What's Up in Beer: De Refter Closing?, China Craft Beer Exhibition, New Drinking Buddies Box

What's Up in Beer is our weekly rubdown of all things ale and suds. Lather yourself in the latest beery news, gossip, and openings all the while forgetting what exactly it was that you were meant to be doing. Don't worry, beer can fix that too.
 

De Refter Closing?

Something is brewing over at De Refter, and it's not beer. Following a number of cryptic messages (14:27", anyone?) via WeChat as well as rumors that the Courtyard 4 venue will close, the team has organized what may (or may not...) be the beer and bao joint's final blowout party tonight (Thursday Dec 6, 7pm onwards), and what a blowout it will be. No matter whether it is all a ruse or not, we can't scoff at the RMB 100 entrance fee, which will get you unlimited access to their Belgian beery stock. Look back and see what we thought when the team relaunched the venue back in May this year or buy tickets for the party here.
 

Fourth China Craft Beer Exhibition at the Bird's Nest

If you're not completely sodden after that mid-week fun, save a little space for this weekend's fourth China Craft Beer Exhibition organized by imbeer out at the Bird's Nest. Running Saturday and Sunday, 10am-6pm, a ticket (RMB 240 or RMB 150 advance) will get you access to over 40 domestic beers, including local favorites like Jing-A, Urbrew, and Arrow Factory. For a full list of the vendors, click here.
 

Drinking Buddies' December Box Now Available

Drinking Buddies, China's preeminent beer subscription service, have just released their December box. The six beers make up the second part of their "trip back to Italy" featuring a "balanced mix of very light to very dark beers, and very mild to very very hoppy beers." Among those, there's Canediguerra’s Berliner Weisse, Brewfist’s Spaceman is a West Coast IPA, Della Granda’s XTRA IPA ("the hoppiest Italian IPA we’ve ever had," according to Drinking Buddies, Della Granda’s Black Hop Sun, Retorto’s Vincent Vega, and Brewfist’s Fear. Grab a box now via their WeChat here.
 

Arrow Factory Launch Sunday Roasts

Looking for a new brunch option now that the winter freeze has arrived? Arrow Factory has just the ticket with the launch of their new Sunday roast (RMB 128) including Australian roast beef, roast potatoes, roast parsnips, Brussels sprouts, homemade Yorkshire pudding, horseradish, and gravy. Add RMB 30 for any beer, house wine or Prosecco as well an additional RMB 30 for dessert. Two-liter jugs of beer will also be 20 percent off to help you wash it all down. Advanced bookings are required by the Friday evening prior. Read more here.

Slow Boat New Brew, Beijing Postcards Collab, and Dew Drops Charity Drive

It's all go at Slow Boat who have a new seasonal brew on tap: the Buccaneer’s Brown Ale, a clean, English-style brown ale brewed with a variety of local mushrooms for a finish that is nutty, malty, and packed with umami earthiness. You'll also find their Safe Harbor Christmas Ale and Imperial Waters Milkshake Stout for RMB 55 now at TRB's casual dining haunt Hulu in Taikooli.

Elsewhere, they're collaborating with Beijing Postcards Collab for a second time, to bring drinkers "Beer and a Bag." What's a beer and a bag, you ask? To be exact, one 500ml Slow Boat can plus a matching canvas tote designed by Beijing Postcards for a readymade holiday gift set for beer lovers. They can be bought this Saturday's Hutong Winter Fayre (more on that here) for RMB 88 as well as Beijing Postcards' X-mas Extravaganza on Dec 9, or the Beijing Postcards Historical Quiz Night at the Bookworm on Dec 14. They're also available at Slow Boat Sanlitun Brewpub or at Beijing Postcards HQ in Dashilan.

Finally, the team has once again joined forces with Dew Drops Little Flower charity for Pints for a Purpose. Simply scan the QR code in this post or donate an amount of your choosing in person at the brewpub, which will go towards providing "medical assistance, preoperative and post-operative care, and a nurturing environment to China’s most fragile orphans." At the conclusion of the month-long fundraiser, there'll also be a thank you party for those who donated. Read more about all of the above here.
 

New Collab Brew and Others at Jing-A

Jing-A's latest beer is a collaboration with Icelandic brewery Kex, one of the participants at October's 8x8 Festival. This light sour ale was brewed using four special ingredients brought over from Iceland: foraged pine shoots, Angelica seed, and arctic thyme, plus geothermal salt, for a tart and complex sipper that should go down well with the sourheads among you. Jing-A has also launched a limited edition run of 750ml Black Tentacle Imperial Stout and Yě bottles (pictured above). Bottles go for RMB 188, look great, and would make for a great Christmas present for your best beer-drinking friend (or yourself). Click here for more information. Finally, the team has also gotten into the holiday spirit by offering a RMB 10 discount throughout December at eight partner restaurants and bars across Beijing like Punk Rock Noodle, Palms, Fairmont Hotel, Grinders, Cravings, Pie Squared, Pak Pak, ad Transmountain. Click here to read more about that.
 

Tianjin's WE Brewery to Release Two New Cans

Finally, on the horizon, Tianjin brewery WE Brewery are gearing up to release two 500ml canned editions of their beer by the end of December. The two beers, Broken Compass IPA and Yi He Li Pale Ale, will be available at the brewery as well as over bars and restaurants in the capital. We'll certainly be keeping a lookout.

For all your afterparty needs, look no further than Beijing's most comprehensive nightlife listings here.

Images: Unsplash, craftbeer.com, courtesy of the organizers