Brewing Love Ep 1 earns lower ratings than predecessor Dear Hyeri but that can change quickly
Michelle Topham 
The new Genie TV K-drama Brewing Love kicked off last night in the same time slot on ENA as the recently-ended Dear Hyeri.
The new drama, however, earned slightly lower ratings for its first episode — both with nationwide viewers and those in Seoul — than did the first episode of Dear Hyeri.
Those ratings for Brewing Love, Episode 1 were 1.87 percent nationwide (compared to Dear Hyeri‘s 2.02 percent) and a similar 1.86 percent of the viewership in Seoul (compared to Dear Hyeri‘s 2.38 percent).
But, as I always say, it is never the ratings for the first episode of a Korean drama that are important.
It is where that drama heads from there.
And, with 11 more episodes of Brewing Love still to air, there is plenty of time for the K-drama to see much higher ratings.
Especially if the rest of it is as entertaining as Episode 1.
Brewing Love ratings on Viki
Meanwhile, the ENA drama is streaming outside South Korea on Viki where, after its first episode premiered, almost 160 subscribers are currently giving it a very high 9.6 out of 10 rating so far.
Whether that rating will stick we won’t know until further episodes are released.
The Korean romance drama is also streaming on Netflix in South Korea.
Brewing Love stars Kim Se Jeong (Business Proposal), Lee Jong Won (Knight Flower), Shin Do Hyun (Doom at Your Service), and Baek Sung Chul (Tell Me That You Love Me).
Viki describes its plot like this:
Former special forces member turned liquor salesperson Chae Yong Ju (Kim Se Jeong) is her company’s top seller, known for her energetic personality and incredible strength, although she tends to put her own feelings aside to help others.
However, when her company branch is at risk of closing down, Yong Ju is willing to do whatever it takes to keep it open. She decides to recruit Yun Min Ju (Lee Jong Won), an up-and-coming brewmaster who makes incredible beer, but the task is harder than it looks: Min Ju lives a quiet, rural life, keeping to himself to avoid becoming overstimulated by others’ emotions.
Can these two opposites find a way to work together – and will learning how to let each other in lead them to love?
The next episode of Brewing Love airs/streams later on tonight. We’ll keep you posted.
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