Beer region
Beijing
北京Běijīng
The capital of Chinese craft beer
- Breweries
- Yanjing, Great Leap, Jing-A, Slow Boat, Panda Brew
Beijing is the birthplace of China's craft beer revolution. Until 2010 the capital had no craft breweries at all; then Great Leap opened in a hutong, followed by Slow Boat and Jing-A, and the city became the incubator of China's craft beer scene. It is also home to Yanjing, the lager served at state banquets in the Great Hall of the People, and it is surrounded by wine country: the vineyards of Huailai, in Hebei, are only an hour or two away.
Yanjing
Beijing Yanjing Brewery was founded in 1980 and became one of China's biggest beer companies. In 1995 Yanjing Beer was designated the official beer of state banquets in the Great Hall of the People.
The craft beer revolution
In 2010 two Americans, Carl Setzer and Dane Vanden Berg, opened Great Leap Brewing in Doujiao Hutong: Beijing's first craft brewery. Slow Boat followed in 2011, founded by Daniel Hebert and Chandler Jurinka, and Jing-A in 2012, started by Alex Acker and Kristian Li as a homebrewing project. These breweries put Chinese ingredients into beer, from Sichuan peppercorn and oolong tea to osmanthus flowers and hawthorn, and made Beijing the centre of a scene that has since spread across China.
Wine near the capital
Changyu's Château Changyu Afip is near Beijing, and its A8 Chardonnay has won a Platinum medal at the Decanter World Wine Awards. Just across the border in Hebei, Huailai, home of Domaine Franco-Chinois and Canaan Winery, is the easiest wine region to visit from the capital.
History
1980
Beijing Yanjing Brewery is founded.
1995
Yanjing Beer becomes the official beer of state banquets in the Great Hall of the People.
2010
Great Leap Brewing opens in Doujiao Hutong, Beijing's first craft brewery.
2011
Slow Boat Brewery is founded.
2012
Jing-A brews its first beer, an IPA called 'Hoppy New Year'.
Producers
Visit
Beijing's craft breweries and taprooms, many in the hutong alleyways and around Sanlitun, are the easiest way to taste the new Chinese beer. For wine, Huailai's estates are one to two hours away by road or high-speed train.
Breweries and taprooms change quickly: check opening hours before you go.
Sources
- Craft beer in China: a brief and complete history — The China Project, 2020
- Craft beer is booming in Beijing — Paste Magazine
- Beer in China — Shanghai Information Office
- Ten years on: Chinese wine's breakthrough moment at DWWA — Decanter, 2021
- Beyond Ningxia: Why Hebei deserves a closer look for Chinese wine — Vino Joy News, 2026