Karl Long 2024: Great Leap’s Annual Beer Challenge is Back, Oct 26
Great Leap’s 14th anniversary is coming up which also means it’s time for their annual Karl Long Challenge! Set to take place this Saturday (Oct 26), if you love Great Leap beer and enjoy a bar crawl then this is one event you don’t want to miss!
For those not in the know about who Karl Long is and why there is a challenge named after him, here is the story according to Great Leap:
“Back in 2010, when Great Leap was still in its infancy, Karl Long – who would go on to help manage GLB #12 for a time – showed up to the brewery’s original Doujiao Hutong location. At the time, they only offered eight beers on tap, and Karl elected to try all of them at once. Then he drank them all again!
As the story goes, he got into an argument with a fellow patron who he mistook for Sabrina, of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame, after which he proceeded to remove his shirt and unleash a menacing growl.
Thus the legend of Karl Long and the Karl Long Challenge was born.”
As usual, the rules of the challenge are that competitors need to purchase a Challenge Card (RMB 338 in advance, RMB 358 on the day) and then need to drink 15 beers across Great Leap’s four branches, collecting a stamp on your card for every beer you finish. This year they're turning things back to their original set up with just one Karl Long Challenge (the past two years they've had the classic version and a slightly less boozy version to choose from) so this time around you've got to go hard or go home!
This year, of the 15 beers on the card, 12 beers are pre-selected (see image above) and then three beers you have the freedom to choose (pro-tip: go for the low alcohol percentage beers, you’ll thank us later). Complete your card on the day (Oct 26) then your reward will be a limited edition Great Leap 14-year anniversary t-shirt and (almost certainly) one hell of a hangover!
If drinking 15 years in one day sounds like a recipe for a drunken disaster to you, then there is another option, so don’t worry! The Challenge Card is valid from Oct 21 until Oct 31, so if you prefer to take things easy and just nab yourself 15 beers for a bargain price – these beers would normally set you back RMB 691 – then you can take part that way instead. Complete your card by Oct 31 then you can get a free Great Leap fan and the right to buy a 14 year anniversary t-shirt for RMB 100.
To take part you’ll need to purchase a Challenge Card on the day (Oct 26) from whichever Great Leap branch you want to start at, or you can purchase early bird tickets via their WeChat mini program (search: GreatLeapBrewing大跃啤酒).
The 2024 Karl Long Challenge is taking place across all Great Leap locations on Saturday, Oct 26 from 11am. Early bird tickets are RMB 338 or RMB 358 on the day. The Challenge Card can be via their WeChat mini program (search: GreatLeapBrewing大跃啤酒) or from any Great Leap branch either before the challenge or on the day of at the branch you want to start at.
Great Leap #6
6 Doujiao Hutong, Dianmen Waidajie, Dongcheng District
东城区地安门外大街豆角胡同6号
Phone: 010 6406 0510
Great Leap #12
1/F, Zi Ming Mansion, 12 Xinzhong Jie, Dongcheng District
东城区新中街12号
Phone: 010 6417 0018
Great Leap #45
45-1 Xinyuan Jie, Chaoyang District
大跃啤酒45号新源街店
Phone: 010 5947 6984
Great Leap Lido
Rm 103, Nuo Center, A2 Jiangtai Road, Chaoyang District
朝阳区将台路甲2号诺金中心一层103室
Phone: 010 6434 7221
READ: Part Two: More Spooktacular Halloween Events in the Capital
Images: courtesy of Great Leap
