Slow Boat’s 3-Story Flagship Brewpub in South Sanlitun

From a teeny, tiny little taproom on Dongsi Batiao, Slow Boat Brewery has decided to go the other extreme with their new flagship brewpub in South Sanlitun (across from the new Intercontinental Hotel) with a gigantic 3-story building with a bar on each level and a grand total of 36 taps (4 taps on the first floor and 16 taps on the 2nd and 3rd floor). Not only is this is huge game changer for Slow Boat Brewery, this new brewpub now takes the title for biggest brewpub in Beijing.

More than just a new flagship location for Slow Boat, this also marks the first branch where all brewing will be done on premise and their 18 brewing tanks are in full view like an open kitchen for their brew process.

“Beer brewed on premises will be consumed on premises directly from the tanks or from freshly filled kegs. Twenty different beers will be available – some only at the Sanlitun location. All water used on premises goes though a reverse osmosis filter before usage. Over three floors there is a total of 18 brewing tanks with an annual capacity of 2,200 bbls or over 550,000 servings.” – Slow Boat Sanlitun Flagship

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Slow Boat’s Taproom: Fryburger, Pickles + Pitchers

Struggling to find food options at 10PM in Beixinqiao on a Thursday evening (and not wanting to eat anything that Guijie has to offer), we were delighted to remember Slow Boat Brewery‘s Taproom on Dongsi Batiao 东四八条. They’re open late and so is their kitchen (food prayers answered!)

Stepping in on a Thursday evening just after 10, the place was rammed. Every table was occupied, so we had to squeeze in between two couples at the two ends of one of their long bench tables. At first, it was a little awkward to ask other diners to shuffle their bags to make room for us, but everyone was friendly enough and the atmosphere was conducive to a social environment. Though we came for their burger and German bratwurst, we ended up with two pitchers of beer cause Thursdays happen to also be their “Pour Pitcher” weekly special with select brews on tap for only RMB 70 per pitcher. (More weekly specials listed at the bottom of this post!)

LDS Snapshots of Slow Boat Brewery’s Taproom: 

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LDS Hot Tip: The Hutong’s Pies & Ales Hook-Up

Celebrating Home-Baked Pies and Crafty Beer Creations

(photo by Mitch Masilun)

This coming Sunday, December 7th, The Hutong Community & Culture Center is hosting one of my all-time favorite events: Pies & Ales Night which brings together two independently awesome things that pair together for an even more remarkable match-made-to-be.

Homemade Australian meat (and dessert!) pies come courtesy of Two Guys and a Pie will be serving up loads of their popular classic “Slow-Loving Aussie” meat pie made from 100% pure beef brisket, fried onions in a slow simmered, homemade beef reduction, their popular Honey-Soy Chicken Pies, Chicken Cream Sage Pies, a vegetarian option and, last but not least, their irresistible sweet apple pie to top you off for the ultimate pie feast.

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Great Leap Hosts Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival

Great Leap Hosts Beijing’s First Invitational Craft Beer Festival 

Sometimes it’s good to get a reality check and break free of the Beijing bubble and remember that there’s more beyond our 6th ring borders. As much as Beijing’s craft beer community has blossomed over the past 5 years, it’s also nice to see how the rest of the world is getting on in their homebrewing creations.

After Great Leap Brewing hosted their third annual Beijing Craft Beer Festival this summer at Galaxy SOHO, they’re finishing 2014 off strong by launching Beijing’s first Invitational Craft Beer Festival (BICBF) in conjunction with XIX Spirit to bring over international craft beer brand names to Beijing for the very first time from November 14-16 at EAST Beijing Hotel.

“This festival is designed around established international and greater China brands, giving them access to the Beijing market and allowing local drinkers an opportunity to see the grander scale of craft beer.” – Lucía Wang, PR & Events Director of Great Leap Brewing

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Slow Boat Launches Autumn Craft Beer Festival

A concept created by Slow Boat Brewery, The Beijing Autumn Craft Beer Festival is launching for the very first time this weekend – Friday, October 10 from 5-10PM and all day this Saturday, October 11th from 12PM Noon-10PM at EAST hotel in Lido.

“In it’s inaugural year, the festival is designed to highlight world-class local beers and breweries, while giving people an excuse to celebrate the harvest season with good friends, good food, and good fun. A festival created to support the growth of the Chinese craft beer and slow food movements, there is no admission fee and parents are welcome to make use of the venue’s large outdoor playground.” – The Slow Boat Team

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3rd Annual Beijing Craft Beer Festival: June 6 & 7

June 6-7: Beijing Craft Beer Festival at Galaxy SOHO

(Photo from theBeijinger’s Photo Gallery from last year’s beer fest)

Great Leap Brewing gears up for their third annual Beijing Craft Beer Festival this weekend – Friday, June 6 from 5pm-11pm – Saturday, June 7 from 12pm-11pm at Galaxy SOHO.  Though many of us dream of their return to their first festival’s location in the Dashilar Factory Space, we will settle for Galaxy SOHO as they almost moved the festival to the far, far away Wangjing SOHO this year (thank goodness they didn’t!).

“After consultation with SOHO, we decided to hold the event at Galaxy SOHO for a second consecutive year. We hope beer fans in Wangjing will still make the trip. We loved Galaxy SOHO in 2013 and we’re very happy the Festival is returning to this central and convenient location,” Carl Setzer, co-founder and brewmaster of Great Leap Brewing and organizer of the event.

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Chi Fan for Charity Fundraiser at Q Mex for APSA

Beijing’s charity culinary event of the year Chi Fan for Charity (CFFC) is hosting a one-off special fundraising dinner and after-party supporting Americans Promoting Study Abroad (APSA) on Saturday, April 19^th at Q Mex restaurant in South Sanlitun.

For the past 5 years that CFFC has been organizing and hosting this annual event in Beijing, Shanghai, and now also Hong Kong, they’ve managed to raise over RMB 3,000,000 for worthwhile charities all over China.

This month, they’re hosting a one-off dinner party + after-party at Q Mex with all funds going towards APSA’s core programs.

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The Cleaver Quarterly: Ice Cream Shake-Up Fundraiser

The Cleaver Quarterly is Cleverly Luring You in with Crafty Ice Cream Creations

Knowing the key to our hearts (and wallets) is through our stomach, The Cleaver Quarterly team is a very smart bunch who have figured out that every foodie’s kryptonite is most often than not – ice cream.

This Saturday, April 12, the team behind this foodie ad-free magazine is organizing an ice cream making contest at The Local.

The Cleaver Quarterly is a new print magazine taking a playful look at Chinese food as a global phenomenon. Through lively longform writing and vivid visuals, it will explore the changing appetites of the world’s most populous country as well as Chinese food around the world. We’ll tell the stories behind the recipes, whether it’s the savory double-steamed soups of Jiangxi province, microbrewing in Taiwan or egg rolls in Eden Prairie, Minnesota. We’ll also be telling the stories that you won’t see anywhere else.

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