As my friend put it, a "beer crisis vortex"

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StophJS

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Hey all. It's been a little while since I've posted, because I took a job offer to go teach English in a city called Jinhua, in the Zhejiang province of China. Everything's been going great, but there is one major problem. There is literally no good beer out here to speak of. IPAs? No. Stouts? No. The only beer the Chinese appear to be aware of is the pale lager made from rice. The worst part of it is, the lagers all taste the same and are literally marked as being "at least 2.5% ABV". Well actually, the worst part it is probably that it's driven me to drink bottle after bottle of bai-jiu, which is basically a rice liquor that's about 55% abv and 8 RMB, or $1.25 per half liter. Does anyone who's been to China have any idea where to track down some decent brews??
 
The craft brewing scene in China is just now catching some speed. You have to look for it, and it is isolated to the major cities: Bejing, Honk Kong, etc...

I am not sure if you'll find it where you are but there is a fantastic stout that is made in Singapore called ABC Stout. I had it at a restaurant in Bejing a couple years ago.
 
Your best bet would be to try to assist in abolishing communism first. There will never be a good brew while the government has the final say in all of their manufacturing processes.
 
The craft brewing scene in China is just now catching some speed. You have to look for it, and it is isolated to the major cities: Bejing, Honk Kong, etc...

I am not sure if you'll find it where you are but there is a fantastic stout that is made in Singapore called ABC Stout. I had it at a restaurant in Bejing a couple years ago.

Thanks for the tips. Actually I've sort of been pondering the possibility of opening a Western style micro-brewery in an affluent area in China. Just a thought and definitely risky, but it would be cool to help bring good beer to the country and make a business out of it. I'll keep an eye out for that ABC stout. I do have to go to Hong Kong for my work visa in a few weeks.

Your best bet would be to try to assist in abolishing communism first. There will never be a good brew while the government has the final say in all of their manufacturing processes.

Believe me, I would love to abolish communism here. Even though it's not really communism per se. It's like a communist political system that wants to reap the benefits of capitalism, but still call itself communist so Mao doesn't roll over in his grave.
 
When I was in Shanghai they had tons of good beers, belgians, ipa's, stouts, etc. I even had dinner at a local brewpub.
 

Wow that's an awesome link, thanks!

When I was in Shanghai they had tons of good beers, belgians, ipa's, stouts, etc. I even had dinner at a local brewpub.

Really? Wow I was in Shanghai a couple years back and never came across anything. I didn't really go to a whole lot of bars though. Jinhua seems totally dry, but maybe I just haven't found the right pubs.
 
Try some moutai when you're over there. I've had a shot of it once, tasted like fermented gasoline, and burned just about as bad. For some reason the Chinese guys love it though apparently.
 
Moutai is actually a type of bai jiu. It's amazing how diverse the flavor of different bai jiu's can be though. I've definitely had some that tasted like rubbing alcohol, and some that tasted exactly like urine smells.
 
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