Real Draft Beer Cans with Live Yeast on Sale
Cold Chain System Applied to Maintain Freshness
Pilot Sales at Over 2,000 Locations Nationwide
Convenience store 7-Eleven announced on the 30th that starting from the 2nd of next month, it will begin selling 'Real Draft Beer Cans' at over 2,000 stores nationwide for the first time in Korea.
The draft beer cans sold by 7-Eleven this time are 'Saeng Draft Beer (500㎖)', produced without killing the yeast and directly canned. Since it is draft beer, the consumption period is one month, which is much shorter than the one-year shelf life of regular canned beer on the market. The alcohol content is 5.5%.
The manufacturer is 'Y Brewery', a craft beer brewery producing kegs (draft beer supplied to beer pubs), which makes 12 different types of craft beer directly.
Saeng Draft Beer is produced using only high-purity wort and does not use the sparging method, a common process in regular beer production, allowing consumers to enjoy a deeper and richer malt flavor compared to traditional lager beer. Sparging is a part of the beer production filtration process where malt is steeped multiple times (second, third, etc.) to extract sugars from the malt to increase wort yield. While effective for obtaining wort, it reduces the aroma and taste of the beer.
To enhance the freshness of the draft beer product, a cold chain system was applied throughout all stages from production to distribution. The cold chain is a distribution method that maintains low temperatures throughout the entire process to preserve product freshness. In a situation where beer in domestic convenience stores is delivered at room temperature, 7-Eleven designed its own beer cold chain process to differentiate its draft beer can sales.
7-Eleven also applied PET transparent cans for the draft beer package for the first time in Korea. To ensure safety, an additional UV coating process that blocks ultraviolet rays was applied, and special hops that withstand sunlight well were used to maintain the freshness of the draft beer inside the transparent cans for a long time.
7-Eleven plans to first sell the product for one month at over 2,000 stores nationwide, then increase production and expand sales to all stores.
Nam Geon-woo, product planner (MD) of the beverage and liquor team at 7-Eleven, said, "We have innovatively changed all processes from production, packaging, to distribution to deliver the freshness of draft beer to customers as it is," adding, "Now, we hope customers enjoy convenience store draft beer easily at home while watching sports."
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