Brewbound 2023 Rising Stars: Dokkaebier

Speaker 1 [00:12] Our next rising star is a brand that you might be familiar with from some of our Brewbound Live pitch slams. You might have sampled some of their beers at Brewbound Live, and it's a really cool brand that I'm excited to chat about. So joining me today to talk about Doke Beer is Yawan Lee.

Speaker 2 [00:28] Welcome. Thank you. Thank you for this uh awesome, uh, recognition.

Speaker 1 [00:33] Yes, congratulations on being a Brewbound rising star. Really excited to give you this award. We've been keeping tabs on you guys for a while and so to see how much you have grown in such a short amount of time has been really exciting. Um, for anyone who isn't as familiar with Doke Beer, can you just give a brief summary of who you guys are and what's so special about your brand?

Speaker 2 [00:56] Yeah, so Toke Beer, we're based out of Oakland, California. And uh what we do is, uh, we're an Asian inspired craft beer company. So we use a lot of fun and exciting flavors from Asia and use that in uh traditional craft beer styles. So we've made beers with using ingredients like yuza, uh, bamboo, lemongrass, peppercorn, and even kimchi culture in the product that we make.

Speaker 1 [01:20] Yeah, you have a kimchi sour that I really enjoyed at Brewbound Live a couple of years ago. It was delicious and the kimchi is not something you're typically finding in a beer, so it, it was fun to check that out for sure.

Speaker 2 [01:33] Um, I still remember the day where I stay, stayed up all night, uh, trying to bring Kimchisaur to the Brewbaum pitch slam. So I pulled an all-nighter. Um, we had a keg out at my house and I filled up growlers on my, with my hands, and so I could actually bring as fresh as possible to the pitch slam event.

Speaker 1 [01:51] That's dedication. That's impressive. So we appreciate the dedication to freshness for us. And that dedication and passion has seemed to pay off because you guys have been starting to actually get attention from retailers and things. What are some of the big milestones that you've hit this year?

Speaker 2 [02:08] Um, so we recently was able to, uh, move into our own facility. So we acquired a local, uh, physical location in Oakland and now we're available in nearly a little over 500 stores across California and we're looking into launching our beer outside of California starting next year. So it's been a really exciting step, uh, and, you know, we've reached a lot of uh new milestones this year.

Speaker 1 [02:32] Any particular markets that should be quickly anticipating getting Dokkaebier on their hands soon,

Speaker 2 [02:39] uh, probably Oregon, Nevada, New York, and New Jersey. Oh, and actually, uh, we just released, uh, we just brewed a batch in Germany. So we're looking to launch our product, uh, in Germany, uh, this year.

Speaker 1 [02:56] How well is your brand translating on with an international audience like that?

Speaker 2 [03:00] Uh, we'll have to see. This is our first ever batch that we just produced. Uh, so we're going to test out the market. Uh, we've done the same thing how we launched over here. So we partner with the local brewery in Germany, uh, to our brew. Uh, to brew our first batch. And so we're going to test out the market and see how people react. But we have the same thesis. We're one of the unique players, uh, that are Asian-inspired in the European nation as well as Germany, um, and it's just really exciting. I never thought we would, uh, have a chance to or opportunity to launch our product in Germany. So here comes the, uh, most untraditional craft beer into the most traditional, traditional beer world.

Speaker 1 [03:36] That, like the different, the contrast in that is really interesting, so it's gonna be exciting to see how that plays out. Um, what, you guys also started at a kind of interesting time for the world and for craft beer in general in 2020. So what, what kind of learnings did you have to pick up on pretty quickly or adaptions did you have to make to, to make sure you could make this brand go through that troubling beginning?

Speaker 2 [04:09] Yeah, I mean, I'm pretty sure everyone went through the same, uh, problems, um, and it was a pretty tough time for us and especially given that we launched our brand in, uh, February of 2020. So as soon as we launched, pandemic happened, shelter in place happened, so it was really hard for us to promote our product, uh, offline or, you know, to off-premise accounts, uh, but we, you know, did everything step by step and I think in time, we were able to get some recognition from the industry as well as consumers and started building the momentum. Them. So I think the key thing is if you really believe in your product, be resilient and be persistent, uh, because there's gonna be a lot of things that you, you know, no matter how, you know, how, how much experience you have in the beer world, you're always gonna have some new problem that you need to solve. So, uh, keep pursuing your dream and, you know, make things work as you go, yeah.

Speaker 1 [04:58] Something that you guys also did this year that we reported on is, um, you acquired Federation Brewing. Can you explain a little bit how that deal works?

Speaker 2 [05:09] I started talking to the Federation team end of last year, um, and they were really grateful in terms of supporting our new venture. Uh, so we've worked out an awesome deal, uh, and that really enabled us to, uh, you know, headstart our brewery. So we finally came to, uh, agreement in March and we took over starting April. Uh, and it's been awesome since, uh, the takeover because we finally have have a place where we could actually brew our own beer and, you know, that's something that we could even go crazy with. And we finally have a place where people could really come and, you know, taste and experience the product. Uh, a lot of times, you know, you see kimchi sour on the shelf or use a blonde or some uh fun ingredients that we use and people might get a little bit scared to try it or, you know, be hesitant, but you finally have a place where you could actually, uh, taste all the flavors that we represent.

Speaker 1 [06:00] That's crucial for any sort of consumer market right now, especially with there being so many brands out there, having that space where people can connect to your brand is super important.

Speaker 2 [06:13] Yes, definitely.

Speaker 1 [06:15] So, now, looking ahead, you have your own space now. You guys have gained all this momentum. What should we expect from Doke Beer in 2024?

Speaker 2 [06:24] Now that we have our own brewery, we get to experiment with more fun ingredients and we would like to represent more diverse ingredients and flavors. Uh, so that will be our main goal. Um, you know, depending on how we, uh, how the reaction is in Germany, we would definitely like to launch our Beer, uh, and more in Europe. Um, we've just launched our D2C site, so we're able to ship our beer to over 40 states. So there's definitely a, a lot more opportunity for, um, everyone who's been curious about our flavor to try out our beer.

Speaker 1 [06:56] What do you think is the number one takeaway you want people to have about your brand? Like what is the most important thing that people should know about Doke beer?

Speaker 2 [07:06] Um, you know, a beard that represents culture.

Speaker 1 [07:09] My final question for you is something that I'm asking, uh, all the award winners that I'm talking to is we are in kind of a transition period for the Bevek industry right now, and so everyone's kind of looking to Uh, maybe change up how they're doing things or learn things from other people. So, what is one thing that you've learned as having to be a person in leadership in this industry that you think is a learning that others will find useful or can take away from?

Speaker 2 [07:43] I think having a strong vision and mission as a brand and as a founder is really important to, to the DNA of the company, and I think that's what drives, you may have hard times, you might have, you know, beer falling out of pallets that you might have out of stock, you might have uh spoilage or whatever you may go through, um, you might go through hardship, but, you know, having that mission, uh, uh, you know, and vision is what really pushes me and drives me. So having that motivation and, you know, uh, driver is, I think, really Important. A lot of times you also, um, you know, I try to do a better job at it, but a lot of times I get so stuck with my own mission, right? And it's really important to share that mission, your dream with your team, and that you're dreaming towards the same mission that you have.

Speaker 1 [08:28] Great message to end on. So congratulations again to you, young man, and to the whole Doke Beer team on being a rising star, and we can't wait to see what you guys get up to. Thank you.

Speaker 2 [08:37] Thank you so much for the recognition. It's a, a big honor for me, especially I You know, started and, uh, the first ever opportunity to pitch our brand to the big, uh, beer audience was Brewbaum Pitch Slam. So, uh, it's a really honor for me and that we've survived through and, you know, finally got the recognition as a rising star. Thank you for Brewbound for that.