allowed Dokkaebier to keep experimenting while still delighting its fun-seeking customers.

Q: Dokkaebier—the name itself assures fun. How did you start it all?

Y: I began my career in the alcoholic beverage industry more than 10 years ago. I grew up in Guam and New Jersey as a 1.5 generation immigrant, moved back to Korea while in college, and found a part-time job at a high-end wine/spirits importer called Indulge. Years later, after running my own wine-tasting bar in Seoul, I found myself back in the U.S., now hired by the Korean brewery The Booth and expanding their business around the Bay Area. After working for The Booth, I decided to set out on my own again and start something unique—something Asian and Korean. That is how Dokkaebier and its unique line-up were born.

Q: How rare is Asian-inspired craft beer?

Y: The beer market has many players, who experiment with various ingredients but rarely with Asian ingredients. It is a heavily white-dominant industry both on the business and consumer side, which has made diversity one of its main issues. But things are changing, albeit at a slow pace. At Dokkaebier, for example, we had a diverse representation of employees at our pop-up taproom. I am hopeful that our industry as a whole will become more diverse and inclusive in the long run given the ongoing D&I movement and the growing awareness among the brewers.

Q: Tell us more about your pop-up taproom.

Y: We opened it last February to test our ideas and promote our name. In addition to our unique craft beer, we served Korean-influenced cuisine to reinforce our brand image. Dokkaebies like to drink, eat, and play; with a good balance of food and drinks, our customers had more fun and better experiences. Despite the positive response, however, we had to cut down our staff by 70% when the COVID-19 hit in March. When the shelter-in-place order took effect, we immediately launched a delivery service. We excluded some dishes and distantly located areas from delivery to make sure the food stays warm and fresh while on its way to the customers. After the taproom, we have focused on beer delivery and distribution.

Q: How do you produce your beer?

Y: We brew in batches. We recently released Batch #15, which is yuzu and bay leaf-flavored witbier, and Batch #17, Kimchi sour beer spiced with Korean chili powder and ginger. Each batch creates 150-200 boxes of beer. They are unfiltered and unpasteurized, so we keep them refrigerated for as long as possible until they reach our customers. They are flavored with various types of fruit, plants, and spices, which you can easily tell from the artworks on their label.

Q: Many Simple Steps members enjoyed your beer thanks to the year-end fundraising event in 2020. How did you come up with the idea?

Y: When I first learned about Simple Steps, I could fully relate to its mission because my wife, unlike myself, moved to the U.S. as a grown-up with limited English skills. I appreciate your continued support for immigrant women and your candid efforts to empower them. I have also received tremendous help from the overall Korean community amid the pandemic. Once, someone anonymously posted about Dokkaebier on a Korean community website, asking for support, and in 2020 Brewbound Pitch Slam Competition, we won the most audience votes thanks to the word-of-mouth spread from MissyCoupons, a shopping deal site for Koreans in the U.S. The end-of-year fundraiser was my way of contributing back to the community. It was me who suggested the idea and Doyeon shared my enthusiasm. Product fundraising is highly effective since it offers an incentive for donors to give and an opportunity for the non-profit to make its presence known. Going forward, I would love to have more collaboration with Simple Steps.

Q: What is Dokkaebier’s long-term goal?

Y: We would like to launch our products outside of California from next year, specifically in East Coast states and Korea. I want to keep building on the momentum of our craft beer business and expand into other liquor markets—including soju—strengthening the Korean/Asian element of our brand identity.

Q. Do you have any advice for immigrants starting their own business in the U.S.?

Y: Protect your emotional energy in the face of challenges and focus on what needs to be done. In Korea, things are fast and convenient with small land and robust logistics networks, but the U.S. is a huge country and California alone is a vast region; it is never easy to find the right logistics partner for your business, and even when you have a partner, you might experience some delays or other unfamiliar issues. Don’t waste your emotional energy fretting over such problems; instead focus on solving them (if you can) and moving on to the next steps. It is the same with the COVID-19—it is unprecedented and out of our control, so at Dokkaebier, the focus is on what to do next.

Fun facts about Youngwon:

-It was Youngwon’s wife who came up with the name Dokkaebier.

-He likes the entire Dokkaebier lineup but enjoys Bamboo Pilsner on hot afternoons and Milk Stout for dessert.

-His biggest influencer is his former business partner who taught him the power of positivity.

Youngwon plans to reopen his taproom once the COVID crisis subsides. His post-pandemic bar is expected to be full of flavors and in-person interactions that would inject more fun into customer experiences. Until then, you can enjoy his beer in the safety of your home through his delivery service (available throughout California) and recently launched a subscription service on their variety pack. You can also support Dokkaebier by joining its crowdfunding campaign (coming soon!).

Interview date: January 18, 2021
Written by: Hyunjin Kim

An Interview with Youngwon Lee, the Founder and CEO of Dokkaebier

An Interview with Youngwon Lee, the Founder and CEO of Dokkaebier

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