Talking Pints: Mo' Winter Treats, Mo' Choice, Mo' Mao Mao and Momo

The snap has set in, there's to be no more outdoor drinking for this year. The heating has been fired up early to deal with the early onset, and the city's bars have rolled out a set of comforts to make you forget all about that old summer and get down to enjoying your winter as much as possible.

Some places have renovated, Plan B in Shuangjing and Gongti dance giant Lantern to name but two. Others have introduced their winter menus. Mao Mao Chong kicks off its "Clear Skies Season" with a Slow Boat Brewery beer and pie night on Sunday. From 3pm they'll be selling Slow Boat at RMB 30 per pint as well as a raft of homemade eats including country beef pie with mashed potatoes and peas and chunky tomato relish at RMB 55. Or you can opt for the veggie option for RMB 5 less. They'll also have homemade carrot cake at RMB 15, and Aussie cherry ripes at RMB 25.

Still on the subject of winter introductions, Slow Boat are still planning to introduce the city's first crowd-sourced brew in December. The polls have opened on which of the six different grogs will be the newest member of the Slow Boat family. Options include the Sea Anchor Imperial Vanilla Stout, the Black Butte IPA and the Rowlock Rauch Beer. Head along here to make your choice.

Have you heard of Momo yet? In the vein of Weixin or We Chat, it's the latest of the "find-out-which-strangers-are-uncomfortably-close-and-using-this-too"-style smart phone apps that the cool kids are courting with at the moment. Sensing an opportunity, Fubar will host the city's first Momo party on Monday (November 5). It's only available in Chinese at the moment, though an English iPhone version is about to be rolled out – Androids will have to wait a few more months to court in the Queens on Momo – but Fubar will be handing out tips at the party on how to use the app.

Really exciting news reached us this week as it was confirmed that American comedian Arj Barker will be performing in Beijing later this month. The Flight of the Conchords star will perform two nights on November 21 and 22 at Blue Frog Indigo.

As for this weekend, Pancake Lee's B-Side China Tour gets underway tonight at Haze. The local spinner will perform alongside Huang Weiwei and VJ Sonar.lj before the trio head south.

The 19th installment of The Drop goes ahead on Saturday night. They managed to get UK spinner Warrior One over for the show and he'll perform alongside regulars Oshi, Yauman and Donkey Tonk at the Lantern event.

It's a big weekend at Migas; they host their The Bar Kick Off Party tonight before welcoming Alton Miller tomorrow for the sixth installment of their Detroit Series.

Wherever you get to this weekend, have fun.