A Roundup of 15 of Beijing's Newly Opened Brewpubs and Bars

原创 Tracy W. theBeijinger

How time flies, there are only four months left in this year, four months! If you don’t follow our beer column tightly nor appreciate our hard work as we drink through these places, I don’t blame you at all, but do question your passion for beer. Better late than never, let’s have a look at what you might have missed over the past eight months:

Out of Step

Over on the quiet Dongsanlitun Lu, right next to our favorite Hainanese chicken rice Ji Kun Café and near the New Zealand Embassy, Canadian craft beer pub Out of Step opened its doors just as we welcomed the new year. The warm light of the red neon signage for the bar pulled us in off the street before the bar seduced us with its simple but cozy layout – a concrete bar with a wooden table top surrounded bar stools. Out of Step has 10 beers on tap, all from four local breweries in Vancouver: Hearthstone Brewery, Black Kettle Brewing, Fuggles & Warlock Craft Works, and Postmark Brewing. Six of the pub's 10 beers fall on the heavier side, while on the fruitier side there's one pale ale, two IPAs, and a milk stout, with prices ranging from RMB 55-65. Aside from Canadian beers, they also offer bar food (think french fries and tapas), and seasonal dishes.

See our first impression here.

Regain Element 原素精酿

This brewpub is positioned on the east side of Wudaoying, next to the beautifully renovated Vietnamese restaurant Wan, with several tables outside and a line of empty kegs sitting along the white brick wall. Nine taps serve pints priced between RMB 35 and RMB 60. During our visit, Regain only stocked one of their own beers on tap – the Midnight IPA – the rest of them are guest beers that should satisfy the palates of all beer lovers: Hefeweizen and Vanilla Coffee Stout from NBeer, Monkey’s Fist IPA from Slow Boat, Ghost IPA from Harvest for the local craft beer lovers, Goose Island's Honkers, Boulevard's Tank 7, Rogue's Double Chocolate Stout for the imported beer drinkers, and Liefmans Fruitesse for something ... fruitier. If you are brave enough, try their beef burger, with a presentation involving a plastic syringe. (Don't worry, it won't hurt a bit.)

See our first impression here.

Heaven Supermarket Gongti 天堂超市工体店

Sandwiched between two night clubs on the east side of Gongti, you must do your best to ignore the terrible and thunderous music from Tango KTV. Go downstairs, past the first bar on the left and continue down the hallway where you’ll be greeted with two plain glass doors. Unlike its slightly nasty sister, it’s clean here. It’s also sizably bigger, housing 16 massive fridges stocked with beer, including Nøgne Ø, De Molen, Dogfish Head, and Founders, and some varieties that are unavailable at the old location. They also do a good job of providing cheaper beers for patrons stumbling their way into the KTV next door, such as Asahi for RMB 15, Panda, and Reberg. They also have Goose Island IPA, Hoegaarden, Leffe, Stella Artois, and Becks on tap. The old food menu has crawled over this way too, featuring the same living-dangerously “Mexican”-ish and fast food mains and snacks.

See our first impression here.

Wilderness Brew 荒野精酿

Wilderness Brew is to the north of the Heaven Supermarket on Xindong Lu, located in the deep recesses of a quiet building with a huge space. Concrete walls are decorated with deer and ox heads sourced from Taobao (just a guess), heavy wooden tables are plonked next to leather sofas, a lone Oktoberfest flag tries to cover some sad wall space, and fake firewood lines the bar, for a decidedly artificial attempt at rugged masculinity. A flight of their own brews goes for RMB 72, including a Solitary Smoke Weissbier (4.6 percent ABV); Desert Sunset Pilsner (3.9 percent ABV); Cowboymania Witbier (5.5 percent ABV); and IPA Seven Thugs (6 percent ABV). The experience might be the worst in our recent memory.

Beersmith Gastropub 鲜啤吧

On the first floor of the new Hotel Jen, Beersmith Gastropub has opened its doors to the public with 250 seats, 12 massive 100-liter copper beer tanks, pool tables, and big screens for sports. Those immense tanks are largely to thank for the 16 beers on tap, brewed by Great Leap's former brewer Tom Ashton, including an easy-drinking blonde ale with nutty and sweet tones (4.8 percent ABV); a full-bodied English porter with a fruity aroma (5.5 percent ABV); and an IPA (6.5 percent ABV). For a hotel bar, the prices are reasonable – a pint of beer costs RMB 48-60 and a flight of four is RMB 90 (including service charge and VAT). Among the western bar food they offer, the highlights are the porter-marinated black pork ribs with mashed potatoes and corn (RMB 128), and the Wagyu beef burger (RMB 88).

See our first impression here.

NBeer Pub Wukesong 牛啤堂五棵松

After the first NBeer Pub opened in Huguosi in 2013, it took them four years to expand to the far west – Wukesong. This massive place has 42 beers on tap, apart from NBeer’s own selection, there’s also subs from domestic breweries Master Gao, No. 18, Dalian Devolver, Shanghai Bmax, as well as Arrow Factory. The price of a pint is RMB 40-85, a flight of six tasters is RMB 118, while 12 tasters is RMB 218. Shelves stocked with 7,000 empty bottles add the ambiance of a beer museum – a treat for the most hardcore of beer lovers.

See our first impression here.

Legend Beer Dongzhimen 老牌啤酒东直门

Legend Beer's second location went into soft opening in May. Unlike their massive brewpub at the west gate of the Workers’ Stadium, this new spot is tiny with barely enough room for five people. But that hasn’t stopped locals from grabbing a beer and drinking outside (standing only) on Dongzhimenwai Xinzhongjie. Altogether, there are six beers on tap, the same as at their first location, most of them reminiscent of German-style beers, including a wheat, two IPAs, a lager, and a schwartzbier (RMB 18-25 for 500ml). The food menu is simple and made up of reasonably priced bar snacks, like french fries (RMB 16), deep-fried curry puffs (RMB 25), and a classic beef burger (RMB 36). If you still have the urge to try local street food, grab a spicy rabbit head from next door Laojietu (老街兔), which will win you admiration from the hardier neighboring baijiu drinkers.

Transmountain Taphouse 闯山酒社

Located in Zuojiazhaung, Transmountain boasts 30 taps stocked with local and imported brews to fill the gap in the market northeast of the Second Ring Road. Draft beer is not particularly cheap here, with prices ranging from RMB 40 to RMB 90 a pint, and a flight of five samples will cost you RMB 120. There's also a decent selection of bottled beers in the fridge, including Yeastie Boys from New Zealand, Hitachino from Japan, Mikkeller from Denmark, De Molen from Holland, Speakeasy, Cismontane, and Dogfish Head from America, Harvest and No. 18 from mainland China, and several other popular beers from Belgium. There's simple bar food to line your stomach, such as fish and chips (RMB 48), onion rings, french fries, fried chicken (RMB 38), pickles (RMB 18), burgers, hot dogs, and a salad (RMB 38).

See our first impression here.

The Craft Container

East Hotel opened The Craft Container at Xian in June, stocking it with six beers from three of the city's favorite local brewpubs: Flying Fist IPA and Tuhao Gold Pilsner from Jing-A, Helmsman’s Honey Ale and Monkey’s Fist IPA from Slow Boat, and Raspberry Beijinger Weisse and Hefeweizen from NBeer.

See our first impression here.

Forty+ Taphouse 40+精酿啤酒餐吧俱乐部

Softly opened at the end of May, Forty+ Taphouse is tucked away on the first floor of the east side of the Chaowaimen Compound (opposite U-Town Shopping Mall). Featuring 42 beers on tap, Forty+ currently has more brews on tap than any other establishment in Beijing. The eight beers made at Forty+'s brewery in Fengtai include Gentleman Weizenbier (4.5 percent ABV), Amigo Light Ale (5.1 percent ABV), Buddy Dunkel (5 percent ABV), Rock n’ Roll Stout (6.5 percent ABV), Pepper Stout (8 percent ABV), Trance Angel IPA (6.5 percent ABV), and Maomao Cider (5.3 percent ABV). A flight of four costs RMB 88, and every day one of their beers goes on special for RMB 30-35 a pint. Where Forty+ really shines is in its list of imports, which would bring suds to any beer-lover's eyes – from a hoppy and juicy Rogue 7 Hop IPA, Aftermath IPA from Black Market, Lupulingus IIPA and Armageddon IPA both from Epic, Undercover IPA, Breakfast Stout from Founders, Hop Fiction Pale Ale from Brewdog (RMB 55), and several options from Ballast Point. Most special, perhaps, is the Prairie Bomb Imperial Stout (with its outrageous 13 percent ABV) and our long-term love Lizard of Koz (10.5 percent ABV) from Founders, both of which sell for RMB 68 per 300ml, likely to be the best price you'll find in Beijing.

See our first impression here.

Yun Brew 蕴酿精酿餐吧

Next to Burger Break, Yun Brew is located at the burgeoning Xiaoyun Lu. There are 21 draft beers with local and imported brews, as well as their in-house brews, including the True Friends Wheat, Silent of Lava Peat (6 percent ABV), the Spring Breeze Far Away Wheat, Black Hand Porter, Yun IPA, and No Problem Brown Ale. The price of a pint ranges from RMB 45 to 88, which isn’t the cheapest in town by any means, but a flight of any four is RMB 68, and a flight of any six is RMB 98, which is quite reasonable. Yun also provides salads (RMB 36-48), pasta (RMB 28-45), and pizzas (RMB 38-85 for nine-inch, RMB 48-98 for 12-inch). If you are a party of carnivores, go for the roast lamb leg (RMB 358), roast pork chop (RMB 158), or sausage platter (RMB 158).

See our first impression here.

Naughty Beer 顽啤世界进口酒水体验馆

This Heaven Supermarket-esque bottle shop adds another option for those Shuangjing residents who want to avoid the hustle of heading to the city center for a drink. Several fridges are filled with brews, including 400 brands of beers from over 30 countries, such as the usual players in similar bottle shops – Flying Dog, Dogfish Head, Hitachino, Hoegaarden, Harviestoun, Rogue, Brewdog, Ballast Point, Goose Island, Samuel Smith, Elysian, Stone, North Coast, Mikkeller, Lindemans, Duvel, Halve Maan, La Chouffe, and Vedett (RMB 30-55) – as well as three dozen beers from Spain and Italy. There is also a wall of imported wines to make it a one-stop shop for all your weekend drinking needs.

See our first impression here.

Great Friend Outdoors Club 野友趣

Great Friend Outdoors Club opened in July at 12 Fangjia Hutong. Twelve taps include local and domestic microbrews, such as Fumo IPA (RMB 48) and Tengyun Wheat Ale (RMB 38) from Harvest, Film G Milk Stout (RMB 48) and Tiaodong Who IPA (RMB 45) from Wuhan No. 18, Beijing Gose Manderin (RMB 45), NB Wheat (RMB 38), Vanilla Coffee Stout (RMB 48) and Heifeweizen (RMB 38) from NBeer Pub, Osmanthus Honey Ale (RMB 38) from Shenyang Laotao, and Diaistic Cider (RMB 45). Once you've consumed some liquid confidence, have a go on their climbing wall. Their Weightlifting Stewed Pork Shoulder (RMB 98) and spicy peanuts (RMB 10) are also worth a try.

See our first impression here.

Ram Brewpub & Tattoo 公羊精酿鲜啤

We discovered the only brewpub in Dashanzi/798 Art District, Ram Brewpub & Tattoo. There are nine beers on tap, including two of their own brews: Ram/Diago Dragon Ball IPA (7 percent ABV) and the Ram Silver Hand Weiss (7.7 percent ABV). They also serve some domestic brews, such as No. 18’s IPA (9 percent ABV), Laotao IPA (6.3 percent ABV), and BBQ Master Smoked Lager (5 percent ABV), as well as some imports, including Dogfish Head's 90 Minute IPA (9 percent ABV), and Tuatara APA (5.8 percent ABV). A pint of beer runs RMB 50-120, while a flight of five is RMB 60. Avoid the unnecessarily expensive peanuts (RMB 20), just bring your own Huangfeihong from 7-Eleven. Oh, and did I mention: it's also a tattoo parlor, ready to give your that ink you've been meaning to get done.

See our first impression here.

The Beer Spa by Premedion

Last but not least, we'll wrap it up with this beer spa we experienced in January, located on the second floor of the Star World Hotel on Xindong Lu. Take a bizarre yet relaxing soak in a bath filled with hops, malt, yeast, and two liters of Schwartz beer from Hacker-Pschorr Brauhaus Beijing. If that’s not dizzying enough, during the entire spa experience, you can also sip on unlimited Schwartz beer in a Bavarian-style glass.

Photos courtesy of venues, Tracy Wang

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