Chinatown bar with a free Garion and Seonsu gig: Incheon Beer Tiger

Today I'm sharing menu picks and an honest review of Incheon Beer Tiger, a great spot for craft beer near Incheon, Dongincheon, Sinpo-dong and Chinatown.

Incheon Beer Tiger opening hours and info

Incheon Beer Tiger is open Tuesday to Friday and Sunday from 16:30 to 24:00, and Saturday from 13:30 to 24:00. It's closed every Monday. Last order is at 23:30, and the venue lists group seating, Wi-Fi, separate men's and women's restrooms, reservations, takeout, a waiting area and parking.

Incheon Beer Tiger is the official taproom run by Incheon Beer, one of Incheon's best-known local craft breweries, and a multi-purpose cultural space where music and local culture never stop flowing. With music, drinks and tasty snacks all in one place, it's loved by locals and by plenty of people visiting Dongincheon and Sinpo-dong. 💛

The address is 3 Jemullyang-ro 218beon-gil, Jung-gu, Incheon, on the ground floor of Building H at Incheon Art Platform. For parking, please check the photo below!

What kind of shows are held at Incheon Beer Tiger?

Mostly on Saturday evenings, Incheon Beer Tiger hosts skilled indie bands, singer-songwriters and DJs, which makes it a hidden holy ground of the indie scene. It's not just a place that sells beer, so if you love music, I really recommend dropping by!

The day I visited, rock band Seonsu and Garion, a godfather of first-generation Korean hip-hop, were playing. I'd just wandered in by chance, and the thought of hearing them already had me so excited~ 💚 Which artist plays each week and at what time is posted on the official Incheon Beer Tiger Instagram, so follow it and check the schedule!

Inside Incheon Beer Tiger: atmosphere and seating

The inside is a high-ceilinged space that keeps the walls and steel structure of an old red-brick warehouse. The rough, rugged charm of the old warehouse mixes with a modern, hip vibe: bright and sunlit by day, dreamy and free-spirited under red and blue neon at night. That left an impression on me.

There's a mix of seating, from bar seats that suit solo drinkers to tables for 2, 4 and groups. There's also a stage, so you can feel the live sound with your whole body, right in front of you, while sipping a beer~ I can't believe Incheon has a place like this!

It's just so hip! You'd normally expect a craft beer place to be dark, but I found it really charming how the mood at Incheon Beer Tiger changes with the sunlight. It's also clean, comfortable and relaxed, which made me even happier with it.

You can even watch the beer being poured, which made me trust Incheon Beer Tiger even more 💛

The restroom is inside the venue and fairly clean, so if you're looking for a bar with clean restrooms, that's worth knowing :)

The self-service corner has napkins, small plates, hot sauce, forks, knives and more, so help yourself at the self bar if you need anything!

How do you order at Incheon Beer Tiger?

You scan the QR code on your table and order through the linked site. There's a photo menu that made choosing easy, and short descriptions too, which I was happy about!

As a craft beer specialist, it has a variety of craft beers, snacks that go well with them, and non-alcoholic drinks too, so order to suit your taste and group size 😀 There's non-alcoholic beer as well, so if you don't drink or came by car, no worries!!

To start, we kept it simple with Incheon Beer Tiger's signature Unknown Pizza, a non-alcoholic Heineken and a draft Pado! Ordering by QR instead of calling over a staff member was convenient, and I could check that the order was right, so it was a comfortable experience 👍

How were the draft Pado and non-alcoholic Heineken?

Draft Pado (₩7,500)

Draft Pado is a popular beer at Incheon Beer Tiger, ₩7,500 a glass. As the name ("wave") suggests, citrus fruit aromas and a bittersweet bite crash over your mouth like waves. The scent isn't artificial but fresh and lively, coming from the hops themselves, so if you usually like IPA-style beers, I recommend giving it a try!

Personally I like ales, and Pado, true to its popularity, goes down very smoothly with a subtle citrus scent and a really clean finish. I nodded right after the first sip. It was the cleanest, tastiest beer I've had recently 🍺

Non-alcoholic Heineken (₩7,500)

My boyfriend came by car, so he ordered the non-alcoholic Heineken (₩7,500). Not many places sell non-alcoholic beer, but Incheon Beer Tiger sells it separately, so he could enjoy himself comfortably.

Is Unknown Pizza at Incheon Beer Tiger a must-order?

I think Unknown Pizza (₩20,000) is one of the must-orders when you visit Incheon Beer Tiger. Pickles cost ₩500. There's a good variety of pizzas, so many people will wonder what to pick, but Unknown Pizza can only be tasted here, so definitely order it!

Right in the middle of the Unknown Pizza sits tangy, smooth sour cream with olive oil, and it goes really well with the pizza~ The sour cream makes the pizza even softer and seems to cut the richness! It's also loaded with cheese and tomato, and the crust is plain-savory and crispy, so it was great with beer 💛 You may remember enjoying this pizza at Kaligari Brewing. It's the same pizza that was sold there, so you can order it with confidence :)

So, shall we dig in? True to a menu designed as a beer snack, it's a thin, crispy crust, so I didn't feel stuffed even after eating a lot. Maybe because the draft beer washed away the pizza's rich flavor, I kept craving another cold beer with every bite~ With basil, sour cream, tomato and cheese, the sweet-salty-tangy balance was so good that I kept reaching for more. 🍕

It's really not greasy and so delicious.. kind of a high-class pizza taste!! I'm already thinking about it again.

What does Gaehangno Lager taste like?

Before I knew it I'd finished my beer while eating pizza, so I ordered another Gaehangno Lager (₩7,500) and another non-alcoholic beer. Gaehangno Lager is rich in carbonation, with a cool sting in your throat on the first sip, and it goes down smoothly, great for gulping on a hot day.

I hear it uses 100% barley malt, with no domestic starch or other adjuncts mixed in. Maybe that's why the savory, plain flavor typical of barley spreads gently, and with no bitter aftertaste it finishes cleanly, so it's one of those beers nobody dislikes. If you usually like clean, refreshing Korean lagers like Cass or Terra, you'll probably like Gaehangno Lager! I prefer ales to lagers, but even as a lager this one was refreshing with no bitterness and had a great crispness, so I enjoyed it 😘

Every time I drank my beer I went "wow.. so good," so my boyfriend said he regretted bringing the car, haha. And so he diligently drank his non-alcoholic beer.. 🙄 Next time let's leave the car behind and enjoy it together!!

A Saturday night watching Garion's rehearsal and adding meoktae

I was full and about to head home when suddenly Garion appeared! He did quite a long rehearsal before the stage, and he did it so carefully, like the real show, that it was a feast for the ears and eyes 🙏 People who've been active for so long clearly have their reasons!

Meoktae (semi-dried pollock snack, ₩18,000)

After seeing Garion's rehearsal I thought I'd regret missing the show, so I decided to stay a bit longer and ordered meoktae (₩18,000). Incheon Beer Tiger's tteokbokki (spicy rice cakes) is good too, and I was about to order it but I was full, so I switched to meoktae. The portion was big and easy to eat, a really great beer snack~ The coffee peanuts (?) that came with it were really tasty too 💚

And then I ordered more beer... this one is the draft Pado, and it was so good I don't know how many glasses I ordered~ It's really clean and so delicious, you have to try it!! It felt like a luxuriously upgraded Jeju wheat ale? The aroma was really smooth and not overdone, which I loved. And then Seonsu and Garion's performances! I was so happy.. ❤

After eating, I even tidied up so it's easy to carry!!

How crowded does Incheon Beer Tiger get on a gig night?

On gig night, Incheon Beer Tiger was full before the show even started, and during the show some people had no seats and watched standing at the back. Wow.. maybe because so many music lovers come, I really felt how popular this place is! I thought you could only feel this kind of atmosphere in Seoul, but being able to enjoy it so comfortably and freely nearby made the time even more meaningful and happy. ❤

In the original post I also included videos of the interior and of Garion's and Seonsu's performances :) The owner and staff were kind, the food and beer were excellent, the atmosphere was great, and maybe because I could watch the show for free too, it was a truly happy Saturday night 💚 I think I'll come here a lot from now on.. I loved it 😘

If you want tasty snacks, craft beer and a live show all in one go, definitely visit Incheon Beer Tiger!! Highly recommended 👍