DP What’s Up in Beer: Drink for Charity, and New Brews

What’s Up in Beer: Drink for Charity, and New Brews Around Town

Tracy Wang, Senior Editor | Dec 7, 2017 4:48 pm | Add a comment | 824 reads

Happy December beer lovers of Beijing! The first week of December has treated us well so far with blue skies, mild winds, and plenty of beer to drink, so let's get to it!

Slow Boat has launched their new The Sea King’s Daughter Stout, which despite our wishes is not actually referencing the Little Mermaid, nor Amber Heard in Justice League, but instead something altogether more learned: lóng nǚ (龙女), the daughter of the Dragon King, who if you know your Chinese history, lives at the bottom of the sea. Anyways, this Russian Imperial Stout has a hefty 11.1 percent ABV, which is “thick, rich, boozy, and fit for a king’s daughter."

Aside from that woozy offering, Slow Boat also have homemade spiced mulled wine or spiced mulled cider (both RMB 35 on weekdays between 11am-6pm). They will hold a family day on Dec 9, inviting children of all ages and parents to do some cookie decorating (in partnership with the Bread of Life Bakery, which also happened to be one of this past month's Maovember charity recipients) as well as holiday crafts, and a family-friendly brunch. The occasion will also act as the launch of the annual release of Safe Harbor Christmas Ale. RMB 150 will get you an adult a brunch item with a pint of Christmas Ale or coffee, a kid’s brunch, and access to the craft and cookie stations.

Throughout December, Slow Boat will give 10 percent of all sales from four popular items – Captain’s Pale Ale, S.O.S. Belgian Wit, the Classic Burger, and the Dongsi Dofu Burger – to Beijing-based organization Dew Drops Little Flower (an orphan care charity and a family support center) in order to help fund surgeries and operation costs. You can also throw a little love into the on-site donation box, or scan the QR code for on-site donations. If you donate RMB 20 or more, you will receive a thank you note with a voucher from Slow Boat. Good move, sailors!

Moving on, don’t forget that Great Leap Brewing will release their annual Beer Dictator Quadruple IPA on Dec 8, their third time running as a part of the Great Wall Barrel Program. The 2017 edition comes in at 10.8 percent ABV with notes of dark berries, apricot, and strawberry on the palate, and is brewed with Cascade and Slovenian Styrian General hops from Hop Head Farms. It will be on tap at all three locations for RMB 88 as of Dec 8. For those who want to stock up for the long and lonely winter nights ahead, you can also get limited-edition bottles of the 2017 Beer Dictator, as well as the 2016 Beer Dictator Barrel-Aged (11.5 percent ABV). To reserve up to a maximum of two bottles of each beer prior to release, feel free to send an email to jimmy@greatleapbrewing.com. Since there are only 120 bottles of each beer (RMB 188 per bottle), you'd better hurry to score your own.

After a touch of renovation, Transmountain has turned out to be a great bar to sit and have a quiet pint, especially given the friendliness of the staff. They have several new imported brews on tap, including DKML malt liquor (with 14 percent ABV), Nitro Rubaeus raspberry ale with 5.7 percent ABV, and Lizard of Koz from Founders, coffee saison from Wuhan No. 18, dole IPA and Pale Ale from Drake’s, and three IPAs from Stone.