All you need to know about this weekend's stellar beer festival

All images courtesy of Great Leap Brewing

The Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival is back with an epic line-up of breweries

Beijing’s craft beer scene has experienced huge growth over the last decade, morphing from a rag-tag gang of homebrewers tired of Yanjing to a score of professional operations from both foreign and local brewers. In celebration of this growing community, and as a testament to their own respect for the passion engendered in every pint, the guys at Great Leap Brewing have set the stage for what is, hands down, the most significant beer event on the Mainland, the Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival (BICBF).

The Beijing Invitational is not just another beer fest, 'It’s the only beer event in China where you can find diverse representation of craft beers from around the world,' says Jimmy Selent, events and communications manager at Great Leap Brewing.

'It’s supported by the brewers themselves and [the beer is] guaranteed to be fresh – chosen especially for the festival and directly imported by us'.

In other words, BICBF is anything but a boozy free-for-all. Rather than hosting a range of local breweries of varying quality, the fest invites some of the most exciting craft breweries from around the world. Rather than skulling pints, festival-goers are given a tasting glass with their ticket, which they take around to the dozens of brewers stationed around the room for a taste and a chat.

Each brewery is invited with good reason – namely that they make great beer and really want to talk to you about it. It’s a celebration of the very best craft beer in the world right now, and an opportunity to not only sample plenty of great beer but also to learn, share and gain a deeper appreciation for the art of brewing.

Who's there for the fifth BICBF

1. 8 Wired Brewing (New Zealand)

2. AJB Co. (Japan)

3. Baird Brewing Company (Japan)

4. Begyle Brewing (United States)

5. Bench Brewing Company (Canada)

6. Berlina Patagonia Brewery (Argentina)

7. Brewport (China)

8. Buddelship (Germany)

9. Cigar City Brewing (United States)

10. Coronado Brewing Company(United States)

11. Dao Brew (China)

12. Deep Creek Brewing Co.(New Zealand)

13. Devolution Brewing (China)

14. DM Brewery (China)

15. Epic Brewing Company (United States)

16. Eris Brewery and Cider House (United States)

17. FiftyFifty Brewing Co. (United States)

18. Firestone Walker Brewing Company (United States)

19. Half Acre Beer Co. (United States)

20. Hallertau (New Zealand)

21. Heretic Brewing Company (United States)

22. Heroes Beer Co. (Hong Kong)

23. Jolly Pumpkin Artisan Ales (United States)

24. Left Hand Brewing Company (United States)

25. Lervig AS (Norway)

26. Lindheim Ølkompani (Norway)

27. Magpie Brewing Co. (South Korea)

28. Minoh Beer (Japan)

29. Moon Dog Craft Brewery (Australia)

30. New Belgium Brewing Company (United States)

31. New Holland Brewing Co. (United States)

32. Oedipus (The Netherlands)

33. Oskar Blues Brewery (United States)

34. Pasteur Street Brewing Co. (Vietnam)

35. Peñón del Aguila (Argentina)

36. Pipeworks Brewing Co. (United States)

37. Shangri-la-beer (China)

38. Siren Craft Brew (United Kingdom)

39. Strong Ale Works (China)

40. SUNMAI (Taiwan)

41. The Bruery LLC (United States)

42. Three Weavers Brewing (United States)43. Warpigs Brewpub (Denmark)

44. Wolf of the Willows Brewing (Australia)

45. Yeastie Boys (New Zealand)

46. Young Master Brewery (Hong Kong)

How it works

The festival is broken up into five three- to four-hour sessions over three days. Ticket holders enjoy unlimited pours from the attending breweries and have the chance to discuss the beers with the brewers. Each session is limited to 240 attendees, which means no long queues for the popular brews.

Housed within TRB Copper's impeccably refurbished copper wire factory, festival-goers will be treated to a unique menu of canapés and small bites designed from TRB’s award-winning kitchen to pair perfectly with the complex flavours of the beers.

Not sure which session (if not all) you should attend? Click here to find out which brews will be poured by which brewmasters at each one. 

By the numbers

3 Days of tasting sessions and events.

46 Breweries in attendance.

281 Unique beers, all brewed and specially imported for the festival.

16 Countries represented from four continents: North America, Europe, Asia and Oceania.

228RMB Price for a one-session ticket. Three-session weekend passes also available (628RMB) as well as an all-session weekend pass (1,028RMB).

Session times
Friday 29 March: 6-10pm.
Saturday 30 March: 12:30-3:30pm; 4-7pm; 7:30-10:30pm.
Sunday 31 March: 1.30-5.30pm.

To get tickets, extract the QR code below. 

For more information, hit 'Read more' below.

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