Tap Into Fangjia Hutong: Beer Keg Brew Pub

“I like beer. I like it better than sex,” Ming Bo quipped when asked why he started brewing beer. Beer Keg Brew Pub, his love child, may just be the best beer brewing in Beijing. For Bo is a beer scholar, a beer disciple. For The Love of Hops: The Practical Guide to Aroma, Bitterness and the Culture of Hops by Stan Hieronymous lays open at page 176 at a chapter called “Alpha Acids and Beta Acids” on one of four tables inside the micro space. He studied under Master Gao, founder of the first China-owned brewery and author of Get Your Own Brew. He is also a perfectionist.

“You can’t cut corners and make beer this good,” Adam Gottschalk, an alcohol importer, explains over a Hoppy Amber (30 RMB). And it is indeed hoppy, unusual for an amber ale, but this doesn’t overwhelm the sweet tones of floral malt. The 13 Stout is a little too sweet and sour.

Right now, there are six kegs tapped: a lager, four ales, and the stout. The Catbird Ass 90 minute IPA, a nod to Dogfish Head Brewery in the US, was not available on our initial visit, but we returned. Its sharp bite cuts open taste buds, allowing for its full, bitter taste to be realized.

Ming Bo says he daydreams about becoming a “true brewer” by studying the art abroad, then returning to start a “real” microbrewery. But Bo: ‘I brew, therefore I am,’ and by that logic, you are a true brewer.

I asked him why his regulars are all Chinese. “Nevermind,” he said. “Once foreigners taste my beer, they’ll come back.”

Beer Keg Brew Pub
Daily 6pm-midnight. 65 Fangjia Hutong, Dongcheng District (157 1097 6140)
东城区方家胡同65号
650m southwest of Yonghegong Lama Temple station (Lines 2 and 5)

Also try: Panda Brew Pub, NBeer Pub

Photos: Ken