4 MUST TRY CHINA BEERS

If you are a beer drinker then you are in luck, China has a wide variety of both local and Western Beers. I have managed to try a few Local ones and there are four that have gained my liking. In the following post I will discuss these beers and list them in order of my preference.

Tsingtao

Tsingtao is brewed by Tsingtao Brewery Co and is one of Chinas’ most popular (if not the most) beers. Tsingtao is produced in Qingdao (Tsingtao is a transliteration Qingdao) and is identifiable by its logo which displays the Zhan Qiao pier (a famous pier on Qingdao's southern shore).

Tsingtao is a well-hopped pilsner with an alcohol content of 4.7% and is its brewery’s best selling beer. Originally all Tsingtao Beers were brewed using spring water from the Laoshan Spring and this contributed to its characteristic taste. However in current days only those Tsingtao beers brewed by the Qingdao branch of its brewery are brewed using spring water.

Originally Tsingtao was brewed using only water, barely and hops. In modern days however rice is being used as a way to cut costs.

Tiger Beer

Even though Tiger Beer is not a Chinese produced beer it is still very popular amongst the large expat community in China.  Tiger beer is produced in Singapore and has an Alcohol content of 5%. The beer was launched in 1932 and is sold in 60 countries worldwide.

The taste of this pale larger is so good that it won gold at the 2011 World Quality Selections  and it sells so well that it’s been rated as one of Singapore’s top 10 most valuable brands.

Harbin

Harbin is another one of China’s most popular beers and when tasting it, it is no wonder why 1 million tons of it is sold annually. This pale larger was first produced in 1900 and it’s named after the city in which it was produced (i.e. Harbin)

Harbin is brewed from European and Chinese “Qindao Dahua” hops, two-row malt, and German yeast. It has an alcohol content of 4% and is China’s oldest beer.

Harbin is also one of the official partners of the NBA

Snow 

Snow is another beer that one must try when in China. It is brewed by CR Snow and has an alcohol content ranging between 2.8% and 5% (I am still to find any Snow stronger than 2.8% but I have been told they exist).

As of 2008 Snow has been labeld the best selling beer in the world and sell an outrages 100 million hectoliters a year. Snow was first produced in 1993 and since then its brewery has released a large variety of snow beers.

In 2013 Chinese drinkers drank an unbelievable 10.3 Billion litre of this rapidly selling larger.