Jing-A Confirms Permanent Closure of Their Sanlitun 1949 Venue

The beer gods are certainly not on our side as of late, damning us most recently with confirmation that Jing-A's always-packed Sanlitun 1949 "The Hidden City" taproom has indeed met its permanent demise. The announcement came via Jing-A's official WeChat account last night.

The news comes one month after Great Leap Brewing, another behemoth in Beijing's beer scene, was forced to close their #12 taproom due to untenable circumstances with their landlord.

Jing-A started off with a humble 700L brewing facility at The Big Smoke in 2013. As the popularity of their suds began to skyrocket, owners Alex Acker and Kris Li expanded their empire to Courtyard 4, luring throngs of beer lovers with numerous year-round brews, small-batch and seasonal offerings, and several experimental brews and collaboration batches with fellow breweries.

For many loyal Jing-A patrons, the official 1949 death knell won't come as a major shock. That's because the three-year-old taproom had suspended operations at that location since Apr 1. What's more, the once lively courtyard has been in quiet decline for at least a year now, what with renowned restaurant Okra, Duck the Chine, Traitor Zhou’s, and Taverna closing one by one. Jing-A confirmed that the complex's management has pulled out, forcing all of the venues within to shutter.

Even though the ravens were circling, we still held out hope that Jing-A might somehow survive at this popular location. Their WeChat announcement featured similar sentiments of dashed dreams: “When we first suspended operations, we held back on any definitive announcements in the hopes that we could find a way to get the beer flowing there again soon. But with no luck on that front, it's now clear that 京A Taproom in 1949 will remain closed for the foreseeable future. We're sorry to see it gone – we loved hanging out and knocking back pints in the 1949 courtyard more than anyone, and in its 3-plus years it was home to some unforgettable parties. Thank you to the craft beer lovers of Beijing for giving it a great run!”

During our interview with Acker last November, the Jing-A co-founder waxed nostalgic on spending "such a good time during the three years here in the yard," including "Nøgne Ø’s Tasting, the Halloween run, and our brewer’s brunch."

Despite the bad news, fans can still get their fix at Jing-A Xingfucun Brewpub at The Big Smoke's former digs. That revamped location is still running solidly with brews, food, craft cocktails, along with a new three-course brunch set for RMB 108 beginning this weekend. You can also enjoy Jing-A's pop-up beer garden at Damei which opened last weekend and is currently playing host to the World Cup. Hopefully, all of that will help you keep the faith and stay strong, beer lovers. We'll be pouring one out for Jing-A Taproom tonight.

Read Jing-A’s full statement here.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos courtesy of Jing-A