Beijing Craft Beer Lovers Shocked by Sudden Closure of Great Leap Brewing #12 Venue
Craft beer lovers have been handed yet another reason to drink their sorrows away this week as a shock announcement from Great Leap Brewing (GLB) details the closure of their flagship #12 Xingfucun location this Thursday, May 10.
The message, which came via the brewery's official WeChat account just after noon today (May 8) and written by Great Leap Brewing's co-founder Carl Setzer, states that the brewery is being forced out of the location on account of the landlord being "adamant that there will no longer be tenants using this property for any and all food and beverage services."
The crackdown on F&B in the space has forced the GLB team to reach a compromise and reconsider how it will be used in future, adding that they do not intend to give up the venue entirely but instead will repurpose it for the business. In doing so, it will become home to their corporate operations, a cold storage distribution center, and office space for the staff.
As depressing as the news is that the city is to lose one of its most beloved venues, Setzer also used the opportunity to put a positive spin on things to come for GLB in Beijing and further afield. Biggest of those announcements is that they'll be launching a new taproom and restaurant in Lido, which is slowly becoming a new haven for a number of recently banished businesses. This new outing will boast 30 beers on tap as well as brews from some of GLB's closest collaborators.
READ: The Owner of Beijing's Champion Bar Talks About the Past and the Future of Craft Beer
Fans of their burgers, however, will be pleased to hear that GLB's #45 location will add them to their pizza-centric menu in the next couple of weeks. The team is also making the leap to our neighboring city of Tianjin, opening their Tianjin Production Facility. As we have written previously, the space will be used as a means for GLB to work with their international peers (think Moon Dog, Young Master, Baird Beer, Lervig, Pasteur Street, and more) to create collaboration beers for mainland and international consumption with an annual capacity of 500,000 hectoliters. Additionally, they'll continue growing their “Allied Series” – collaborations abroad between GLB and international brewers.
Over the past five years, Great Leap Brewery's #12 location has been a home to many a Beijing beer lover. The balanced mix of long benches, diner-style cubbies, and bar seating meant that the venue was perfect for socializing, with groups of friends slowly blending into one another as the beer kept flowing. Despite its bountiful space, there was rarely an evening that #12 wasn't full, and its raucous atmosphere made for many a memorable night even when it began with the old adage "I'll just stay for one."
No doubt the same will be true over the venue's final three days, as fans flock to bid Ziming Mansion farewell. As Setzer sums up in his post – and a feeling shared by most of us over the past 18 months – "It’s not the end of the world, it just sucks." We'll drink to that.
Read Setzer's statement in full here.
Photos: the Beijinger, Uni You, chifanforcharity.org
