Best-of list · Craft Beer
The 7 best craft beer bars in Seoul for 2026, from Magpie Brewing and The Booth to Craftworks and Oktoberfest. Where Seoul drinks craft, by neighbourhood.
The short answer
7 ranked rooms follow. How we picked is at the end of this guide.
Seoul's craft scene took off after Korea loosened its small-brewery laws in 2014, and the city now brews and pours with the best in Asia. The seven below are the rooms that have held up, from the pioneers who started it to the German-style brewpubs that came before. Most cluster in Itaewon and the hills of Gyeongnidan, with outposts in Jongno and Gangnam.
Magpie opened in Itaewon's Gyeongnidan in 2011 and helped start Korea's craft scene, the country's first commercial sour brewery. The original brewshop pours flagship porter, pale ale and copper ale plus rotating seasonals, while Magpie Basement nearby runs later into the night. Hours run mid-afternoon to late, Tuesday through Sunday. Order the porter with a pizza. Best early evening before the hill fills up.
Full listing & hours →The Booth grew from a 2013 Itaewon pizza pub into one of Korea's biggest craft names, now seven Seoul pubs and a brewery reaching three continents. The Itaewon taproom keeps a long, playful beer list under cartoon murals, with pizza to match. Order a flagship pale ale with a pie. Best with a group, since the menu runs pages deep and the room gets loud.
Full listing & hours →Hand and Malt built its name in Seongsu as one of Korea's founding indie breweries, and now runs taprooms across the city, including a Yongsan brew lab styled as a craft izakaya. The beers lean local, brewed with Jeju tangerine, Chilgok honey and Sinan salt. Order the Slow IPA. Best for a sit-down evening with Korean snacks rather than a quick pint.
Craftworks opened below Namsan in 2010 and became Seoul's benchmark taphouse, now four locations strong and a winner at the 2026 Korea Alcoholic Beverage Awards. The house beers carry Korean mountain names, paired with burgers and Redtop pizza. Order the Namsan Pilsner with a burger. Best at the Namsan original for the fullest tap list and an after-hike pint.
Full listing & hours →The Fountain sits in the heart of Itaewon as a straight beer bar, pouring local and international craft with no kitchen and no cover charge. It keeps the focus on the taps and the neighborhood crowd rather than food. Come to drink and move on for dinner elsewhere. Best as an early stop on an Itaewon crawl, before the late-night rush takes the street.
Oktoberfest claims the title of Korea's first craft beer bar, opened in 2002 with a Munich-trained brewmaster and now six downtown branches. The house brews run German, Pilsner, Weizen, Hefeweizen and Dunkel, alongside pork knuckle and Bavarian plates. Order a Weizen with the knuckle. Best for a big table and a long beer-hall style night in Jongno.
Southside Parlor is the outlier here, a Texan-run Itaewon bar better known for cocktails than kegs, though it keeps a tight craft list and a rooftop worth the climb. Open since 2013 and a World's 50 Best Discovery pick, it draws an international crowd. Order a cocktail first, a local can second. Best at sunset on the roof before the bar fills.
Full listing & hours →