This Fruity Beer from Shangri-La is a Real Beauty

By Ryan Gandolfo, June 24, 2019

1 0

Beer of the Month’ is a regular series where our editors sample a unique craft beer. This month, our Guangzhou editorial team sampled Shangri-La Highland Brewery’s Fat Dolma double bock wheat beer!

Our friends from Yunnan know a thing or two about brewing high-quality craft beers. 

The Shangri-La Highland Craft Brewery, which claims to be the largest independent brewery in the PRC, is located on the legendary Tibetan Plateau. Hailed as the ‘water tower of Asia,’ the region offers some of the cleanest, brewer-friendly water in all of Asia.

Admittedly excited about sampling some smallish-batch suds from the ‘Roof of the World,’ we ordered a selection of Shangri-La Brewery’s grain-based beverages from Taobao. When they arrived, we promptly cracked open a bottle of Fat Dolma double bock wheat beer (second from the left), which took our taste buds on a wild and flavorful ride to the Himalayas. Named after an overweight Tibetan woman called Dolma (we think...), who presumably resides somewhere in China’s Tibetan region, the brew comes in dark, 330-mililiter bottles adorned with a colorful label featuring a multi-armed woman (Dolma?) rising from a blooming flower. 

beer.jpg
Image by Ryan Gandolfo/That’s

At 8.2% ABV, Fat Dolma is a golden-colored beer that boasts a malt and honey aroma and succeeds at being both heavy-hitting and smooth at the same time. Capped off with a sweetish aftertaste, thanks in large part to the hints of banana and mango, Fat Dolma is a real beauty of a beer and highly sessionable.

The bronze-medal winner at the 2016 China Beer Awards, this beverage is definitely one to share with your beer-drinking friends and family, and can be best enjoyed at a summer barbecue on that ‘off-limits’ rooftop you frequent. 

Fat Dolma double bock wheat beer is available on Taobao for RMB114 (6-pack).

Click here to read more ‘Beer of the Month’ columns.

[Cover image by Ryan Gandolfo/That’s]

more news

Fancy a Pint? Beijing's Hand Pumped Cask Beer Brewery

How one UK brewer plans for Beijing to embrace English beer.

Craft Beer Haven Commune Reserve Expands to Lujiazui

For craft beer nerds and noobs alike

BrewDog Shanghai: Beer From the People, For the People

A sit down with BrewDog big dog, Shanghai GM Gabriel Wang.

Goose Island Hops Farm Harvest Kicks Off Here in Shanghai

Check out Goose Island's Hops Farm here in Shanghai

Mona Opens In Fotografiska, Integrating Art Through Food

Encouraging guests to experience the unexpected

Shanghai Food & Drink Gossip: July 2024

Your monthly serving of tasty F&B gossip tidbits

0 User Comments

In Case You Missed It…

We're on WeChat!

Scan our QR Code at right or follow us at Thats_Shanghai for events, guides, giveaways and much more!

7 Days in Shanghai With thatsmags.com

Weekly updates to your email inbox every Wednesday

Download previous issues

Never miss an issue of That's Shanghai!

Visit the archives