What’s Up in Beer: A Thanksgiving Beer Guide, Free-Flow Party, and a Pop-Up Beer Takeover

When the sun goes down and the stars come out, spotting the skies and shining like locals’ expectoration on the pavement, it is time to gather our friends around and give thanks. Thank you, reader, for being with us today and clicking on this blog. Whether you're American or not, tonight is a night to spend with close friends and family and share love and a drink. You have my word, it looks to be a very, very long and beery holiday weekend.

Before we start the long list of places to celebrate, let me say a quick congratulations to Jing-A and NBeer who both won awards at the 2017 Brussels Beer Challenge, which saw 1,512 beers take part. Jing-A’s Worker’s Pale Ale won a Gold Medal in the American Pale Ale category. Go give it at sip at either of their locations (RMB 100 for four).

NBeer’s Beijing Gose Modern (4.5 percent ABV) earned a Gold Medal in the sour wheat beer category. Well done, guys!

Wondering about the Europeans’ take on Thanksgiving? The Treuben sandwich (RMB 60) at Arrow Factory (Liangmahe location) may just be the answer. It's a particularly lush sarnie, featuring sliced roast turkey, sliced honey baked ham, traditional herb stuffing, cranberry sauce, white cheddar cheese, and dijonnaise, all sat between buttered and toasted rye bread and paired with hand-cut sweet potato fries and gravy. Get it as a combo with an Imperial Pilgrim’s Amber Ale for RMB 85. The Imperial Pilgrim’s Amber Ale is on special for RMB 35 all night, or you can opt for RMB 150 all-you-can-drink Guanxi Pale Ale bottles. All the promotions start at 6pm, tonight only (Nov 23). They're expecting a big crowd, so you should make a reservation.

Drunk Bar in Wangfujing hasn’t forgotten you, either. You can go for the turkey set dinner (RMB 338 for two) from now until Dec 25, for which you'll get a salad, two pumpkin soups, a roast turkey, two apple pies and two glasses of house wine. You can also enjoy their daily special deals: Monday, 50 percent off on milk tea; Tuesday, 50 percent off on coffee; Wednesday, 50 percent off on dessert; Thursday, 50 percent off on cocktails; and 20 percent off on dishes every weekend until Dec 10. They also recently stocked Boulevard's Tough Kitty Milk Stout (5.5 percent ABV) on tap.

Great Outdoors on Fangjia Hutong is also helping to spread the holiday cheer from Nov 23-25 at 7-10pm. RMB 228 will get you a slow-roasted turkey, mashed potatoes and gravy, soup, macaroni and cheese, green beans, dessert, and a glass of wine or draft beer. Book here.

Jing-A Xingfucun will offer a Thanksgiving dinner menu with a choice of a whole, half, or small portion of roast turkey (see the poster above) on Nov 23, with different sides, such as chorizo stuffing, crispy Brussels sprouts, sweet potato with marshmallows, and pumpkin pie in a jar. Their tasty barbecue menu will be available too. Book the turkey in advance by calling 152 1090 7612.

Those of you that didn’t make it to the 8x8 beer fest in the beginning of November, will be happy to hear that Jing-A are bringing it back this weekend. RMB 100 will get you an 8x8 taster glass, and a pour of each of the eight collab beers at Jing-A Xingfucun on Nov 25, starting at 2pm. Seize your last chance to try these special brews!

Slow Boat will launch their dinner set tonight, on Nov 23, 7.30pm. RMB 318 will get you a honey ale-glazed whole roast turkey (cooked by Ramo), four side dishes, dessert, and a glass of wine. You can also add RMB 144 to get two hours of free-flow draft beer. There are only 20 seats available, so book in advance (see the QR code in the poster above). Also, they've released a new Moby’s Dick Red Double IPA with 7.2 percent ABV, a deep red color, dry-hopped to get a floral hop aroma, and sports some additional whiskey-soaked American oak to give some complexity.

NBeer will hand out limited portions of turkey to each table for free at both locations starting at 7pm on Nov 23. They also recommend their new Winter’s Coming Weizenbock with 8.1 percent ABV as a perfect match for scoffing down meat.

Last but not least, I know people are missing El Nido, the much-loved but recently demolished bar on Fangjia. However, boss man Xiaoshuai will place several special kegs on tap as a takeover of Fang Bar on at Shoubi Hutong, starting tonight at 6pm and finishing on Nov 26 at 2pm, providing six beers a day from a selection of Selassie, Leon Pale Ale, Nebuchadnezzar IPA, Mazarin Pale Ale from Omnipollo, Sleeping Lemons Sour, Ninkasi Saison from The Wild Beer, Accidental Jedi IPA from Edge Brewing.

And sadly, as winter's coming, not all the bars will survive. Last night we found out that Forty+ Taphouse at Chaoyangmenwai, formerly bearing the title of most drafts (with 43 taps) has closed. RIP, Forty+ Taphouse (see our last impressions here).

Hopefully, you can attend some of these events and enjoy this crisp early winter weather. Happy Thanksgiving, and thank you for following What’s Up in Beer. May there always be brews!

More stories by this author here.

Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
Instagram: @flyingfigure

Photos courtesy of venues, giphy (1), cafedelites