Booze News: Glou Closes, Cold Weather Drinks, Halloween Brews

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

Sanlitun bar Glou calls it quits

Beginning with some sad news, Glou, one of the Central Park area's newest restaurant bars, has closed its doors as of Wednesday. The venue, along with a host of other spots which shared the first floor of the same building, had long suffered complaints from upstairs residents who wanted them out.

Caving to the pressure, Glou was on the lookout for some new digs but when that became too difficult, they decided to call it quits and put the search on the backburner for the time being. In the meantime, you can still try some of the fantastic beers they had on tap via Drinking Buddies (WeChat: 啤友汇Drinking Buddies), a beer delivery and tasting program run by the folks who operate Glou.

Cold-weather drinks return to nugget café

The capital is cooling off fast, so that means cold-weather beverages are back at nugget café. The menu sees the return of classics like mulled wine, as well as the café’s take on Irish coffee and a hot toddy, dubbed the Cork Coffee and nugget Toddy, respectively.

There’s another original on the list called Sweater Weather, a decadent sour tipple featuring bourbon and caramel liqueur combined with apple juice, lemon juice, cream, and cinnamon. All cocktails are RMB 65 each.

Beersmith debuts autumn-themed brews

CBD-based gastropub Beersmith is churning out two limited-release beers for autumn. The first, Phantom of the HOPera (pictured below), is a rich British-style golden ale made in partnership with the British Ball which sees specialty malt from the UK combined with New World hops for a bit of bite.

And, although we’re not fans of pumpkin spice, we’re not so low that we’ll jump on the bash-it bandwagon. Hence, we’re willing to give this next brew a try. Beersmith’s Pumpkin Spice Ale is a mix of earthy hops and four complex malts combined with pumpkin pie spices – nutmeg, ginger, clove, and cinnamon – for a drink that’s great both on Halloween night or well into November.

Dia de Los Muertos at Las Musas

This weekend is pretty jam-packed with Halloween stuff, but for those in search of something not so Halloween-y – or are just in search of pre-Halloween party grub – there’s Dia de Los Muertos at Sanlitun Mexican joint Las Musas.

Enjoy RMB 15 tequila shots, BOGO Slow Boat beers and BOGO classic margaritas, all of which, in our humble opinion, make for a winning combination when paired with their bomb tacos and burritos.

Crafters tap takeover at Peiping Machine

Under-the-radar beer purveyors Crafters are taking over six taps at Fangjia Hutong’s Peiping Machine on Oct 29 and Oct 30. Head on over to try brews like the Tiny Gangster American Pale Ale, Bubble in the Head Double IPA, Ankle-Biter New England IPA, and newbies like their Raspberry Burst NE IPA.

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Images courtesy of the venues