Wild Wave was founded in Busan in 2015 by Kim Gwan-yeol and began brewery operations in 2017. It was the first craft brewery in South Korea to focus on sour and wild ales, a niche that earned it a loyal following and the title 'Busan's craft beer pride.' At its peak, Wild Wave had two taprooms and distribution through convenience stores and hypermarkets.
The craft beer boom that began in the mid-2010s drove the domestic market to ₩152 billion by 2021. But the boom faded fast. Consumer tastes shifted toward highballs and whiskey, the end of the No Japan boycott let Japanese beers reclaim shelf space, and major brewers and imported brands outcompeted craft breweries on price in the convenience-store channel. The craft beer market shrank to ₩75.2 billion by 2023 — a 51% decline in two years.
Wild Wave's expansion into large retail platforms forced it to invest in production capacity and compete on price, squeezing margins and pulling resources from the taproom experience that had built the brand. Accumulated losses grew beyond what the company could absorb. On April 15, 2026, Wild Wave filed for bankruptcy with the Busan Bankruptcy Court. It had 93 creditors. 'Since starting the brand in 2015 and starting brewery operations in 2017, it has always been difficult,' Kim wrote on social media. 'Eventually, the accumulated losses reached a point where it was no longer manageable.'
Expanded into convenience stores, but price competition squeezed margins and raised production costs, bankrupting the brewery with 93 creditors.
Consumer preferences shifted from craft beer to highballs and whiskey, halving the craft beer market from ₩152B to ₩75.2B in two years.
Expansion into convenience stores and hypermarkets forced price competition with major and imported beers, squeezing margins while demanding higher production capacity.
The end of the No Japan boycott let Japanese beer brands reclaim supermarket shelf space that craft breweries had occupied during the boycott period.
First-generation craft brewers built their brands on novelty and scene appeal rather than durable customer loyalty, leaving them vulnerable when the trend cooled.
When a niche market halves in two years, the brands that built their models on the boom go down with it. Consumer taste is not a business plan.
Wild Wave was one of at least five first-generation craft breweries to collapse within a year: Amazing Brewing declared bankrupt on April 21, 2026; Seven Browey entered rehabilitation in June 2025; Y Brewery and Perfect Life Brewery also failed. The bankruptcy filings alarmed the Korean craft beer industry, which had grown rapidly on venture capital and consumer novelty but had not built the loyalty or unit economics to survive a downturn.
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