Great Leap Brewery "Closed For Winter"

I'd like to extend a Happy New Year to all our readers, but I'm afraid I bring bad news for beer drinkers: Great Leap Brewery have announced their bar at 6 Doujiao Hutong will be closed "for the winter season," effective immediately.

Great Leap suffered a setback in November when they were forced to cease production at their Mutianyu brewery and stop distributing to other bars (click here for the background on that story). Carl Setzer and his team are looking to secure the necessary licenses to allow them to distribute, and they say closing the bar temporarily will allow them to focus on sorting out the red tape.

It's not all doom and gloom, however. The Great Leap team will be taking their brews on tour for a series of "pop-up" events at bars around Beijing, and selling kegs for drinking at home and for parties. For more information on how you can get your hands on some Great Leap, email njohnston@greatleapbrewing.com.

Here's the full statement from Great Leap, released via their newsletter:

"It has been a busy year at Great Leap and, as 2012 begins, we know what's really important: great beer and good people. For a strong start to the new year, we are going to pour our energy into a new production facility and getting our brews back on tap in Beijing. Building a brand is not easy, and we want to focus on the bigger picture to make sure we do it right.

"As a result, we've decided to close Doujiao Hutong #6 for the winter season. Fear not, we'll be popping up around town with our experimental "pop-up bar" events. We've been wanting to support some local charities through these events and take our brew on the road for a while but never had time to pull the trigger. We'll also be available for private events and offering "to-go" kegs for those of you who wish you had your own keg of Great Leap brew for your party or just because you have a drinking problem and would rather serve yourself at home.

"We are very excited by the prospects of a new year in Beijing and the possibilities for more access to the market for Great Leap Brewing. We hope you have a happy and safe New Year and look forward to seeing you in the year of the Dragon!"

Hopefully the Great Leap gang will be able to sort out the paperwork soon and be able to reopen in time for spring - when there's more news to report you'll be the first to know.