The Karl Long Challenge is Back for Great Leap’s 12th Anniversary Plus New Menu Additions

Katie Coy | Oct 5, 2022 2:24 pm | Add a comment | 351 reads

Great Leap will be celebrating their 12th anniversary this month and as per tradition, the Karl Long Challenge will also be making a triumphant return. For those scratching their heads and wondering who Karl Long is and why does he have a challenge named after, here is the story as told by Beijinger Manging Editor Vincent last year:

“Back in 2010, when Great Leap was still in its infancy, Karl Long – who would go on to help manage GLB #12 for a time – showed up to the brewery’s original Doujiao Hutong location. At the time, they only offered eight beers on tap, and Karl elected to try all of them at once. Then he drank them all again, for a grand total of 16 beers in one sitting!

As the story goes, he got into an argument with a fellow patron who he mistook for Sabrina, of Sabrina the Teenage Witch fame, after which he proceeded to remove his shirt and unleash a menacing growl.

Thus the legend of Karl Long, and the Karl Long Challenge, were born.”

This year Great Leap are making the challenge bigger than ever with a Nationwide Karl Long Challenge with the eight cities where there are Great Leap branches participating. The cities are Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Xi’an, Changchun and Anshan. The challenge is launching on Oct 15, however due to certain *ahem* meetings happening in Beijing at the time, the Beijing Karl Long Challenge won’t be taking place until Oct 29.

For the Nationwide Karl Long Challenge competitors will need to drink 12 beers at four or more locations to receive “Great Leap City Beer Champion” title and the first 20 people at each location to complete the challenge will receive a Great Leap Brewery Anniversary T-Shirt. Rules for the Beijing Karl Long Challenge have not yet been released, but normally the Beijing challenge requires 15 beers to be drunk across all four Great Leap locations and all competitors who complete the challenge win a t-shirt.

If you’re keen to take part in this year’s Karl Long Challenge, we’ll be sure to report on the official rules once announced, so be sure to watch this space!

In other Great Leap related news, they’ve recently added four new items to the. As a Brit I am most excited about the addition of Fish and Chips to the menu. For their take on this British pub classic, they've got cod deep fried in a beer batter blended from their Long Oasis Kolsch balanced with freshly squeezed lemon juice served up with a side of chips.

As big pizza fans here at the Beijinger, another new item we’re keen to try is the Roast Duck Pizza. Combining classic Beijing roast duck with one of their signature handmade pizzas sounds like a pretty stellar idea to me. The other two new menu additions are Onion Rings which, like the Fish and Chips, are dipped in a Long Oasis Kolsch beer batter and Chilli Beef Nachos. You can try out these latest dishes at Great Leap #45 and Great Leap Lido branches.