A Whiff of Beer and Bubblegum
Sometimes a drama lands in the middle ground—not bad enough to rant about, not good enough to rave about. This particular romcom feels like white noise, a pleasant enough background hum that neither surprises nor offends. It’s just there.The story, ostensibly about beer (and maybe a covert PSA for liver transplant hospitals), checks every box for its genre. It’s bubbly, light, and packed with characters whose childlike antics make you feel like you’re watching a cartoon version of adulthood. While the premise is quirky, the execution doesn’t quite pop.
The second couple, though, steals the spotlight with their adorably sweet interactions. They’re a joy to watch and, honestly, more compelling than the main storyline at times. Thankfully, the drama avoids some of the genre’s most tired tropes—no love triangles, no catastrophic miscommunications, and (hallelujah!) no noble idiocy. Instead, we get two couples who actually talk to each other and work through their issues like emotionally intelligent adults. A rare win for healthy relationship portrayals in romcoms!
However, the narrative feels so light it’s almost forgettable. The pacing meanders, and there are plenty of moments where you might find yourself zoning out. The “special forces” subplot? Let’s just say it’s absurd enough to make you question its inclusion. And while the music is cute and inoffensive, it doesn’t leave much of an impression either.
If you’re looking for depth or a strong emotional arc, this isn’t the drama for you. But if you’re in the mood for something breezy and low-stakes—complete with a classic Kopiko ad cameo—it might scratch that itch.
Ultimately, this drama is like a glass of beer on a lazy afternoon. It’s light, frothy, and gone before you know it. Not every sip is memorable, but at least it doesn’t leave a bad taste.
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Have a drink... or two
After first couple episodes (which were very slow) I thought this is going to be drama revolving around struggles (over)sensitive people have living in such loud world. And, since it was male lead who was sensitive, not typically FL, I was more interested to see how drama will explore his world and how he will "adapt" once he falls for FL. Unfortunately, they shifted focus on FL, her struggles and it became just one more drama with "ML is there for FL" and "wow, he is such a sweet guy".Do I regret watching it? No, I don't. Would I watch it if I knew half way writers will forget about his sensitivity and turn it into simple plot device? No, I wouldn't.
It is sweet drama about family and friendship and people should try it, with or without FF button.
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Brewing Love? More like Snoozing Lager—romance so flat it needs CPR and a shot of espresso.
6.5/10: A Frothy Mess That Goes Flat Fast🍺 THE GOOD:
- **Kim Se-jeong as Chae Yong-ju** – Former special forces turned beer sales queen. Yes, she can kill a man and pitch a lager in one scene. Iconic, but wasted here.
- **Lee Jong-won as the sensitive brewmaster** – Looks like he cries to jazz and brews IPA with feelings. Sweet, but this ain’t *La La Land*.
- **Pretty scenery** – Countryside shots so nice, you’ll forget you’re watching a drama about *beer marketing*.
⚠️ THE "ALMOST, BUT..." MOMENTS:
- **Slower than foam settling on a flat beer** – The “slow burn” romance is more “no spark, just yeast.”
- **Subplots go missing like drunk texts** – Characters vanish, conflicts die, nothing really sticks.
- **Too much biz, not enough buzz** – It's more corporate training video than rom-com. I didn’t sign up for a business degree in Beer-onomics.
💔 STANDOUT SCENES:
- When Se-jeong’s character tries to emote and you’re like “girl, save yourself from this script.”
- Every time Min-ju stares into the distance like he knows he should’ve taken another role.
🎯 VERDICT:
Feels like they brewed this romance with expired hops—bland, confusing, and mildly depressing.
Watch if you're folding laundry. Skip if you value your sanity.
Best paired with:A real drink, a low attention span, and something else to do while it plays. 🫠🍺
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This review may contain spoilers
It was very challenging to rate and review Brewing Love. The tone and plot of the show varied wildly from one episode to another. There were episodes that I adored and gave five stars and others I could barely finish. What really worked in this drama was the main romance. Min-ju was a dream man. He was so gentle and caring but also very determined and flirtatious once he decided to pursue Yong-ju. He had several lines that made me burst into tears at how beautiful and compassionate they were. The episodes that revolved around the two of them really worked for me. What didn’t work was the majority of the rest of the plot, as well as the pacing. The beer storyline would have been okay if it had been minor but it took up so much time and was not interesting to watch. A lot of the character development and backstory felt like it was missing, even for the leads. Some of the side plots had potential and then felt like they either fell flat or were completely brushed past, like with Min-ju’s traumatic past and mental health, or the relationship with his dad. The second couple started off okay, although it was hard for me to get on board because the actor just looks so young, but their storyline felt very disappointing at the end. The way they addressed his backstory felt very clumsy, and their relationship felt very rushed and inauthentic. I really like Yong-ju’s grandma and wished the show had gone more into their relationship.
Brewing Love was very odd because the first few episodes were incredibly boring but then there were some great episodes in the middle. It felt like the show had maybe had a rough start and then hit its stride, but then I also felt that it got very boring again at the end. The show felt all over the place. It was disappointing because there were some episodes that were fantastic. The male lead was such a green flag and it was interesting how they flipped a lot of gender stereotypes with their relationship. There was a lot to like in the show, it was just very inconsistent.
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The Ultimate Beer Comercial!
This Kdrama is like your favorite beer! You know why you love it, ergo you know what you're gonna get, and in that, so you won't be disappointed!It's not extraordinary or special, but it was a fun! It's not a surprise that Kim Sejeong carried the whole show, but the side-characters were good, too!
My biggest problem is that we only get 12 episodes, and we had too many storylines, like the one with the soldier boy. That could've been so much better, and honestly, it deserves its own show, but we only got like 1 episode worth of story overall, and they moved on from it pretty fast.
Not to mention the plot with our main guy and the life-saving incident. They didn't do anything with it. I'm not talking about the obvious and typical Kdrama trope, I'm talking about the reason he had to be saved. They completely ignored that!
The usual stuff, like the romance and the main plot is predictable, but if you expect something else, this isn't for you. If you watched one show like this, you know them all, but that doesn't mean you're not gonna enjoy it.
Overall, it was fun, but nothing more!
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This review may contain spoilers
Boring
"Brewing Love" seemed to be a sentimental story; however, it didn't reach that point. The male lead can see the emotions of the people who interact with him. Even though they communicate with a happy face, deep inside, they are broken.I liked the concept and even enjoyed the first three episodes, but then everything fell flat. I wasn’t able to connect with the further plot.
For me, it was a rather boring story. For the first time, I felt that the female lead overacted.
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Predictable story you would still want to watch!
Another story which actually didn't need 12 episodes. Nevertheless its worth the watch!1. Simple story, most of it is predictable but is yet warm to watch.
2. Feel good vibes with no big fights, no love triangles, no parents problems (at least with the main leads).
3. Every misunderstanding is cleared pretty much in the same episode.
4. Good chemistry between the main leads + mature characters around the whole story.
To summarize its a good one time watch drama to warm up your mood.
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They Tried Too Hard
This drama is, as what Min-Ju keeps saying to Yong-Ju, "trying to hard". The romance comes in very late and instead, this drama mostly tells you about a business story, or maybe a life at work. I must had high patience because I keep watching it until finish, while I think some people will start dropping it since the build up phase are long and boring. Final two episodes are really the star of this series.They develop a lot of conflicts during the first half, and still building another more up until episode 10! Thankfully they don't create a new conflict in the last episode. However as expected, some of the conflicts have rushed resolution, while some other disappear like dust. For example, the way Min-Ju reveals the blackmail news by making him turned from a hypersensitivity person into a mind reader which seems unrealistic. Also the idea of this drama focuses on each characters own struggles in their past. However they decide to develop more on the office problems. It pushes aside the story that we want to see clearly such as what happened after the death of Min-Ju's mother, why did he try to suicide, and why Yong-Ju gave him a camera. They should develop around those premises, so they can embrace these memories altogether with the one they love in the later stage.
Even this drama is directed by the sama person who direct Business Proposal, it is definitely incomparable. The romance comes in late, while the comedy is mostly came from the villagers, thanks to them. As much as I love Se-Jeong, I don't think they cast the leads correctly. For me, she has a cheerful persona that doesn't suit the character with such struggles as Chae Yong-Ju. Second Leads are a really sweet couple, yet they didn't even get a proper character build up. Their love stories are all outshined by all of the "office issues", which are not even related to the main idea of "emotional struggle".
To me, the story fails to focus on the main idea that should be. Rather than focusing on the idea of healing an emotional struggle itself, they develop too much story around the ML and FL (the office, the work, the village).
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mediocre at best
too lazy to give in depth review bc honestly i did not enjoy it enough to retain details of the plot but heres more than enough of a review incase you're unsure if you should watch. the spoilers in here are not that crazy so unless ur mega particular it won't matter:what this drama does great:
- amazing casting
- the setting itself is cutesy. love the wholesome village vibe we get at the brewery i forgot the name of the place. love me some supportive aunties for side characters
- the mcs themselves are both very cool and interesting. they both have alot of nuance to their character and it's hard to tell how their dynamic as business partners or potentially lovers is going to be. i love strong independent fls and quiet genius type mls so that part intrigued me at first
what (imo) this drama did not do well in:
- plot progression is similar to a web drama. just not well made. quality of story is low. i'll get more into this with some other criticisms
- constant solving of issues with the whole power of friendship/in numbers with the company team really pmo. areum's boss' whole thing with trying to shoot yongju and her team down was stupid because we never got a reason for all of it other than at the end of that plotpoint but it wasn't even an actual reason we just got his backstory on why he's so miserable. they didn't even bother to make it interesting lol
- idk if it's just cuz the topic of the drama is kinda silly the drama in general is cringe. theyre trying to give fun kdrama which dont get me wrong i love a good clicheed kdrama but theres a way to make it right and quality is still important. i thought outside the leads acting was whatever. nothing amazing but maybe sejeong creates high standards for her cast members to me lol she's j too good
- overall, lack of detail and nuance in the story was really where it all went wrong. i would've preferred more depth
- did not have enough on ml being an empath
my general thoughts:
- not very interesting
- half the work-related scenes were cringe
- the only enjoyable parts were at the beginning when yongju was trying to win over the ml
- again the quality was poor felt worse in terms of story even compared to a youtube web drama
- i don't understand why sejeong accepted this role. alot of my criticism for this show is the same things i said abt today's webtoon. she has such a great roster outside of that so i hope she can make better decisions and i can enjoy her shows more in the future
- i would not recommend this drama. but it is short and brainless so if u want to watch smth for the sake of watching it then go ahead
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Great Cast but the story is as mediocre as it could get
I'm not a seasoned review writer and I'm not going to be bashing the characters or Actors.In simple terms this story is trash
I Don't why these actors chose to act in this shitass drama but what can I say, You can watch it if you have nothing else to watch but this definitely doesn't deserve the 8.1 rating, MDL ratings are pretty shit
More importantly, The side characters turn every single Sad scene into a funny, come on bro, let us enjoy various type of Emotions, what's the point of a story to only being funny and the worst part is most of the alleged funny scenes aren't even funny
(I've watched till episode 6)
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Breath of fresh air
I absolutely love everything about this drama. It feels like I'm going to miss the characters a lot. I'm already experiencing "sepanx" (separation anxiety). At first, I thought the first episode was a bit chaotic, but as the episodes go on, it becomes clear why they took that approach. It was a bold risk, but it paid off. Now, I’m just waiting for the female lead and male lead to start their romance. From the storyline to the characters, the music, the OST, the editing—everything just works perfectly. Plus Kim Sejeong, she's just so perfect.Was this review helpful to you?
Ok Chanhwi made me stay
I was looking forward to this drama as I love the main leads, but the first few episodes were so Cliché and the towns people were quite annoying I kinda wanted to drop.After the 3rd episode it started getting better Our male lead is so charming that you just don't want to take your eyes off him.
This is the 3rd drama I've seen Baek Sungchul in and I liked him fine before but now Chanhwi won my heart, I kept watching mostly to see what silly shenanigans he'd be up to. I want to see more of him a main lead maybe, and I know I'm not alone in this.
The last two episodes were quite boring, I skipped most of episode 12. It's an OK drama with some funny scenes, something to watch when you have nothing better to do.
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