Beer, an Omission Rectified

I will admit, that I thought of beer as a subject for this blog a little belatedly; lots of beer has passed by these lips without sharing anything about them with you. There were plenty of opportunities while traveling in different areas of China, not only to sample the beer (which I did), but to blog about it ( which I did not). I plan to rectify this, even if it means going back to where I've already been, just to fix this oversight.

It was while on our recent trip that I noticed, I mean really noticed, that everywhere that I have been, there is local beer. In preparation for this post, I did a little search about the history of beer in China. Imagine my surprise (although I really shouldn't be), when I read that beer in China has a nine thousand year old history (incidentally an older history than tea).

The ancient Chinese beer was important in ancestral worship, funeral and other rituals of Xia, Shang and Zhou dynasties. However, after Han Dynasty, Chinese beer lost its prominence to huangjiu (whatever this is).Modern beer brewery was not introduced into China until the end of 19th century when Russia first set up a brewery in Harbin, with another three followed (also in Harbin), set up by Germany, Czechoslovakia and Russia respectively. Chinese beer has become increasingly popular, first in China in the last century, and then internationally in the last few decades. While most Chinese beers are in the pilsner style, other styles are occasionally found. I'm not sure if Chinese beer is made with hops (I swear that I have seen some growing in parts of China), but beer here often contain rice and sometimes rye in addition to barley.

Tsingtao (pronounced "chingdow")is probably the best known Chinese beer abroad. It is a pretty good mild beer, that is good with food and by itself. It is also attractive because of its price; it can be found at the local 7/11 for 6 RMB for a 600 ml bottle, which is almost one Canadian dollar. The alcohol rate for Tsingtao 4.0% which is a little light by Canadian standards, but still potent enough. Since this last trip, which resulted in the buying and drinking of many local beers, I have begun to look at the alcohol content for each beer. So far, the average percentage that we found for the beers in this country is about 4.0%. I'm not sure if it is, by volume, the most popular beer here; Budweiser is gaining popularity in the Chinese market.


So to fix this gaping omission, I offer you three beers that were found in Beijing, the first of which is a dark beer. While scouting around the local convenience store for peanuts, I found this beer made by the Nanjing brewing company. Intrigued by the possibility of dark beer, I bought it. While definitely dark, it was definitely not the best beer that I have had. It was a little sweet (remember what I say about finding sweet where it should not be, and not where it should? this is yet another example)and not very flavorful. Alcohol was rated at 4.3%

The second beer was also found at the convenience store and captured my attention because of the reference to lemon. It proclaimed to be a lemon beer. Well.... it was lemony, but a little bitter and with not a lot of beer taste. Worst of all, the alcohol rate was variable; the can said that it could be anywhere from .6 to 2.3%. Although a cheap drink, the taste was too bitter, and there was no buzz at all- not worth even the cheapest of prices. [I have a photo, but it is firmly lodged in my camera- can't release it until I make more space on the laptop hard drive- will add later]

The third beer came with a bit of adventure. One night for dinner, we were lured restaurant recommended by the guide book for its food and entertainment. A short taxi cab ride later found us in a district peppered with venues marked with cyrillic alphabet. With a little hunting around, we went underground to a place called the Elephant. The menu contained beef stroganoff, all kinds of sausages, and dumplings, and the wine menu contained a plethora of vodkas. One of us ordered a beer from Bulgaria ( I think- I can't remember perfectly- the vodka was good!), and so I took a photo. The food was heavy (my goulash came with a bechamel sauce and a cheese crust- urgh, my arteries!), the vodka was good and the entertainment showed up at 10:00- just as promised. I think that our mouths hung open a little, when the Las Vegas like show girls (and boys) came on the stage and started to dance. It was a little surreal. We finished our food and drink about the time when the patrons were really starting to come in. Most of them were young men, who were speaking Russian. We noted, as we left, that the "host" who directed us to the dining area when we came in, was carrying a wand (like you find in airports) and looked more like a bouncer/security guard. I wonder, what the place would have looked like one hour later?

I know this was not a tale of a Chinese beer, but the experience was worth retelling.