Beer style
Craft Ales and IPAs
精酿jīngniàng
The new generation
- Category
- Craft ales, IPAs, stouts and more
- Home region
- Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou and beyond
精酿 (jīngniàng), 'carefully brewed', is the Chinese word for craft beer. Born in Beijing and Shanghai around 2008–2010, China's craft scene now makes every style, from pale ales and IPAs to stouts and sours, and many brewers experiment with Chinese ingredients.
A young scene
China's craft beer movement began in the big international cities. In Shanghai, Boxing Cat opened in 2008; in Beijing, Great Leap opened in a hutong in 2010, followed by Slow Boat and Jing-A. At first their customers were mostly foreign residents; today craft beer is popular with young Chinese drinkers across the country.
Every style
Chinese craft brewers make the full range of international styles, IPAs, pale ales, stouts, wheat beers and sours, and they increasingly give them a local twist.
A Chinese identity
The most original brewers use ingredients from the Chinese kitchen and garden, such as tea, Sichuan pepper and osmanthus flowers, creating beers that could only come from China.
Where to taste it
In China, look for taprooms in Beijing's hutongs, in Shanghai's former French Concession and in Chengdu's nightlife districts. Craft breweries and bars have also opened in Hangzhou, Guangzhou, Wuhan, Changsha and many other cities.
Ups and downs
The scene has grown fast but not always easily: high costs, imported ingredients and the pandemic years forced some well-known breweries and bars to close, while others grew into national brands. The big brewers have also launched their own IPAs, stouts and wheat beers.
In Europe
Chinese craft beer is still rare outside China. Specialist beer shops and festivals are the best places to look.
Producers
How to serve
In a proper beer glass, at the temperature of the style: cooler for pale ales and wheat beers, slightly warmer for stouts.
Food pairings
- IPAs with spicy Sichuan and Hunan dishes, wheat beers with steamed fish and dim sum, stouts with braised beef and red bean desserts.
Sources
- Craft beer in China: a brief and complete history — The China Project, 2020
- Craft beer is booming in Beijing — Paste Magazine
- Brewed in Beijing — William & Mary, 2016