What’s Up in Beer: Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival, New Brews, and New Imports

We wish this weekend was every day forever more – an exciting beer fest is around the corner and lots of renowned brewers (and their beards) have traveled many miles to Beijing, there are a plethora of new brews on tap, and the weather looks to be superb.

READ: Your Boozing Guide and Beer List for the Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival, Mar 23-25

Let's start with that first part. As if you didn't know already, this weekend marks Great Leap Brewing’s fourth Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival. There’ll be a whopping 200-plus unique beers encompassing 43 styles from 39 breweries at the three-day, five-session event this weekend (Mar 23-25) at TRB Copper. RMB 200 will get you the entry to one session, or a weekend pass costs RMB 550. Tickets for the deluxe RMB 980 package for entry to all five sessions and the Brewer’s Brunch have now sold out, so you might want to get your session tickets sooner rather than later. You can also download the full list of beers here so as to make a best plan of attack strategy before things get a little hazy.

Over at Arrow Factory, the team will launch a new beer that you will want to roar with. Their Rrrrrrraspberry Sour (count those r's!) has a 5.1 percent ABV and was brewed using pediococcus and lactobacillus yeasts and oxidized hops as well as fresh raspberries. This gueuze beer (a type of lambic) has a smooth body, a sour entry, and a sweet finish.

Also, on Saturday their Imperial Pilgrim’s Amber Ale will be buy-one-get-one-free at their Liangma River location. At a boozy 7.3 percent ABV this brew was dry-hopped with Mandarina Bavaria and Amarillo hops, and will go down nicely in the sun.

After releasing a tasty collab with NBeer Chun Pear Saison two weeks ago, Jing-A now put two new brews on tap: Culture Clash, a modern take on a Belgian Pale Ale and brewed with wild yeast Brett and then dry-hopped with a blend of old-world and new-world hops to provide tangerine and tropical fruit aromas with a grassy base; and Lychee Xanadu, the latest addition to their Xanadu series, which has been infused with juicy Chinese lychee for a tart and sparkling semi-sweet finish.

Not to be outdone, NBeer Pub have also released two beers: Rose Bed Amber Ale (5.5 percent ABV), infused with rose, giving it a light red hue, and featuring biscuit and caramel notes; and Hazard Imperial Stout, a collaboration with Juan Cerejio, owner and brewer from Spanish brewery Cerveza Mica. On draft and in limited bottles, the strong Hazard (10 percent ABV) has smooth foamy head and roasted malt and coffee notes on the nose.

Over at the small beer tavern Deal Beer near Fangjia Hutong, they've stocked some new imported beers, including Intergalactic Juice Hunter Imperial IPA from Odd13 Brewing; I Would Go IPA, HogWild IPA, Devils Tramping Ground Tripel, Crackpot Pils, and Wide Open Red Irish Red Ale from Aviator Brewing; and Red Velvet Nitro from Ballast Point.

And with that, we return to counting down the hours before the kegs are tapped and the fun begins. If we don't see you at TRB Copper, have a great weekend and revel in the sunshine.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Images courtesy of the organizers