Pushing the Craft: A Talk With Kris Li On What’s Up at Jing-A

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There are few people who could be considered legends in Beijing. Not only does someone have to have lived here for a considerable amount of time, it also helps if they’ve built something during their stay, be it a business or perhaps even a following or community. One such person who we’d definitely put in the legend category, one who has done all three of the above, is Kris Li.

The Canadian expat started Jing-A Brewing Company with co-owner and co-founder Alex Acker in 2012. The duo has seen Jing-A grow from one location to many, through thick and thin. Kris recently returned to China following time abroad, and I was able to speak with him about post-Covid recovery, and what’s on the horizon for Jing-A.

Kris Li (R) and Alex Acker (L) have seen Jing-A through thick and thin

I meet Kris on a sunny day at the brewery’s cavernous Longfusi Taproom location. Light fills the space and, even with the open windows letting the first heat of summer creep in, it’s nice and cool inside and offers respite from the outside warmth.

Immediately after shaking hands and sitting down, Kris is drawn to a change on the menu. After consulting with the floor manager, he’s keyed in to the new offering – there’s still some catching up to do after being away. Not just at Longfusi, but across the company’s 11 locations.

Consistency While Changing on the Fly

“We thought the post-Covid bounce back would be big,” says Kris of business following the easing of Covid restrictions in December. “We had a good March. It slowed down in April but things are slowly back to normal.” It’s hard to compare business to 2022 since that year was mired by lockdowns, and it’s even harder to compare to 2019 because, as Kris explains, Jing-A only had three locations at the time.

One of the better things to come out of 2022 was two new Jing-A openings in Shenzhen

The ups and downs of Covid restrictions – what with sudden lockdowns, green code requirements, bans on in-house dining – taught Kris, Alex and the Jing-A team one thing: It’s best to think on the fly and be light on your feet in the face of uncertainty.

But this is sometimes easier said than done, especially when the 11 locations across two cities come into play. “If you try to constantly change things up across 11 stores,” says Kris, “you’re gonna have a bunch of burnt-out people.”

Kris feels that in order for a craft brewery to keep going, it has to always churn out new beers

Thus, Kris says they’re looking to keep on their feet all while keeping a balance by maintaining consistency. So, while Jing-A prides itself in constantly breaking the mold and churning out new beers on a regular basis, it is also taking the time to foster a community at all their locations. This was especially true in Shenzhen.

Kris explains: “It takes a while to build up a grassroots community around what you’re doing. We don’t want to just copy-paste to new cities, we’d rather build a community around what we do; something genuine.” Shenzhen was chosen over other big cities because of the craft beer scene there, and because the city is fairly open to new concepts.

Keeping the Craft Alive

“I’d say Jing-A is almost nearing its teenage years,” Kris adds. “We’ve kind of found our stride but there are some growing pains.” This parallels Kris’ current life, in a way. He tells me he’ll be traveling back and forth between Beijing and London for the foreseeable future in order to spend more time with his daughter.

A new series Jing-A has kicked off this year is “Lager Than Life”

“She’s turning 11 soon, and these are really formative years of her life that I’d like to be there for,” Kris tells me. Much like being there for his daughter, Kris wants to be there for Jing-A, but he realizes there’s only so much he and Alex can do.

In Kris’ opinion, a craft brewery will get stale the second it stops creating. So Jing-A keeps things fresh by pumping out 50 beers a year – either new creations or bringing old classics back again. To help with this, they brought on a master brewer two years ago, Australian expat Wilson Hede, in order to keep the creative juices flowing.

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The Rest of 2023 and Beyond

Bringing Hede on board truly has kept things rolling. Along with a line of lagers, dubbed Lager Than Life, which are being released every quarter and have seen additions like an India Pale Lager (IPL) and an Italian-style lager thus far, Kris is most proud of a recent creation called Into the Wild.

They've also been doing intriguing one-off beers like the tart and funky Into the Wild

“We wanted a beer that was light but tart, so we came up with this,” he says. It’s made of a Belgian-style base combined with mixed cultures and wild yeast. The resulting brew is a slightly tart yet funky beer that’s incredibly sessionable.

Along with new beers like Into the Wild, Kris is also excited about the return of the 8x8 Beer Festival later this year.

The 8x8 Beer Festival will be back and bigger than ever in 2023

For those unfamiliar with this annual event, 8x8 started as a gathering of eight foreign breweries – the first participants were from the west coast of the US – and eight Chinese breweries to share beer and, in some instances, do collab brews to share. As the event continued each year, they’d feature beers from different countries.

The 8x8 Beer Festival became a fixture of the Beijing craft beer scene, happening without fail even during Covid times. In 2020, the spirit was kept alive thanks to the coordination of virtual collabs with previous 8x8 international alumni breweries, and although 2021 was 100 percent local breweries taking part, it grew into 16x16 – with 32 local breweries involved. It was only in 2022 that things were drastically curtailed, with the event becoming a multi-day tap takeover at Jing-A’s CBD location.

What new brews will emerge from 8x8? Better wait and find out!

This year, though, Kris reassures me that the festival is back and will be, in his words, bigger and more exciting than ever. While not yet announced, 8x8 is expected to be happening in October this year, so beer fanatics mark your calendars!

Constantly creating, staying light on the feet while maintaining a consistent quality, and learning from others via events like 8x8. These are the things that Kris, along with Jing-A co-founder Alex and the rest of the Jing-A team, constantly strive for. This has made Jing-A, and Kris by extension, legends of Beijing in their own right.

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Images: courtesy of Jing-A

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