Craft Art & Craft Beer Delivers Neither Craft Art Nor Good Beer

Does Beijing really need more bars? I guess Beijing doesn't care, and so Craft Art & Craft Beer has opened on the southeast side of Yuanyang Xinganxian near Xiaoyun Lu (where you can also find the likes of Home Plate BBQ and Avocado Tree as well as a bunch of cheap street eats like malatang and donkey burgers). It’s hard to miss this place, as there's a giant white doll sitting just outside the door.

Some "craft" art

With floor-to-ceiling windows, your eyes first fall on the large fridges and taps. Several wooden tables pair with different types of iron chairs, some of them look like they were inherited from a neighboring failed malatang business. Even the Japanese-style paintings on the tables have fading effects. Only the bar and the taps are brand-new.

Taps

There are 14 taps in all, but three were marked as sold out upon our visit. The one-page menu was confusing, with some brews listed clearly with their origins, such as “Peiping wheat beer,” and “Machine Pilsner” from Peiping Machine Brewery, while “EVA0C Amber,” “Big fish Pilsner,” and “Weissbier” remained unclaimed ... Someone must have brewed them but I guess we'll never know who.

On tap, there is also Dead Pony Club from Brewdog, Soft DK Imperial Stout from Evil Twin, Grunion Pale Ale from Ballast Point, and Rogue Farm 4 Hop IPA. We asked for a flight of tasters, which was a bit pricey (RMB 100). Also not impressive was the fact that it took 10 minutes to appear, which was a lifetime considering we were the only customers on a Sunday evening.

After serving the flight to my male friend, the bartender left to the counter area without asking what beer I wanted to drink, probably holding on to the common misconception that as a woman, I didn’t have the need to drink beer. Not annoyed by them yet, I asked for my flight, too, and trying to figure out where their beers come from I asked, “Do you guys brew the Dark Lager?” One of the owners answered, “Yes." "Who is it brewed by?" I asked “It is beer, and it’s brewed," they answered. I continued on my mission for knowledge, “Yes, but by you guys?” One of the owners gave me an annoyed glance, “No.” “Then by who?” “Bei …” “Peiping Machine?” “Yes.” Not very forthcoming with information, and quite hostile.

A flight of five (RMB 100)

Fine, we could just about tolerate this place, as long as we're holding a beer and trying to neglect the tacky white KTV-ish walls, endless Cantonese songs, owners' smoking inside, TVs playing CCTV 5, and noisy drilling coming from the direction of the kitchen. Oh, and did I forget to mention the empty and unwashed bottles lined up along the window, which looked like they should've been thrown away weeks ago? Oh wait, maybe this is craft art ...  

Unfortunately this is when the last nail entered coffin: the beers on tap were lousy. Four out of five beers tasted weird and were badly kept, especially Tank 7 from Boulevard Brewery, which is one of my favorites usually, which came with dubious white foam and appeared lighter as usual. “Am I drinking last night's Yanjing?” I was asking myself, and started to miss the quality stuff they serve at High Town. The Evil Twin Soft DK Imperial Stout was also not great, appearing quite flat. In fact, it was only the second time in my life that I couldn’t finish even one taster. The first time was at No. 9 Beer.

The broccoli looks huge comparing to the half of a mini-size chicken (RMB 88)

Trying to mask the bad taste in our mouths, we ordered some food: grilled chicken (half for RMB 88), with steamed vegetables and fried potatoes. This bony, pigeon-sized chicken was the smallest chicken I’ve ever seen and compared to this, the grilled chicken at The Big Smoke should be re-named the T-Rex. To make things worse, the skin was burnt, and the dry-to-the-bone meat was both chewy and greasy in equal measure. If the chicken’s mum had known that her chicken progeny had been cooked like this, she would most certainly be rolling over in her little chicken grave. The potatoes were tasty though, and the vegetables were fine, if not a little on the small side.

Even though they also provide a hundred imported bottled beers from the fridge, we don’t see ourselves coming back. It reminds us of how the famous beer author Randy Mosher described the craft beer trend in early 90s America: “It [craft brewing] was attracting some unsavory types, and by that I mean people who were looking only at the money aspect of craft brewing, which was not enough for a venture to succeed.” The best tip we can give is if you are craving a nice cold beer in the neighborhood: don’t hesitate, head straight to Tiny, or Great Leap Brewing #45.

Craft Art & Craft Beer
Daily 11am-2pm, 5-12pm. 6 Meishijie, Southeast of Yuanyang Xinganxian, 35 Xiaoyun Lu, Chaoyang District (6468 6566)
霄云绘精酿餐吧：朝阳区霄云路35号院远洋新干线东南侧美食街6号