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Craft Beer Leaps Forward: Q&A With Great Leap CEO Allen Lueth
At the end of last year, waves started to ripple through the capital’s craft beer scene – Great Leap Brewing, one of the city’s first independent breweries, had started to make some changes, all starting with their logo.
The iconic yellow and red clinched fist over the name Great Leap Brewing – or GLB – that had come to define the small brewer since its inception in 2010 was gone. In its place is a new streamlined logo – one which put the Chinese for Great Leap, 大跃 dàyuè, front and center.
This wasn’t the only change. Soon a line of four new beers in bright, shiny cans came along, with plans for more in the future. All these changes are the initiatives of Great Leap’s CEO Allen Lueth, who took over the company in February 2021.
The Minnesotan, an avid fan of cycling who has been involved in China’s craft beer scene for quite some time, is filled with bright new ideas for the brewery. And even though the change in leadership has birthed its fair share of critics, this isn’t slowing him down.
Hello, Allen! Happy Year of the Tiger to you. How are things going at Great Leap following two new years?A
Happy New Years to you and all your readers, too! I just finished my first year leading Great Leap, and it has been an incredible year! This new year, 2022, is off to a great start, beginning with our brand upgrade, launch of new can designs and new beers, more sales outlets, and expansion into Shanghai. We have been through a lot of changes, and I am really excited about where we are now and where we are heading. Q
What got you into craft brewing, and what led you to want to join on as CEO at Great Leap?A
I personally experienced the US craft beer revolution, and it was riveting. I remember my first craft beer – a Sam Adams Boston Lager – and thinking how different it was than the prevalent industrial beers. I have been a beer drinker all my life. Beer can be flavorful, diverse, and exciting. In the US, wine drinkers used to look down on beer drinkers. Not anymore. Drink what you like and be proud of your choice. Chinese consumers deserve the same choice. We are bringing new experiences and happiness to them.
Great Leap was the pioneer in the Beijing craft beer industry. The company led the craft beer industry development. I want to build on that base, and make Great Leap China’s national brand. I am living my dream, helping lead China’s craft beer revolution.
Great Leap's new cans and beers
We understand Great Leap has unveiled a new series of beers following a rebranding. Can you tell us about these beers?A
As society and markets change, it should be the goal of every company – regardless of the industry – to find that right mix of old and new. Each year, Great Leap Brewing produces approximately 60 individual beers – both innovation beers and classics. Our new core range features four beers. Banana Wheat continues to be our best seller. It is a great tasting German hefeweizen. Next, our Hidden Noble IPA is the exact same formula as Hidden General, just with a new name so as to incorporate our new branding strategy. It remains a quaffable, dry-hopped session IPA with a nice addition of chrysanthemum tea on the hot side to give it a well-balanced flavor. Our Long Oasis Kölsch is an easy-to-drink ale that goes superbly with BBQ and pretty much anything else you can think of! Finally, our Daredevil Dream Hazy IPA contains hefty doses of American hops that make the beer both fruity and juicy!Q
I have a few friends who tried some of the new beers, and, while they do like them, they remarked that the beers just don't feel like Great Leap beers. This isn't just in regard to flavor, but logo and can design as well. Why was there such a drastic change?AOn the branding, we wanted to go back to the roots of Great Leap. The name comes from a Song dynasty poem: "Take a Great Leap when you are young and passionate." However, many customers affiliated the former logo, can designs, and beer names with sensitive historical events. We rise above that. We started craft beer in 2010 in Beijing when no one else did. We made a beer with Sichuan peppercorn and honey (Honey Ma Gold). We launch new innovative beers every month, and cumulatively have created nearly 200 beers in the last eleven and half years.
Our new logo actually expresses the historical foundations of Great Leap: We are bold, innovative, and daring.
The new logo doesn't look too shabby on a pint glass
Staying on the topic of new vs. old, there's a big contrast between these beers and Great Leap's classics like the Honey Ma Gold and the Little General IPA. Will there be any changes or updates to these as well?A
Innovation is like this. We simultaneously move forward and embrace our history. In the craft beer industry globally, nothing is sacred except a dedication to quality ingredients and making the best beer possible. We currently have no plans to change the Honey Ma Gold or the Little General IPA or the Pale Ale #6 for that matter. And we will continue to innovate and make new and different beers. At Great Leap Brewing, we cherish customer feedback as it forces us to never be satisfied with the status quo and to continue to improve and innovate.Q
There's been a lot of hype about the changes at Great Leap, but on the flipside this has resulted in a bit of backlash from long-time fans. In an industry that's built on an anti-corporate and independent mindset, how do you keep a balance and move forward while keeping that independent spirit strong?A
I think people occasionally get caught up in words and generalizations, especially on the anti-corporate side. If you mean anti-corporate as in cheapening the quality of beer in order to increase profits, we are vehemently anti-corporate. But if you mean creating standard operating procedures (SOPs) for making consistent, quality beer and buying the best raw materials from both within China and globally, we are proud of that. I don't see a conflict. At the end of the day, we want everyone who steps into a Great Leap Brewing location or drinks our canned and draft beer elsewhere to simply experience great craft beer with each sip!
CEO Allen Lueth with the Great Leap team
In an interview with Jim Boyce of Beijing Boyce (beijingboyce.com), you said "the [craft beer] trade needs to continue to innovate and to expand boundaries, to understand that everyone's taste buds are different …" With this in mind, where do you see Great Leap taking craft beer five to ten years from now? What will be different and what will have changed?A
Glad you read that, I am good friends with Jim. Firstly, we are going to continue to add to our already large portfolio, and even explore producing other alcoholic drinks such as our experimental Bubbly range (our high-quality version of hard seltzer, fermented with yeast from Champagne and with real fruit juice added). I can't tell you what popular beer trends will be five or ten years from now, but I can tell you that we will be on the cutting edge. Secondly, restaurants in China are going to start carrying a wide variety of beer options instead of just Tsingtao and other industrial lagers. Instead, it will be Great Leap and other local craft brands that people will be choosing from. Finally, Great Leap is going to be available all over China. Chinese consumers in every corner of the country deserve more than they are getting now.
The brewery is cooperating with Charlie's Burger of Shanghai to open two beer gardens in the city
Going back to something you mentioned earlier, namely your expansion to Shanghai, what will you be doing there, and why Shanghai?A
A lot of people tend to think of Shanghai and Beijing as rivals – a friendly rivalry, but it's still a rivalry – and Shanghai is a competitive market. Any brand coming into China will want to go to Shanghai first, and my initial thought was to go to a smaller city. But I came to the opposite conclusion, namely that even though they're competitors, people travel between Beijing and Shanghai all the time.
So rather than doing the Walmart strategy like in the US – go to the small cities first before attacking the big ones – I thought "no, I'm gonna go straight for Shanghai." We're working with , who wants to do beer gardens, so we're going to join with Charlie's to open two beer gardens – one this coming weekend (Mar 12) and another a week later. I'm working with Charlie because he's a no-nonsense, roll-up-your-sleeves kind of guy who I can trust.
The start of something new at the Great Leap x Charlie's Beer Garden
Besides the new beers, new logo and the like, and keeping things within our current year, what new things are planned for Great Leap in terms of community involvement and initiatives?A
One of the things closest to our hearts is the environment. Our brewery is probably the most environmentally friendly brewery in China and we are on the path to carbon neutrality. We are even looking at putting solar panels on the roof of our brewery – we have over 17,000sqm of roof space! Then it comes down to a lot of location-specific events, like the Maovember event that we did with Jim Boyce last year. We also will continue our support of local groups such as the Beijing LGBT Center, through events such as the Gaymazing Race and our annual Halloween Party. Finally, we have even begun sponsoring local athletic initiatives such as the Beijing International Ice Hockey League and the Beijing Softball League. We even produced specially brewed beer cans for them, such as the Parking Lot Pilsner and Double Play Pale Ale! As always, even with our growth, Great Leap will continue to support the local community. That's what craft beer is all about!
Giving a presentation on China's craft beer scene
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Images courtesy of Great Leap Brewing
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