DPRK brewers attend Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen 2019
Remarkably, four delegates from a DPRK brewery will attend Mikkeller's beer festival in Copenhagen this week.
Foto David de Vleeschauwer
In the beginning of April, Mikkeller's founder and CEO, Mikkel Borg Bjergsø, went on a five-day trip to DPRK accompanied by two colleagues from Mikkeller's headquarter and a delegation of runners from Mikkeller Running Club. Most of them - including Mikkel Borg Bjergsø - participated in the Pyongyang Marathon. However, another and more important agenda of the journey was to build and foster relations with brewers from the DPRK brewery Taedonggang.
"Beer is what I know and do and through beer I create relationships and collaborations," says Mikkel Borg Bjergsø.
"I'm aware that the case of DPRK is pretty unique and many have a negative attitude towards going there. But, I am convinced that interaction is a positive thing. This way, at least we can learn more about the country and hopefully also contribute to the DPRK getting to know a little bit more about the world outside of their country," explains Mikkel Borg Bjergsø.
One of his goals is to hopefully be able to return and brew a collaboration with Taedonggang in the near future. One more step in that direction is taken next week when the four delegates from the DPRK brewery arrive in Copenhagen. Here, they will join the 104 other breweries from USA, Sweden, Germany, Greece and Hong Kong at Mikkeller Beer Celebration Copenhagen and, like the others, serve their beer for around 7.000 beer-loving guests.
Read the story about Mikkeller’s visit to DPRK in Danish daily Børsen here
Organized in collaboration with Koryo Tours
