Brewing Love – K-drama Episode 12 Recap, Review & Ending Explained

Episode 12

Episode 12 of Brewing Love begins with Yong-ju heading off to deal with the people who wrote malicious comments about Together online. The rival liquor company Baemok hired a company that professionally does this. But Yong-ju and Chan-hwi visit the shady company’s office and take care of the goons working there.

The team then sets about fixing Together’s reputation in the public eye. The main goal is winning over the wholesalers, the key to making Together a success. With the help of the chairman of a liquor association, a close friend of Yong-ju’s, the team wins over the wholesalers. They sell the entire first batch of their beer!

While celebrating, Yong-ju confirms that the Busan branch will not be closing. Beom then assumes that Yong-ju will be coming back to Busan but she gets awkward and doesn’t respond.

The next day, Yong-ju and her previous boss meet with the Head of Marketing. He confirms that the Busan office will indeed keep its doors open. But he assumes Yong-ju will stay in the head office. After they leave, Yong-ju’s old boss recalls how desperate she was while applying for a job at Jisang. Now, he tells her to find a path that brings her true happiness. Beom suddenly turns up and confesses to Yong-ju that he does indeed like her. But he wants her to be happy with Min-ju.

Later that night, Yong-ju tells Min-ju about the conversation. She says the thought of leaving Jisang didn’t feel…right. But she’s now ready to find out what she really wants.

The next day at work, Yong-ju types up a letter of resignation on her computer. Ah-reum notices it and says she’ll support Yong-ju no matter what. The two also promise to stay good friends in the future. Afterwards, Yong-ju finally submits her letter of resignation, telling her boss that she wants to find herself. Soon, she packs up her stuff and bids her team goodbye.

She goes to Min-ju’s home and declares she’s unemployed now, laughing and then bursting into tears. Min-ju comforts her, saying that this is a new chapter of her life.

Sometime later, we see Min-ju hosting a brewery class. Yong-ju arrives and bickers about one of his flirty customers. Later, they get a call from Min-ju’s father who tells Min-ju he misses him, encouraging him and Yong-ju to visit. Which is something he’s said for the first time!

Meanwhile, Chan-hwi returns home for the first time after running away. He and Ah-reum go together and find the house empty. He cooks her a meal and after eating, Ah-reum brings out a ring and they decide to get married. Chan-hwi then reveals that his original name was Chan-ran and he changed it for a fresh start after his army days.

The scene shifts to a grand event which turns out to be Young-ja and Sook-ja’s retirement ceremony. After working diligently for years, they are now retiring and going to travel the world. The villagers bid them a cheerful goodbye. After the two women leave, the village chief and Soon-gwan argue about who will become the next term’s village chief. In a turn of events, Jjuan says she is standing for the election and is most likely to win.

Elsewhere, Yong-ju begins a new chapter of her life. She’s started a shop that sells various brands of local beers. She has a record player playing her favourite songs on one side of the shop. The rest of her Together team arrives and we get updates on all their lives.

Beom is now a section chief and Rao has an annoying junior on his team, much like he was to Yong-ju. Chan-hwi and Ah-reum are busy planning their wedding after Chan-hwi wore Ah-reum’s mother down. All of them then take a group picture together and Brewing Love Episode 12 comes to an end.

The Episode Review

Brewing Love Episode 12 works as a satisfactory finale. It ties up most of the show’s storylines — bringing Together beer to success, giving Yong-ju a new dream, and having Chan-hwi win over Ah-reum’s mother. Even Min-ju and his father are on good terms now.

There are a couple of loopholes, like the fact that we never actually see Chan-hwi’s family. After all that emphasis on his running away from home, the scene in his house isn’t quite enough to wrap that story up.

In the end, Episode 12 is an average finale to an average K-drama. It’s not necessarily a bad thing. Brewing Love did have some unique characters and it did tap into its emotional side quite well. However, the writing falls into the trap of predictability and in trying to address several different themes, its focus becomes too broad and too thin. The finale is much the same.