What’s Up in Beer: Jing-A 1949 Closure; GLB, Hisewel, and iBrew’s New Brews on Tap; El Nido at the Other Place

We greet this weekend with some sad news: the confirmed permanent closure of the Jing-A Taproom in 1949. Having brought happiness to beer drinkers for over three years, the team announced that their beloved first venue would not be making a reappearance following their unexpected closure in early April. Read more about that here. Meanwhile, some good news to balance out the bad: Beijing's craft beer landscape may soon be expanding following rumors that Boxing Cat is working on launching their first brick and mortar location in Xinyuanli. This will be the Shanghai brand's second foray into the city after their Sanlitun pop-up which came and went late last year.

Despite the bad news, Jing-A is powering through, launching their annual Canadian-themed beer: Jing-Eh? Golden Maple Coffee Stout on tap from today. Unlike last year's edition (a maple syrup-doused saison), they've lightened this edition up with maple and coffee beans as an ode to Canada Day. The result is a 5.5 percent ABV stout with a sunny golden hue and roasted coffee notes, making it the perfect sipper for a breakfast of Cannuck champions: mountains of bacon atop and a hillock of maple-glazed donuts.

Great Leap Brewing have also released their newest brew: The Reckless General IPA. This IPA takes inspiration from the legendary Chinese general Zhang Fei, who fought alongside Liu Bei during the Three Kingdoms Period (三国) and was heralded for his victorious battles. Featuring a generous helping of Centennial hops, this 6.6 percent ABV brew has strong citrusy notes both on the nose and tongue, and a light residual bitterness. Grab it now at both GLB locations for RMB 45.

We cried a bucket-load when El Nido closed last September, but finally, Xiao Shuai and his team return to The Other Place's digs just off of Beiluogu Xiang (1 Langjia Hutong). So far, their beer offerings include Red IPA, White Buffalo White Coffee Stout, Cherry Saison from Black Market, Best Coast from Drake’s, Wee Heavy and Imperiume Porter from Kees, and Beer Bera. Make sure to stop by and crack one for their merry return this weekend.

Hisewel, Wangjing's newest brewpub addition, has a new citrusy IPA on tap as well as a co-brew saison simply called Meet. The latter was infused with berries so as to give it a splash of summery goodness. There's also a hefty imperial IPA (8.9 percent ABV and 90 IBU), featuring warming alcohol notes to balance out the softer notes of the hops. Their opening buy-one-get-one-free deal is set to continue until the end of July, luring the non-Wangjingers among us out to the capital's northeast.

Finally, our old friend iBrew is back just in time to cool us down, with Brandon Fisher’s popular ciders returning to taps at Paddy O’Shea’s and Ram in 798 Art District. This apple cider with 6 percent ABV is tart, crisp, and clear, and packs a little residual sweetness to accommodate the tang i.e. the perfect tipple for summertime day-drinking.

And with that, it's off to the pub! Have a good one, Beijing.

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
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Photos courtesy of venues, Tracy