Hello From China

[chinahopped]

Hello all,


I am a homebrewer who has lived for seas and continues to brew despite of location and goverment interference ..


Cheers

Chinahopper

 

[Gnomebrewer]

Hello chinahopped. Welcome to the site. What do you brew - kits, extract, partial, all-grain? What Government interference is there with homebrewing in China?

 

[Dirt_McGirt]

Welcome! Always interested to hear about the experiences of those trying to homebrew in other countries.

 

[chinahopped]

I was living in Turkmenistan for the last 2 years, that was fun but the government had a strickt policy about making "hooch" it was an old soviet country/ new age Muslim. Great Country, I had to carry all my kits in. In the states I was all grain, but due to weight I switch to DME, which saved me a ton of weight. I found all the materials to brew in country and pieced everything together. I was even able to fine a decent regulator and Co2, and with the help of some cool old Russian guys make a kegerator. Now I live in China and its more open here and went back to all-grain. I still cant find very good grain locally so i have to make Runs to Hong Kong and carry over 100LBS of 2row at a time.

 

[chinahopped]

In china none, in old post tons

 

[FatDragon]

Welcome to HBT from a fellow expat homebrewer in the Middle Kingdom!

You can get Weyermann and Castle grains from a few different Taobao sellers, and odds are if you're in a big city there's probably at least one brewpub by now where you may or may not be able to buy some of their bulk grain or tack a few bags onto their next order if you make friends with them. However, I have also never had any issues with the standard "Aussie 2-row" from most Taobao sellers; pppg is about 1.031 so it takes more grain to reach your intended OG, and it's a bit hazy in the kettle and doesn't quite have the character to make a nice SMaSH, but you can still make great beer with it.

 

[GQT]

It's a huge underestimation to say home/craftbrewing is none in China. And dragging 100lbs from HK? Huhh, they get it delivered to your door in China cheaper and faster.
China is no homebrewing heaven and probably will never be but there is still some life on Mars. Quite some.

 

[chinahopped]

Totally agree with you too i have some great resources here for ingredients although I don't always like asking for stuff from other people The taobao thing works ok but I don't mind making a day trip to Hong Kong. China is way easier than the other place for brewing and craft beer is moving in the right direction here.

 

[Cyclman]

Welcome to the group, from Colorado

 

[GQT]

day trip to Hong Kong

Then where are you, if a day trip to HK is that easy?
(BTW, I checked some time back, and whatever beer supplies in HK were way, way more expensive than in the mainland. You might know something I don't!)

 

[chinahopped]

Shenzhen

 

[FatDragon]

Shenzhen

Makes a day trip to HK much easier and cheaper than it is for most of us, to be sure, but after the PITA that was carting a 50 kg sack of grain from the 德邦 freight office four kilometers from my apartment, I can't even imagine how troublesome it would be humping that same bag between cities. To each his own, though - I know I still jump through unnecessary hurdles all the time here to save a buck or a bit of trouble.

 

[chinahopped]

oh i hire a driver to take me to and from it adds a hundred bucks to my total cost but its door to door and its not terrible then.. and going over the boarder they dont say anything. Its quite easy just takes a half a day. and saving more? ehh, better product is what i was aiming at.

 

[Quaker]

Welcome. I lived in Changzhou and then Shanghai. Between 2010 and 2013. I brought in extract kits while in Changzhou thanks to bimonthly trips stateside, and brewed monthly. Once in Shanghai I went all grain and kegged and brewed every 2 weeks due to no other hobbies at hand there. I brought in specialty grains, hops and yeasts and bought base grain sacks from a local expat brewpub Brewer. So I was a little spoiled while I was there. I loved my adventures there, but I love being back home.

 

[GQT]

I'm in GZ and trips to HK would be nearly as easy but prices in HK are ridiculous no matter difference in quality (if any).
I might be asking in wrong places though. Whatever.

 

[FatDragon]

I'm in GZ and trips to HK would be nearly as easy but prices in HK are ridiculous no matter difference in quality (if any).
I might be asking in wrong places though. Whatever.

I feel the same way, but if he wants to go to HK and doesn't mind the time and expense, sure.

What grains do you use and where do you source them? I've typically stuck with the Aussie 2-row for base with the occasional order of a Weyermann or Castle base malt for a beer or two from PC or one of the other taobao shops, but they tend to have infuriatingly low stock of imported base malts. I finally killed my most recent 50kg bag of Aussie 2-row and picked up a full bag of Castle Pils and about 2/3 of a bag of their Vienna at cost (still over twice the price of the Aussie malt, though) from a buddy who runs a brewpub across town. If the beer's significantly better I'll be sticking with this stuff, but if the differences are minimal I might just get another 50kg bag of the Aussie stuff next time I'm in need - ~6元 a kilo after shipping is a pretty killer deal for grain even if the PPPG is a bit lower than the real imported stuff.

 

[GQT]

~6元

I seldom look any farther than taobao, and don't forget, I only started brewing last fall. I also keep trying following a good advice which is, don't run after exotic adjuncts and spices, combine what you have at hand. Sure enough, I am not advocating brewing primitivism but, errr.... let me see what I actually do have at hand right now.

PILSNER 2 ROW
PALE ALE 2 ROW
MUNICH MALT
CHRYSTAL 60L 150EBC
CARARED
CARAAMBER
CARAAROMA
CARAMUNICH 3
CARAFA III
CARAMEL MALT 20L
CARAMEL MALT 60L
SPECIAL Weyermann
and
EXTRA SPECIAL MALT (no idea in which way they are special, but hope to know it in a month or two)
CHOCOLATE MALT

I feel like I'd get a few kg of Vienna but even if not I'm pretty much comfortable. All this came from different shops at tb; some of them feeling like monopolists, some more flexible - but chances are there are going to be more in a year time.
I just don't feel that much forced to go to HK for grain.
Besides, dragging bags of grain cross the border, you know, I don't wish getting into all those talks about quarantine formalities (technically grain is a restricted commodity and has to be reported)... I did have a few clashes with the customs there at DaLu/HK border, I won most of them but it is a huge waste of time and nerve. I simply don't see any grain being worth the mess.

 

[chinahopped]

What site on taobao are you using? Manpigo? And I can't get taobao to work, rather stupid Alipay to work.. Any advice? Sounds like don't need to do boarder runs but need to figure out taobao.. Good advice

 

[FatDragon]

What site on taobao are you using? Manpigo? And I can't get taobao to work, rather stupid Alipay to work.. Any advice? Sounds like don't need to do boarder runs but need to figure out taobao.. Good advice

I've had the same issue setting up Alipay accounts for at least three fellow foreigners, maybe it's the one you're experiencing. When you sign up, it asks for your location. Naturally, you're in China, so you choose China. You have just screwed that account permanently. Even though in Chinese and English both it says "Location", what it means is your home country. If you choose "China", the account can never be verified without a Chinese ID number, which you don't have as a foreigner. Furthermore, Alipay has no procedures in place to reverse that decision - once you have chosen "China" and clicked to the next page, that account can never be reassigned to another country, and since you don't have an ID number it can never be fully set up either.

If that's the problem you've been battling, create a new Alipay account with the "Location" field set to your country of citizenship, at which point you will be able to verify the account with your passport number and everything should be fine from there. As for using your Alipay account once it's set up, you basically have three options: get an online banking account with your Chinese bank and use that to transfer money into your Alipay account (which can be a pain because the online banking websites and software don't typically work all that well), get someone to transfer money from their account into your account, or link your bank card. I transferred money with online banking accounts for years, but it was a headache almost every time. I finally linked my bank card a month ago and life's just that much easier now. I can't guarantee that it's secure, but I've never heard of anyone losing anything as a result of linking their card, so that's the route I finally decided to take.

As for Taobao shops, I typically use these two:
https://manpinpijiu.taobao.com/shop...9.1997989141.d4915209.TgudkL&shop_id=71933145

https://pchomebrew.taobao.com/shop/....1997989141.d4915209.TgudkL&shop_id=107650958

The first, Manpin, is mostly domestic stuff and repackaged bulk hops. You can even get Fermentis yeast in repackaged envelopes from a bulk bag, which I like to do because it's quite a bit cheaper and I've never had a problem with bad yeast from them.

The second, PC's Homebrew, sells a lot more imported stuff, and a lot of their hops are Hopunion one-ounce packages. I've typically just bought imported grains from PC, but I pick up other stuff occasionally.

Note that PC is on vacation from today until February 26th for the New Year, and Manpin will be doing the same thing from 1/27 to 2/18. I've also used a couple other shops once or twice, linked below. No complaints about either of them, Sisters is a very solid shop (I might need to start shopping there more often, really, note they're also on vacation as of today, not sure when they come back), and todd222 has some basic stuff that you don't always find at the other shops.

https://homebrew8.taobao.com/shop/view_shop.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.VxGo7U&user_number_id=97137245

https://shop70763528.taobao.com/shop/view_shop.htm?spm=a1z09.2.0.0.VxGo7U&user_number_id=119141306

@GQT - Just brewed an all-Vienna pale ale on Saturday. The wort sample tasted excellent. It's a great grain.

 

[GQT]

Alipay.... Sisters.... all-Vienna

1 - Another fast, short and efficient way of setting up a perfectly working Alipay account is marrying a Chinese. I tried, it works.
2 - What is Sisters? Homebrew8? or which one?
3 - Where did you buy Vienna? I got pretty much stocked but might buy some to try.

 

[FatDragon]

1 - Another fast, short and efficient way of setting up a perfectly working Alipay account is marrying a Chinese. I tried, it works.
2 - What is Sisters? Homebrew8? or which one?
3 - Where did you buy Vienna? I got pretty much stocked but might buy some to try.

1 - My wife (pre-girlfriend era) helped me make my first Taobao purchase, by which I mean she tried to help and I ended up doing everything myself anyway. She may be the native speaker in our relationship, and she's not internet-stupid, but whenever I ask for her help with something on the Chinese internet I end up doing all the work anyway.
2 - Yeah, Homebrew8. It's 多姐自酿啤用品店 - Many Sisters Homebrewing Beer Goods Shop (crappy direct translation). I think the packaging for the grains said something like "Sisters Homebrew Shop". I didn't even notice the Homebrew8 in the link until you mentioned it.
3 - I've only used it twice so far - the first batch, a couple years ago, I bought the grain from PC. Now I've got half a sack I bought from a buddy who runs a brewpub across town, and I can buy more by tacking bags onto his order next time he makes a grain buy. Online, at least PC and Sisters have it - Weyermann for 8/500g at PC and Briess for 11.5/500g at Sisters.

 

[GQT]

Chinese internet

All I needed from Meine Frau was to set up an acct, so I could skip all this mess with IDs and alike. Sure from that point on I took over.
Huhh, Sisters they are Never gave myself a trouble to read into what they call themselves.
You keg or bottle, by the way? - just out of curiosity. I am dramatically short of space in our flat, and just have no idea where I could put a chest fridge/-zer for kegs. Damn, it kills me, really. Kitchen is no way, I'm seriously considering master bathroom... guest bathroom is taken by brewery, anyway, and officially decommissioned as a crapper. But it's simply nowhere else. It looks ridiculous to put it in the living room and even more so in the bedroom. My study is small. Damn. Damn. Damn.

 

[FatDragon]

All I needed from Meine Frau was to set up an acct, so I could skip all this mess with IDs and alike. Sure from that point on I took over.
Huhh, Sisters they are Never gave myself a trouble to read into what they call themselves.
You keg or bottle, by the way? - just out of curiosity. I am dramatically short of space in our flat, and just have no idea where I could put a chest fridge/-zer for kegs. Damn, it kills me, really. Kitchen is no way, I'm seriously considering master bathroom... guest bathroom is taken by brewery, anyway, and officially decommissioned as a crapper. But it's simply nowhere else. It looks ridiculous to put it in the living room and even more so in the bedroom. My study is small. Damn. Damn. Damn.

I bottle, though it would be nice to keg and save myself that trouble. We have a small three bedroom apartment and one of them is the storage and brewery room. My little beer fridge in that room could probably handle two 20L's and one 10L, but although money isn't tight, I have to stockpile wifely goodwill toward my hobbies where I can so kegging hasn't happened yet. Maybe I can convince her to let me get a two keg setup for my birthday in a few months, though.

 

[GQT]

small three bedroom apartment

That's what we had in the beginning before we tore down one wall and made it a 2bdrm apt. At that time who could tell I would need an extra room so badly.

Anyway, I have a q. Where/how do you store your grain? I'm panically afraid of bugs. We once had bugs that made their home in a bag of imported pasta and that was a nightmare to get them out of our home. Human race won proving its supremacy (hope it doesn't insult any bug's feelings, and screw them if it does) and the weevils were gone but man it _was_ a trouble. Ever since we've been trying to minimize grain stocks and to rotate them as fast as possible. Buying malt in bags scares me. I now have about what... errr.... 40-50 kg altogether, and thinking of bugs makes me hiccup.
How do you keep your stocks?

 

[FatDragon]

That's what we had in the beginning before we tore down one wall and made it a 2bdrm apt. At that time who could tell I would need an extra room so badly.

Anyway, I have a q. Where/how do you store your grain? I'm panically afraid of bugs. We once had bugs that made their home in a bag of imported pasta and that was a nightmare to get them out of our home. Human race won proving its supremacy (hope it doesn't insult any bug's feelings, and screw them if it does) and the weevils were gone but man it _was_ a trouble. Ever since we've been trying to minimize grain stocks and to rotate them as fast as possible. Buying malt in bags scares me. I now have about what... errr.... 40-50 kg altogether, and thinking of bugs makes me hiccup.
How do you keep your stocks?

We're glad to have three small bedrooms rather than one big one and one small one. Tearing it down's not an option for us anyway, as we rent. By the time I had enough money and enough certainty in my medium- to long-term residence here, the housing boom in Wuhan had pretty much topped out. Shame too: most apartments in my part of Wuhan have tripled or quadrupled in value since I arrived as the city has expanded out to this area.

As for grains, I vacuum seal my specialty grains with the sealer I bought for vaccing hops. I did the same with my last bags of base malt (50kg Aussie 2-row, 10kg wheat), 2.5kg per bag. So far I haven't bothered with the Pils and Vienna I got from my buddy - I'd need to get another roll of vac bags and it's too cold for bugs for the next month or two. I'll probably reevaluate in April or so, and I might just get a couple more 25L buckets for base malt rather than going through the hassle of sealing.