Booze News: Beijing Gets International With a Japanese Beer Festival and an Italian Wine Tasting

Thirsty? Wet your whistle with Booze News, our wrap-up of the week's best bar deals, parties, drink concoctions, industry gossip, and more.

Italian wine tasting at The Hutong

Those looking for something less wince-inducing may want to head over to The Hutong on Friday night for an Italian wine tasting starting at 7pm. For RMB 350, attended will get five glasses of Italian wine, finger food, and entry into a lucky draw. Host Mauri from Venice, a member of the Italian Sommelier Association (AIS), will guide you through what you're tasting so that you can better understand the characteristics and peculiarities of each grape variety. Find out more and buy tickets here.

Japanese beer festival at China New World

At China World Summit Wing's Secret Garden, they're beating the heat with a Japanese-themed beer festival. Dubbed "otsukare," the equivalent of "辛苦你" in Chinese or "good job!" in English, the three-day festival runs Aug 7-9, 4-10pm, and offers a range of specials on everything from bento boxes to Asahi beer towers and Japanese cocktails to sushi. DJ Meisui will keep people hopping up and down while women who wear a traditional yukata dress to the event will be gifted a glass of sparkling sake.

Guest bartender at new restaurant and jazz bar Étoile

On Friday, Aug 7, the new Groupe Flo-run restaurant and jazz bar Étoile in China World Mall will welcome their first guest bartender, Alex Custeau. Head over between 7-10pm and enjoy views over CBD while listening to live jazz and sipping on drinks from Custeau, spirits manager at the Shanghai-based China Wines and Spirits mixologist. Étoile is located on the sixth floor of the North Building in the China New World Mall. Keep an eye for the grand opening in a couple of weeks.

New brews

Finally, we end with a couple of new brews from the regular brewery set. Over at Slow Boat, they've just released their Wheat Overlord (11.2 percent ABV), a take on wheat wine (basically barley wine with half of the barley subbed for wheat). For that reason, expect big, bold flavors courtesy of Norwegian Kveik yeast and honey and aging on oak cubes. As the brewers put it, "This formidable beer is creamy smooth orange on the palate with strong hints of honey and oak. Boozy dreamsicle realness."

Meanwhile, over at Jing-A they're embracing the chaos with their Change of Plans IPA, an ode to never knowing what the world may throw at you in 2020. Described as "A quick-thinking IPA for these unpredictable times," is it "brewed with a combination of Hallertau Blanc, Cascade, and Nelson Sauvin hops ... with bright notes of white wine grapes leading to zesty fruit notes, and closing with an earthy hop bitterness." This one's available on tap and in cans now. Read more about its painful origins here.

READ: Shake Shack Grand Opening Announced for Aug 12

Images: Kim Ellis (via Unsplash), The Manual, Thyle Jane (via Unsplash), courtesy of the organizers