What’s Up in Beer: SBB’s 2nd Anniversary, Arrow + Arcade Tap Takeover, and New Brews

If the drizzle is getting you down, you always have a friend in beer. Beer will cheer you up, warm your heart, keep you company when you're on the couch catching up on The Handmaid’s Tale season 2. And the beer industry never stops looking for new ways to make us happy, including most recently the use of an enzyme called amyloglucosidase to brew brut IPA, the industry's latest innovation (don't say we never taught you nothin'). Scroll down to the bottom for more on that, otherwise, let’s take a look at what else is happening in the world of beer.

First things first: Sanlitun's Slow Boat Brewpub will celebrate its second anniversary this Saturday, Sep 1 with RMB 25 pints of Monkey’s Fist IPA between 4-7pm on the first floor. DJ Dirty Dishes will be spinning records and providing the beats to keep the party going into the evening. Pop by and wish them a happy birthday!

In other news, Slow Boat has released their new All Sea-ing Eye Session IPA with 4.8 percent ABV, a punchy grapefruit-tinged brew hopped using Simcoe and Mosaic Cryo hops. They've also collaborated with Ramo to add a barbecue pulled pork sandwich and a special "secret recipe" vegetarian version to their menu, available as part of their Chef Collaboration series as of today.

Moving on to Great Leap Brewing, their newest beer, the Walls End Saison (6.2 percent ABV), will be released on Friday, Aug 31. Brewed entirely with Qingdao Flower hops, this newbie has strong notes of banana esters, a full and creamy mouthfeel thanks to the addition of rye malt, and a crisp and refreshing finish. It will be available at both locations for RMB 35 (RMB 25 for Collective members all day on Friday).

Arrow Factory will hold a beer takeover at Arcade by Hatchery on Friday, Aug 31 from 5pm till late. Four beers will be on tap: Kiss Me Hardy Pale Ale, A Whiter Shade of Pale Hefeweizen, Raspberry Sour, and Liang Ma IPA at RMB 30 a pint/tasting flight. Head over early for happy hour (5-6pm) where you can grab any Arrow Factory beer or a four mini-glass tasting flight for RMB 20. And for those who want to go big, RMB 388 will get you a free-flow pass for the beer, as well as chuan’r, an Arrow Factory T-shirt and beer voucher, a Hatchery Common Burger voucher, and 10 raffle tickets for the lucky draw. To keep the party buzzing, Arrow Factory’s own DJ Arrowsmith will be on the turntables.

Arrow also has a special promotion on their Guanxi Pale Ale until this Sunday: grab a bottle for RMB 15 in-house, or a case to take away for RMB 240, available at Arrow Factory Liangmahe, Taproom, and Stuff’d. Delivery can also be arranged for cases – add them on WeChat to arrange (ID: justinkyc).

"But enough of this!" you cry. "Tell us more about that amyloglucosidase!" It would be our pleasure. So, long story short, the enzyme is added to beer so as to lower the sugar content and has recently been used to produce a brut IPA, pioneered by Social Kitchen & Brewery and Drake’s Brewing. The result is the "brut IPA," a counterpoint to the recent wave of juicy New England IPAs flooding the US market, and an altogether more bone-dry and lighter brew. If you want to be one of the first to try this new addition to the beer canon, head to NBeer who have created a Barren Shower Champagne IPA with zero residual sugar and a sessionable 5.5 percent ABV.

Cheers ma dears!

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Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
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Photos courtesy of venues