The Drinks. Jing-A is known for its range of specialty beer infused with local characteristics, such as the brewery’s popular summer tipple, the Big Slice Watermelon, made with watermelons from Daxing District in the far south of Beijing.
The Man. Bar Manager and all around nice guy Justin Alters started working at Jing-A more-or-less by accident: “I don’t really have any past experience in the craft beer world – well, unless you count drinking as experience,” he tells us with a chuckle.
“You know, I studied Chinese at school, spent hundreds of thousands of dollars on my education, but all I had to show for it was that I could sort of read the classics – actually, I totally can’t. So I came out here, did the English teacher thing for a month, worked as copywriter at an e-commerce company for a while, before a friend recommended I get involved with Jing-A around nine months ago.” It was love at first sight.
Tasting Notes. So, is Justin qualified to talk about the beers? “I don’t know man! [Laughs] I’m learning all the time, but you know, I’m not a brewer, I’m a bar manager. I’m more comfortable talking about my favorite beers, which right now are the Flying Fist and the Black Velvet Vanilla Bourbon Stout. The stout is a real collaborative effort in terms of the ingredients we use, and that’s one of the things that I believe really sets Jing-A apart: our commitment to using local ingredients and our willingness to go that extra mile.”
Style. What can customers expect when they arrive at the taproom? “Big warm smiles man! [laughs] And plenty of samples, let people try the different beers, get a sense of what they like and what they don’t. That’s a big part of our brand. I want to encourage people to experiment, to try new things, I mean, that’s the fun part, right?”
Jing A, Building B, 1949 The Hidden City, Courtyard 4, Gongti Bei Lu, Chaoyang 朝阳区工体北路4号院1949会所内 (65018883). See listing for details.
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