China
There is no shortage of beer in China. China is the largest beer market in the world, by volume. With nearly 2 billion people, it's probably what you expect. China also has the top selling beer brand in the world - Snow. To those outside of China, it is a very watery pale ale. Enter the craft beer scene. Chinese beer drinkers are taking kindly to the craft beer explosion. Brewpubs are popping up all over the place. Equally impressive are the number of craft beer bars. These places aren't just for ex-pats. You see a lot of locals enjoying the better quality of beer.
As any expert brewer will tell you, learning the art of brewing is a process of education and on-the-job-training. It takes a number of years to get the skill you need to be a successful brew master. With no disrespect to Chinese brewers, they just don't have the training and expertise as their European and American counterparts, I found that Brewpubs with European or American brewers generally produced a higher quality of beer. But in time, the Chinese brewers will catch up. It's obvious, they want to.
The beer highlights from these beer treks include visits to brewpubs in Shanghai and Beijing, and several taprooms and bars.
Tips:
Finding locations: With Google being blocked in China, plan your beer treks accordingly and do as much research in advance as possible. Expect to use maps on your cell phone quite a bit to help locate many of these locations, so it's a good idea to have an international plan available for your phone.
Traveling in China: If I can travel between locations around 3-4 hours by train, I prefer taking the high speed train over flying. You will get there in the same amount of time or less. Flights in China rarely, and I mean rarely, leave on time. The trains are always on schedule and you can plan your travel time exactly. Beware of short connections!
As any expert brewer will tell you, learning the art of brewing is a process of education and on-the-job-training. It takes a number of years to get the skill you need to be a successful brew master. With no disrespect to Chinese brewers, they just don't have the training and expertise as their European and American counterparts, I found that Brewpubs with European or American brewers generally produced a higher quality of beer. But in time, the Chinese brewers will catch up. It's obvious, they want to.
The beer highlights from these beer treks include visits to brewpubs in Shanghai and Beijing, and several taprooms and bars.
Tips:
Finding locations: With Google being blocked in China, plan your beer treks accordingly and do as much research in advance as possible. Expect to use maps on your cell phone quite a bit to help locate many of these locations, so it's a good idea to have an international plan available for your phone.
Traveling in China: If I can travel between locations around 3-4 hours by train, I prefer taking the high speed train over flying. You will get there in the same amount of time or less. Flights in China rarely, and I mean rarely, leave on time. The trains are always on schedule and you can plan your travel time exactly. Beware of short connections!
