Boozing Guide for the BJ Invitational Craft Beer Fest, Mar 23-25

Great Leap Brewing (GLB)’s fourth Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival returns this weekend (Mar 23-25) at TRB Copper. This year's festival boasts a whopping 200-plus beers encompassing 43 styles and from 39 breweries all spread out over three days and five sessions. I don’t know about you but we're counting down the hours until this particularly beery weekend begins, though we're having trouble deciding which session to attend. Now that the full beer list has been released, it should make the decision just that little bit easier (or not).

Beer is the cure! Beer is the answer! Before I go crazy and turn myself into a poet, I've apparently already gone completely mad in making the easy-to-follow beer list below. Each one of the 210 brews present is divided by brewery, country, style, ABV, and at which session they'll be available (indicated by a 1). You can download the full spreadsheet here so you can peruse, order, and print at your leisure: thebeijinger.com/sites/default/files/glb_festival_beer_list.xlsx. You're welcome!

Tickets for each 3- to 4-hour session are RMB 200 or buy a weekend pass for RMB 550. If you want to go all-out, slap down RMB 980 for entry into every single session as well as the Brewers' Brunch on Sunday. Tickets can be bought via 247Tickets here: 247tickets.com/t/beijing-invitational-craft-beer-festival.

Friday, Mar 23

• Drinking Session 1: 6-10pm
  

Saturday, Mar 24  

• Drinking Session 2: 12.30-3.30pm
  

• Drinking Session 3: 4-7pm
  

• Drinking Session 4: 7.30-10.30pm
  

Sunday, Mar 25 Sun  

• Brewer's Brunch: 11am-2pm
  

• Drinking Session 5: 3-7pm
  

Many of these rare beers traveled halfway around the world to get here, a testament to some fine planning from the GLB team and an obvious drive to put on one of the best beer festivals that Beijing has ever seen. So for now, get some rest and lay off the booze in preparation for a fine weekend of drinking and discovery ahead.

Images courtesy of Great Leap Brewing

---

Top Stories This Week:

Beijingers Are Buzzing About: