North Korea has at least ten major breweries and many microbreweries that supply a wide range of beer products.

The country's problems with goods distribution and power output have forced North Korean brewers to innovate.

[5] During the North Korean famine, beer bottles were used for intravenous therapy (IV) due to the shortage of proper hospital equipment.

[7] The state-owned Taedonggang Brewing Company purchased the old brewery of Ushers of Trowbridge in the United Kingdom and imported it to North Korea.

Nowadays beer is generally available in private restaurants that have become more common since government control on the economy has loosened.

An average North Korean consumes just under a litre of pure alcohol in the form of beer annually.

[15] According to Josh Thomas, an amateur brewer who has toured North Korean breweries: "[T]he average Pyongyang man [drinks] beer fairly frequently — at least once a week.

[12] North Koreans need to expend food coupons when buying beer, which will diminish their grain rations.

[23] According to the KCNA, there are some 300 newly installed beer taps in Pyongyang,[24] consistent with plans to open 300 pubs announced earlier.

[30] Poor rural people brew their own beer with whatever ingredients they can find; "We found corn flower and hops and made something that came out a weird milky color.

[15] According to Josh Thomas, "[f]or a country that commonly experiences famines, North Korea has a surprisingly large range of beers.

[9] Other brands include Ryongsong, Pyongyang, Pohak,[31] Ponghak,[32] Rakwon ("Paradise")[6] and Samgak ("Delta").

The national Taedonggang beer was certainly available throughout the entire country, but any location with sufficient space for a microbrewery, they seemed to build one in order to offset any supply chain inefficiencies.

[34] The Koryo Hotel, for instance, houses a microbrewery that serves what is considered "the best dark beer in town".

Frequent power outages made it impossible to maintain a constant low temperature for brewing.

[15] North Korean steam beers are brewed with lager yeast,[5] but for the same reason of unreliable refrigeration, ales are also well-liked.

Necessities have forced North Koreans to make, according to one writer, "more interesting beers than most other countries of the world".