China is a nation of beer lovers – pure and simple. This country drinks a higher quantity of beer than anyone else and Snow is the world’s biggest selling brand. But that’s mass-produced lager – the craft beer industry is still very much in its infancy.
“That’s our aim with this festival,” says Chandler Jurinka, founder of Slow Boat Brewery and driving force behind October’s festival, the first his team has organized in Beijing. “We’re hoping it will add value to the market, as Beijing and China-based brewers are looking to establish themselves. As brewers, we need to work closer together and this festival will aid that.” But that’s only one side of it. “The vast majority of beer drinkers in China think in very simple terms. This festival and its 50 beers will be introducing craft beer to a new generation of drinkers.”
Over October 10 and 11, (the traditional harvest season and a great time of year for brewers) the festival hopes to attract over 5,000 ale enthusiasts through its doors, with 12 independent breweries from all over China, food supplied by nine independent chefs and kitchens (see below), and music provided by local bands and DJs. But Jurinka adds that it’s more than just a garden party – it’s a celebration of entrepreneurial spirit.
“We want the focus to be on China so we’re only bringing in China-based brewers. This won’t be like festivals abroad where you have 700 different beers. I know all these guys; we’ve bootstrapped these businesses ourselves and we’ve bitched about the same employment problems. For us, every time a new beer comes out the tank it’s like Christmas. If you look at the festival that way, this is like Christmas times twelve.”
But as Jurinka himself admits, most of these companies were set up by foreigners and only 40 percent of visitors are expected to be Chinese. Can it compete with lager culture? “Accompaniment of food is part and parcel of Chinese drinking culture and the Snows and Tsingtaos suit that. But 40 percent of women in northern China drink beer – a huge number. Most locals that come into our taproom claim they don’t like bitter but they love the IPAs. They simply haven’t been baptized into it – in the same way we drank mass-market lager when we were young and thought ‘This is crap!’ but then later tried craft beer and found something more interesting. But at the festival there’ll be a beer for everyone and heads will be swimming with all sorts of different flavors that they didn’t even know existed before.”
Disparity in cost between a humble 3.2 percent Shandong lager and an American-style imperial IPA might deter some, but the Slow Boat captain argues his case: “Craft beer is a labor intensive process; we use the highest quality malts, and hard-to-source ingredients. And all that yeast – it’s so much healthier than the mass-produced stuff; we never use chemicals. But above all: the flavor. There’ll be something for everyone at this festival and the chance to try something you can’t get anywhere else in the world.”
For the uninitiated, then, some words of advice: “Drink the least bitter beers (like IPAs) last, as they can destroy the palette. Always check the ABV, anything above 8 percent is very strong so don’t go downing it like water. And above all, don’t rock up with a bottle of Yanjing.”
> Slow Boat's Autumn Craft Beer Festival takes place Friday and Saturday, October 10th & 11th at the grounds between the EAST Hotel and Indigo Mall. Friday session is 5pm-10pm; Saturday 12pm-10pm, free to enter.
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