Hana Makgeolli

Hana Makgeolli is Brooklyn’s first craft brewery dedicated to jeongtongju—a class of traditionally brewed Korean rice wines defined by the use of premium rice and natural fermentation rather than industrial shortcuts. Made with just three core ingredients—organic rice, nuruk (a traditional mixed-culture starter), and water—Hana Makgeolli’s sool strikes a delicate balance between the richness of the grain, the fruit and floral aromatics, and naturally occurring lactic acid.

Rooted in time-honored techniques, Hana Makgeolli avoids the commercial additives and processing common in most imported makgeolli. Fermented to dryness and typically higher in ABV, the portfolio includes varieties of takju (sedimented, above 10% ABV), makgeolli (sedimented, under 10% ABV), yakju (clarified) and soju (distilled). Founded in 2017 by brewer Alice Jun, whose passion for Korean sool began at home. She launched Hana Makgeolli commercially in 2020 with business partner John Limb to bring a modern yet deeply authentic expression of Korea’s rice-wine heritage to people outside of Korea.