Markus Lordt’s deerskin leather shorts are older than he is. In fact, given that they’ve been around for over 100 years, they’re older than almost everything else in Gongti.
“They came from my grandfather, to my father, and then to me,” explains Drei Kronen 1308’s general manager over a gigantic stein of his brewer’s Oktoberfest beer. “When my son is born, I’ll give them to him. These are the traditions of Munich.”
Few, if any, places in China carry on these traditions quite like DK1308. Staff members dressed in dirndl dresses and lederhosen (all of which are significantly newer than Lordt’s shorts) carry steins of German beer between tables. Pretzel stands and plates of wurst pile up atop the blue and white checkers of Bavaria.
“We teach our staff how to wear the clothes in the right way. But it’s the tradition of the beer that’s more important,” Lordt explains. “We brew according to the German purity law of 1516 and there are no chemicals – none. Of course, we use chemicals to clean the tanks and the pipes, but that’s it. The rest is just water, hops, malt and yeast.”
In a city that is becoming saturated with small-batch brews and Sichuan pepper infusions, there’s something refreshing about DK1308’s straightforward approach. Using ingredients imported from Germany, the brauhaus only has three beers permanently on tap – a lager, a dark beer and an aromatic wheat beer, the most consistent best-seller.
“Anything with fruit flavors or added ingredients that taste like cherries or bananas – even if they’re made without chemicals… Let’s just say that when I drink this kind of beer, the next day I feel very, very bad,” says Lordt, who has been in China for over a decade. “I’m a purist. Give me a German beer and I’m a happy guy.
“Those craft beer guys in Beijing, Shanghai and other places – they do a great job. I know some of them and they’re great guys, but they’re not competitors to us. What we do is really different.”
Nonetheless, the Munich-born Lordt is keen for the city’s craft beer enthusiasts to pay him a visit. In fact, as well as making DK1308’s three classics, brewmaster Andreas Roehrl (whose family developed the recipes over 300 years ago) also produces four seasonal specials throughout the year – and next up is a Bavarian Red Ale. While staying within the bounds of that all-important German purity law, Lordt is confident that the result will be something quite different from the American-style IPAs found elsewhere in the city.
“We’ll use special hops from Germany, and it will be ready around the 15th to 18th of October,” he reveals. “This will be a totally different ale to those made by the other brewers. The colors come from natural products – we don’t need other things to make it fruity. I hope a lot of American and English guys come down to try it!”
Drei Kronen 1308, see Listings for details
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