Booze News: Jing-A Go Skiing, Slow Boat Do Cherry Coffee Festival, Disco for Doggies at Caravan
Feeling thirsty? Wet your whistle with Booze News, our weekly wrap-up of the week's best bar deals, parties, drink concoctions, industry gossip, and more.
Jing-A Go Skiing
Here's a unique way to bid winter adieu: by zipping down the slopes of Chongli, then sipping a few suds at Jing-A. The Xingfucun craft brewers are coordinating their fourth annual ski trip to the popular Hebei ski resort for a weekend of sun-drenched late-season skiing, and of course, "all the Jing-A beer you can drink!" For more information about the trip and how to buy tickets, click here.
If you'd rather take a less ambitious trip, to the brewery, you can now enjoy a fresh batch of Jing-A's hazy New England-style IPA. This dry-hopped brew is fresh and unfiltered, with a fragrant aroma that's part tangerine, peach, guava, and mango. Its ABV is a sturdy 7.6 percent and costs RMB 50 per pint.
Zarah City Forest After Party
If greenery is more your thing than snowy slopes, why not partake in this tree planting event in Tianjin on Mar 23 as part of the warm-up for this year's Yinyang Festival in conjunction with China’s National Tree Planting Day. In the day, some of the festival's DJs, organizers, and fans will head out to Tianjin's Yancheng Park (RMB 100 for transport and lunch), a small-scale city forest with 5,000 trees. Once everyone has worked up a sweat and gotten some dirt under their nails, the party will return to the city and settle at Zarah from 8pm onwards, where DJs Tommy Hendriks, Eva Xu, and Aida, among others will provide the lush soundtrack. What's more: Jing-A will be pouring buy-one-get-one-free Tuhao Gold Pils (330ml) for RMB 35.
Slow Boat Launch Their Stowaway Wit
Aside from launching its new Stowaway Wit beer (an ABV 3.5 percent Belgian-style witbier brewed with Belgian yeast, lemongrass, and roasted coriander for a smooth sipper with low bitterness), Slow Boat will also have a busy weekend at the Mar 23-24 Cherry Coffee Festival. Throughout the festival, the Slow Boat sailors will be pouring pints of their Monkey’s Fist IPA and Ship Eyes Cherry Sour. For more information about the festival, click here.
Caravan Celebrates Four Years Strong
On Friday, Mar 22 Guanghua Lu bistro and bar Caravan celebrates its fourth anniversary by offering a helping hand to our furry four-legged friends. All proceeds from the RMB 100 tickets to their Disco for Doggies anniversary party will go toward covering vet bills for dozens of stray puppies that were recently found at a construction site in southeast Beijing. The Flip Side, who dub themselves as Beijing's only live disco band, and DJ Gulu Bazz will all be on hand to offer the party a throwback soundtrack. Of course, knowing this place, the rum will be flowing throughout. Read more about that in our recent interview with owner Badr Benjelloun.
Beersmith
Bored with IPAs? Then Beersmith has a brew for you. The CBD suds artisans recently launched a creative new 6.2 percent ABV Discovery IPL, as in India Pale Lager. Brewmaster Wilson Hede tells us: "It's in the normal IPA ABV range but brewed with lager yeast, so finishes quite crisp, dry, and bitter as opposed to a bit more chewy and sweet like some IPA’s can be." You can read more about the new brew here.
This city changes fast. Stay up to date with Beijing's latest openings and closings, right here.
Photos: mspmag.com, courtesy of the venues
