Brace Yourself for Beer Week! Slow Boat's New Festival to Be a Citywide Suds Extravaganza

In a change of plan, the suds will flow all over town all week long, leaving Beijingers with ample opportunity to get tipsy. That's right: the Third Annual Autumn Craft Beer Festival is almost upon us, and this time it has expanded from a two-day affair to a sprawling seven-day extravaganza (Sep 23-30) where both local and out of town brews will be available at various venues throughout the city.

The fun starts this Friday (Sep 23) at 7pm at Slow Boat's new south Sanlitun venue. A plethora of pint varieties from all the participating brewers will be available in one convenient spot at this kickoff event for the festival. In a statement the organizers explained that it will feature "brewers from around China ... at Slow Boat’s new brewpub in Sanlitun. One place, one night, 13 breweries. Don’t miss this unique chance to meet and talk to the people that brew the brews you love!"

Slow Boat Brewery co-founder Chandler Jurinka says those features make the festival – especially the September 23 kickoff – a can't miss happening for beer diehards. "You don’t have to be a beer enthusiast to have a good time at the kick-off party, although it doesn’t hurt," he says, adding: "This is the occasion for everyone else to meet the crews that make their favorite beers across China, and give them free hugs and kisses, because these are the guys defining China’s craft beer market – who have been featured on CNN, in The Financial Times, and The New York Times. It’s really nothing more than a ultra-casual gathering of folks that have a common joy: beer. So come grab a pint, some great food, and hang out with a cool bunch of people that you’ll be hearing more about in the future."

Throughout the following week the festival will spread across the city, with various local brewpubs playing host to guest suds on tap from Chinese artisan brewers like Wuhan's Bubble Lab Brewery, Chengdu's Harvest Brewery, Shanghai's Boxing Cat Brewery, and many, many more.

The organizers went on to say that Beer Week will be held at the following locations simultaneously:

1. Slow Boat Brewpub, 6 Nansanlitun Lu
2. Great Leap Brewing, all locations
3. Arrow Factory Brewing (Taproom and Liangmaqiao location)
4. Panda Brewpub, 67 Beixinqiao Toutiao
5. NBeer Pub, 1/F Huguo Xintiandi, Huguosi Jie
6. Jing A (Taproom and at The Big Smoke)

Each of the participating local brewpubs will have booklets on hand outlining the information about all of the breweries participating in the festival, which of their beers will be featuring on tap, and where those varieties of suds will be available around town. Thirsty beer enthusiasts will also find their appetites whetted by the list of attending breweries from both Beijing's and several locales across China:

• 18 Brewery, Wuhan 武汉 18酒馆
• Arrow Factory, Beijing 北京 箭厂啤酒屋
• Boxing Cat Brewery, Shanghai 上海拳击猫
• Bubble Lab Brewery, Wuhan 武汉 气泡实验室
• Chengdu Harvest Brewery, Wuhan 武汉 成都丰收精酿
• Cider Republic, Shanghai 上海 苹果酒共和国
• Great Leap Brewing, Beijing 北京 大跃啤酒
• Jing A Brewing Company, Beijing  北京京A啤酒
• Nanjing Craft Beer Co. (Master Gao), Nanjing 南京 高大师
• NB Craft Brewing Co., Beijing 北京 牛啤堂
• Panda Beer, Beijing 北京 熊猫精酿
• Slow Boat Brewery, Beijing 北京 悠航鲜啤
• Xian Brewery, Shaanxi 仙麦 陕西

There is a RMB 35 set price for the pints from guest taps (Wuhan 18, Chengdu Harvest, Cider Republic, Boxing Cat, Bubble Lab, Xian, and Master Gao).

From that set price for pints (which is an undeniably hot deal), to the sheer number of breweries that are involved, Jurinka says there are plenty of reasons to be excited for this festival. "First and foremost it is a demonstration of how far the Chinese craft beer scene has come in the last several years. We’ve got 13 different breweries and one cidery tapping almost 50 new beers in Beijing over the seven days," he says, before mentioning the biggest incentive of all: "Best of all, rain or shine, they’ll be pouring at six of your favorite brewpubs around Beijing."

This post is sponsored by Slow Boat Brewery. Scan the QR code below to stay up to date on the all boozy details:

Photos courtesy of Slow Boat and participating breweries