Korean alcoholic beverages
has a wide variety of traditional alcoholic drinks, known as sul. Many of these drinks end with the Sino-Korean word -ju, and some end with the native Korean word -sul. The Sino-Korean -ju is not used as an independent noun.
There are an estimated 1,000 or more kinds of alcoholic drinks in Korea. Most are made from rice, and are fermented with the aid of yeast and nuruk. Fruits, flowers, herbs, and other natural ingredients have also been used to craft traditional Korean alcoholic drinks. There are six distinct flavors: sweet, sour, pungent, roasted, bitter, and spicy. When the flavors are balanced, the alcohol is considered of good quality.
Etymology
There are several hypotheses regarding the origin of the word Sul, for one it is thought to have come from Chinese characters or Su-eul meaning Korean milk porridge. It can be understood that Sul must have derived from the fermentation of leftover milk porridge. The most prominent origin for the word comes from boiling appearance while fermentation, as if fire was coming out of water and thus combining Korean word for fire-Bul and water-Su abbreviate over time to become Sul.History
Mythology
The first story of alcohol appeared in Jewang-Ungi, a Korean historical archive book.Goguryeo kingdom
The records compiled in 1145, Samguk sagi is one of the oldest record of Sul. The presence of Sul was given out in a story about the founding of the kingdom, Goguryeo. The story when translated to English: "Haemosu, the son of the god of heaven invited the three daughters of Habaek, a water deity, and treated them to Sul. When the three daughters were about to return home, he seduced the eldest daughter, Yuhwa, and they spent the night together. Thereafter, Yuhwa gave birth to Jumong, the future founder of Goguryeo."Archaeological study indicates that there are records that show that these brewing skills and techniques were learned by Chinese and Silla dynasty; during the Wei dynasty of China, the governor Gasahyop of the Sadong region transferred the techniques to China and the liquor came to be known as Gokaju.
Baekje
There are records that show that these brewing skills and techniques were learned by Japanese from Baekje; Gosagi an old Japanese book on historical stories notes that the brewing techniques were transferred from Baekje to Japan by Inbeon, the emperor enjoyed the drink along with singing & dancing which earned him the name "liquor deity".Silla
Records show that Goguryeo's Sul brewing skills and techniques were learned and transferred to Silla kingdom and came to be known as poets’ drink. Jibung Yuseol, a Silla text, provides evidence of sul brewing techniques and traditions. By the time of the unification of The Three Kingdoms, Silla had developed methods and traditions for distillation and soon sul become common and popular among the upper class.Goryeo Dynasty
During Goryeo Dynasty, the brewers had developed new and perfected techniques for brewing methods for grain alcohols. Seo Geung, a Sung Dynasty China ambassador mentioned about the trades and characteristics of methods constituents and effects of Sul in his book about Korea. Dongui Bogam and Boncho Gangmok, archived medical texts shows evidence of distillation techniques and practices transferred from outside of Korea.Buddhist temples had the ability & recourses to make Sul. They served and sold liquors in their inns; state run public drinking houses boosted new currency circulation, haedong tongbo and this in turn contributed to the increase of taverns. Sul of the highest quality for ceremonies, national celebrations were made in Yangonseo, special building in palaces. During the Goryeo Dynasty many types of liquor came into existence, categorised into several groups mainly takju- a thick rice wine, gwasilju-a fruity wine, soju- a distilled spirit and cheongju- a clear rice wine.
Joseon Dynasty
During the Joseon period, private families' home brewers developed techniques to make liquor of highest quality and hence this era saw the peak of Sul culture and its technical advancement. In 1610 compilation of Dongui bogam, an exemplar of Korean Medicine helped in the creation of a new liquor using medicinal herb. During this time period Sojutgori, a type of distiller for soju boosted the production of Soju and thus its consumption. Soju had become so popular in Joseon Dynasty it was thought to deplete nation's food supply, due to this a famous scholar and politician Jeong Yakyong suggested the king to confiscate the distillers from common people and thus preserve rice. In contrast to that the rich and the aristocratic society consumed luxury alcohols. During this period, the country had developed indigenous liquor with its distinct characteristics by region. Soju for the northern region, Yakju for the middle region and Takju for the southern region. During the late Joseon, Gwahaju a type of rice wine: where soju a distilled spirit is added to brewed liquor. This was originally done to preserve rice wines during summer.1910–1945
Before the Japanese colonial rule, Sul was brewed in small scale at home. The new colonial government allowed only licensed brewers to make alcoholic beverages. It issued license to brewers in support of the government and passed a decree levying liquor tax. This resulted in banning home brewing, extinction of thousands of traditional liquors and industrialization of Sul production in Korea. Despite this many Korean households brewed Sul illegally. In 1916 a liquor tax law was adopted to suppress the Korean home brewers. Western drinks like beer, whisky were introduced in Korea and were popular among the wealthy, in the other hand common people still continued consuming traditional Korean beverages.Liquor tax was still valid even after liberation in 1945. Nuruk production became a concern due to the food shortage because of Korean War and hence in 1965 grain management law was passed which further tightened liquor control. After liberation, Sul production had reached its worst compared to before the period. During this time many traditional recipes were altered and a huge variety of traditional liquor was lost. Many of the techniques, skills and knowledge in the making of Sul were not recorded rather orally transmitted resulting in the loss of traditional home brewing. In 1980, the government lifted some controls on Sul ensuing reappearance of some types of Sul. Late 1980s consideration to designate traditional liquors a state heritage was underway. In 1995 government allowed home brewing.
Methodology
Constituents and components
Sul is made of nuruk. Nuruk is a Korean equivalent to barley malt used in brewing beer in the west. It is a dough made from grain germinated by enzyme-releasing microorganisms and hence a fermentation starter for the whole process of brewing alcoholic beverages. It gives the flavors, color, and fragrance, thus a determining factor for the result of Sul produced.The key ingredients needed to make Nuruk are culture medium and microbes. In a culture medium made of grains such as rice, wheat, and barley; microbes like fungi and bacteria are germinated. Depending on the color of the fungi used nuruk obtains its specific color, fungi can be categorized based that into three kinds, they are: Monascus purpureus which is reddish, Aspergillus oryzae which is brownish in color and Aspergillus niger which is blackish. Out of these for making the Korean liquor the principal Nuruk used is the brownish variation. The determining factors for fermentation are humidity and favorable temperature which instigates better fungi culture formation on,uruk. The traditional way of making Nuruk requires ground wheat to be mixed with water transferred to a mold and pressed to obtain the desired shape. Thereafter hung in the kitchen or a room and turned a few times, it then would take about 12–20 days to ferment the dough. To get the best result with a fresh scent and clear color sul, a well-cultured Nuruk is essential. Nuruk originating from different regions in Korea can be determined by their thickness and width; for instance, Nuruk from the mountainous region need to be wide and thin, Nuruk from plains needs to be thick and small, thus Nuruks can be found to have a variety of shapes such as flat disk shape, rectangular, globe-shaped, etc. The use of the apt shape of nuruk affects the germination of fungi and fermentation otherwise might result in low alcohol yield or compromise flavor which in turn results in a temperature increase inside the fermentation jar. Nuruk was used in Korea during The Three Kingdom period, records such as Goryeo Dogyeong by Xu Jing in 1123CE and Hallimbyeolgok from the Goryeo period show that Nuruk was used for making Sul and Korean traditional alcohol was brewed using a special type of Nuruk indication of a variety of Nuruk during that period respectively. A classic text about food in the mid-Joseon period, Gyugonsiuibang gives names and manufacturing details of traditional Nuruks and also concludes the same. Further, nuruk during the Joseon dynasty was classified into two categories. One is made out of a lump of grain power called Ddeok-nuruk and the other is made out of cereal grains called Heuchim-nuruk. This led to the production of distinct Sul. The use of Ddeok-nuruk gave a rich and complex flavor to the Sul as a variety of microorganisms like fungi, yeasts and lactic acid bacteria could grow thoroughly deep inside the lump. Compared to this when Heuchim-nuruk was used the Sul tasted simple and light since fungi grew only on the surface of the Nuruk. Since the start of using industrial commercial fermentation starters, the use of Nuruk had declined rapidly over the years.