Roll out the barrel

Great Leap Brewing on Xinyuanjie. [Photo provided to China Daily]

Gao and a group of craft beer industry figures in China are in the process of setting up an industry body, the Craft Beer Association of China, to promote and protect the interests of Chinese craft brewers and craft beers. Plans for the association have been on the drawing board since October, Gao says.

One of the craft breweries that has made a mark in Beijing, Jing-A Brewing Co, founded in 2012, is the idea of two North Americans, Kristian Li and Alex Acker, who first did home brewing as a hobby while holding down jobs in Beijing.

"China is really at the beginning of a craft beer revolution," Acker says. "What's happening in China right now is probably what happened in the US 20 years ago when the beer landscape was mostly about industrial and commercial beers (as is the case in China with beers like Tsingtao, Snow, and Yanjing).

"The movement in China is actually part of a global craft beer movement. After having been around for quite a long time in the US and Europe, China is the next frontier in craft beer.

"Apart from Beijing and Shanghai, we've been looking at Chengdu, Tianjin, Suzhou, Wuhai, Xiamen, Shenzhen and Guangzhou. The movement is growing."