In another time and place, Youngwon Lee might not have made beer at all.
If you read between the lines—and sometimes it does verge on the explicit—Lee has all the makings of a culture shaper along the lines of a streetwear designer, music producer, contemporary artist, filmmaker, and philosopher. He’s a man of his time, and of many places. And his stars just happen to align over craft beer as founder and CEO of Oakland’s Dokkaebier.
Far from the “build it and they will come” generation of craft beer, Lee seems to have an inherent understanding of what active connection and and building community looks like. It might feel sanguine or naive to some, but when executed with authenticity and wisdom, it’s appealing to young and old alike.
During his earliest days with Dokkaebier, spreading the idea of his flavor-forward, cultural objects in the form of beer was a word-of-mouth and hand-to-hand job. And during the pandemic, when many of his greatest strengths—his charm, vocabulary, enthusiasm, and sales intelligence—were suddenly distanced, he took to YouTube to do what his generation seems to do so well: emotionally connect.
On the other side of those impossibly lean times, Dokkaebier is seeing the results of maintaining that bond with its various audiences with a lively, warm, and creative taproom experience in Oakland. His storytelling, intimacy, hope for the future, and cultural caché have placed Dokkaebier in what I consider an elite tier of craft beer: those with a long and unique future.
Words,Michael Kiser