What’s Up in Beer: Jing A's 8x8 Tickets Now on Sale, Xian Beer Olympics, and New Imports
Whether it’s due to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, or just because we are lucky, Beijing is currently experiencing perfect beer-drinking weather right now. So enjoy these breezy days, white fluffy clouds, and skies that you can’t take your eyes off (check out the pics on our Instagram) before diving into the city's beer scene this week.
8x8 at Jing-A
As we mentioned last month, Jing-A’s second 8x8 Brewing Project returns on Oct 26-27 at Yushe Entertainment Space near Dawang Lu. Tickets went on sale yesterday and this year's participating breweries – totaling 136 beers in total – include:
- Jing-A
- Shangri-La
- Taiwan Head Brewers
- Trip Smith
- Wild West Brewery
- Wuhan No. 18 Brewing
- Xi'an Brewery
- Young Master
- Brewski (Sweden)
- Nøgne Ø (Norway)
- Põhjala Brewery (Estonia)
- Kex Brewing (Iceland)
- AmagerBryghus (Denmark)
- Stigbergets Bryggeri (Sweden)
- Dugges Bryggeri (Sweden)
- To Øl (Denmark).
There will be four free-flow tasting sessions over the two days, with each three-hour session costing RMB 258 and including 40 beers. You can also get a full pass (RMB 988) for four sessions in order to try all 136 individual beers plus an exclusive bottle tasting with the brewers from 7-8pm on Friday, and an 8x8 T-shirt.
Buy before Sep 26 and you'll be granted RMB 50 off a single session or RMB 100 off the all-session pass. To buy tickets, scan the QR code on the poster above. You can read about last's year's beer fest here as well as see a short one-minute video shot at last year’s festival here.
Xian Beer Olympics
Drinking's even better when there's something to win, which is why you should assemble a team this Saturday, Sep 8, 4-8pm for the return of Xian's Beer Olympics. All you need to do is cough up RMB 600 for a team of three and then compete, drink, and frolic outside of Xian. Teams will fuel up on free-flow pours of Slow Boat, Jing A, and Nbeer complemented by unlimited Xian pizza and snacks. As we mentioned before, teams will make their way through 12 different games like jianzi kick, keg-egg slalom, and a pizza eating contest to test their athletic and gorging prowess.
Prizes include vouchers for a one-night staycation at EAST, weekend brunch vouchers, and weekend drink passes at Xian's sister bar Craft Container. If you're more into laidback drinking than intense competition, RMB 300 per person will get you free-flow beers and pizza from Xian Bar during the four-hour event. Click here to purchase advance tickets (there’ll also be an after party from 8pm onwards for the latecomers).
Moon Jelly Clear New England IPA launch at Slow Boat
After releasing their clear New England IPA Glass Bottom Boat as a response to the sweeping popularity of New England IPAs trend (sounds like a tongue twister?), Slow Boat has added another clear New England IPA to their beer list – the Moon Jelly Clear New England IPA. With low bitterness, a smooth creamy mouth-feel, a big juicy hop aroma, and minimal haziness, this new brew will launch at Side Street at 7pm on Sep 8 for RMB 35 a pint all night long. You'll also have the chance to meet Baylor Guild, Slow Boat's mastermind brewer behind this beer.
Teacher's Deal at The Great Outdoors
To celebrate Teacher’s Day on Sep 10, The Great Outdoors will have a deal for the teachers from Sep 10-17. All you need to do is show the staff a picture of yourself teaching in the classroom, then buy a burger in order to get a free draft beer. They also have some new imports, including The Chop American IPA, The Punch Mango Gose, and The Heart Pale Ale from Hop Nation, and Ru-Deep-2 Imperial IPA from Knee Deep.
That's it for this week. Now go out, grab a beer, and enjoy this damn fine weather. Cheers!
More stories by this author here.
Email: tracywang@thebeijinger.com
Twitter: @flyingfigure
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Photos courtesy of venues
