Booze News: Imperial Stouts at Beersmith, Savage Wines at Merchants, and All-You-Can-Drink for Teachers

Thirsty? Wet your whistle with Booze News, our wrap-up of the week's best bar deals, parties, drink concoctions, industry gossip, and more.

Beersmith imperial stout tasting

It's a god-given fact that thick black liquids with creamy and frothy heads are one of the easiest ways to dispel winter shivers. Or maybe it's because these particular liquids ring in at a huge 10 percent-plus ABV... Either way, Beersmith is doing their part to keep us warm over the winter months with their annual imperial stout vertical tasting. For RMB 148 you'll get a tasting paddle with Beersmith's newly released Russian imperial stout (and boy is it smooth!), its coffee-flavored cousin, and last year's ever-so-frothy edition for comparison purposes, as well as a side dish. In fact, this new tradition of saving last year's vintage and allowing customers to try the aged version was born of the coronavirus crisis, as the batch remained unsold, but the brewers are now planning on making it an annual practice, so mark you calendar for next year as well to see how the 2020 version tastes 12 months from now.

The CBD brewery describes this year's stout as featuring "nine different malts with a spectrum of flavors like cocoa, roasted coffee, and praline," with "sweet and bitter notes that play off of each other amongst layers of vinous alcohol."

Sake tasting at Niutie Izakaya

If you're looking for a crash course on some of the finest sakes coming out of Japan right now, look no further than this all-star sake tasting at Niutie Izakaya in Mazidian. Between 6.30-9.30pm on Saturday, you'll sip on eight rice wines with guidance from the "Walking Sake Dictionary," Wang Shanshan. Tickets are RMB 888 and you'll need to speak Chinese to get the most out of the experience. Book and find the full details here.

Savage Wines tasting at The Merchants

The Merchants continue their run of world-famous wine tastings with an afternoon courtesy of Savage Wines, one of the rarest and most popular wines in South Africa, this Sunday, 2-4pm. Headed by Duncan Savage (pictured above), "one of South Africa’s pre-eminent crafters of elegant white wines, especially the Sauvignon Blanc based wines of Cape Point Vineyards," the event will feature a guided tasting of six bottles, including the winery's White Western Cape 2019, Thief in the Night, and Girl Next Door, among others. Entry is RMB 350, and you can get the full scoop here.

Hulu's all-you-can-drink teacher appreciation

Teachers can get a bad rep but truth bet told there's something extremely noble (and slightly insane) about wanting to spend your days in a small room surrounded by screaming children. The thought alone is enough to make many of us drink, which we can only assume led to Hulu (Next to WAB) conjuring up their latest deal: all-you-can-drink for teachers if you spend over RMB 98 on food. Good until Dec 30 (and barring Dec 24-25), anyone who can show their school staff pass is privy to free-flow draft beer, gin and tonics, house wine, or soft drinks. You deserve it, teachers! Read more via our sister site beijingkids.

New brews from Crafters

Finally, we end with one of the best beer labels to ever come out of Beijing courtesy of the new and majestic Above the Clouds (9 percent ABV) Russian imperial stout from Crafters. The beer, a collaboration with Arabica Roasters and adorned with an imagining of what Putin would look like riding an eagle, is just one of three new gluten-free brews Crafters have launched just before Christmas. The other two offerings are a new batch of the brewery's flagship Transatlantic IPA (6.5 percent ABV) and another collaboration beer, this one dubbed the Together Strong (7 percent ABV) smoked plum red lager with Prodigy Brewing. Read how to get them here.

EAT: New Menus at Bottega and Forno, Hot Pot at Superfly, Early Christmas Brunch at Zarah

Images: YesMore Content (via Unsplash), courtesy of the organizers, Alice Dietrich (via Unsplash)