Solsongju Cultural Center

In Gaepyeong Hanok Village, Jigok-myeon, Hamyang, opposite the old house of the scholar Jeong Yeo-chang, the Solsongju Cultural Center is a hanok where you can learn about and taste the village's own family liquor, solsongju. Brewed with pine needles and young pine shoots, it has been handed down from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law in the Hadong Jeong clan and is now made by a designated food master. It makes a pleasant stop on a walk through this village of historic houses.

A liquor passed down to daughters-in-law

Solsongju is the household liquor of the Hadong Jeong family of Gaepyeong, a renowned yangban (aristocratic) village in the Joseon era. The recipe passed from each mother-in-law to her son's wife, and Park Heung-seon, who married into the family, learned it from her mother-in-law. She holds Gyeongsangnam-do Intangible Cultural Property No. 35 and was named Korea's Food Master No. 27 in 2005. Solsongju was the official dinner liquor at the 2007 inter-Korean summit and the toast at the 2008 Ramsar Convention meeting and the 2019 ASEAN-Republic of Korea Commemorative Summit.

How solsongju is made

In early spring, when they smell best, pine needles are picked in the pine woods behind the village; in late spring come the vigorous young shoots. Both are steamed once to remove their astringency. They are mixed with a starter of rice porridge and nuruk (traditional fermentation starter) and with steamed rice, then fermented: after about three days the temperature is lowered for some three weeks of slow fermentation. Finally the clear liquor is drawn off, with a gentle scent of pine. Here you can also try Damsol, a 40% spirit distilled from solsongju, and Nokpaju, a restored liquor said to have been popular in the Goryeo period.

What you can do

• Tasting and visit: ask at the front desk to taste solsongju and Damsol free of charge and look around the centre. Thirty minutes is enough.
• Group workshops: groups of 20 or more can book a session brewing solsongju to take home and ferment (May, KRW 20,000 per person) or watch spirit being distilled in a traditional still and mix cocktails (March–October, KRW 35,000 per person).
• Newly refurbished: the centre reopened in February 2026 after renovation.

Walk through Gaepyeong Hanok Village

Gaepyeong produced so many Confucian scholars that people coined the phrase "Andong on the left, Hamyang on the right". It is the home village of the Neo-Confucian scholar Jeong Yeo-chang (Ildu), and alongside his house, Ildu Gotaek (a National Folklore Cultural Heritage), about 60 hanok over a century old survive. The village has appeared in the dramas Toji, Damo and Mr. Sunshine.

Tripto tips

• Opening hours: open every day, 09:30–17:00; tasting is free.
• Booking: paid workshops are for groups of 20 or more only and must be booked by phone at least a week ahead (+82-55-963-8992). Tours of the brewery itself are not possible.
• Time needed: 30 minutes for the tasting and visit, about 1 hour 30 minutes with a walk around Gaepyeong.
• Getting there: about 15 minutes by car from Hamyang-eup.
• Combine with: Namgye Seowon, part of the UNESCO World Heritage "Seowon, Korean Neo-Confucian Academies" since 2019, is about 2 km away, and the thousand-year-old Sangnim Forest about 8 km.
• Watch out for: do not drive after tasting. Drivers are better off buying a bottle to try later.