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Beer in China has become increasingly popular in the last century due to the popularity of local and imported brands. Chinese beer has also seen a rise in popularity internationally in the last few decades. While most Chinese beers are
pale lager Pale lager is a very pale-to- golden-colored lager beer with a well- attenuated body and a varying degree of noble hop bitterness. The brewing process for this beer developed in the mid-19th century, when Gabriel Sedlmayr took pale ale bre ...
s, other styles are occasionally found, such as Tsingtao Dark Beer.


History

Production and consumption of
beer Beer is one of the oldest and the most widely consumed type of alcoholic drink in the world, and the third most popular drink overall after water and tea. It is produced by the brewing and fermentation of starches, mainly derived from ce ...
in
China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...
has occurred for around nine thousand years, with recent archaeological findings showing that Chinese villagers were brewing beer-type alcoholic drinks as far back as 7000 BC on small and individual scales. Made with rice, honey, grape, and hawthorn fruits, this early beer seems to have been produced similarly to that of ancient Egypt and Mesopotamia. Ancient Chinese beer was important in ancestral worship, funeral and other rituals of Xia,
Shang The Shang dynasty (), also known as the Yin dynasty (), was a Chinese royal dynasty founded by Tang of Shang (Cheng Tang) that ruled in the Yellow River valley in the second millennium BC, traditionally succeeding the Xia dynasty and ...
and Zhou dynasties, and the beer was called as Lao Li (醪醴 in
oracle bone script Oracle bone script () is an ancient form of Chinese characters that were engraved on oracle bonesanimal bones or turtle plastrons used in pyromantic divination. Oracle bone script was used in the late 2nd millennium BC, and is the earliest k ...
). However, after the
Han Dynasty The Han dynasty (, ; ) was an Dynasties in Chinese history, imperial dynasty of China (202 BC – 9 AD, 25–220 AD), established by Emperor Gaozu of Han, Liu Bang (Emperor Gao) and ruled by the House of Liu. The dynasty was preceded by th ...
, Chinese beer faded from prominence in favor of huangjiu, which remained the case for the next two millennia. Modern beer brewing was not introduced into China until the end of 19th century, when Polish people established a brewery in Harbin, with another three following (also in Harbin), set up by
Germans , native_name_lang = de , region1 = , pop1 = 72,650,269 , region2 = , pop2 = 534,000 , region3 = , pop3 = 157,000 3,322,405 , region4 = , pop4 = ...
, Czechoslovaks and
Poles Poles,, ; singular masculine: ''Polak'', singular feminine: ''Polka'' or Polish people, are a West Slavic nation and ethnic group, who share a common history, culture, the Polish language and are identified with the country of Poland in ...
respectively. Japanese also established in 1934 in
Mukden Shenyang (, ; ; Mandarin pronunciation: ), formerly known as Fengtian () or by its Manchu name Mukden, is a major Chinese sub-provincial city and the provincial capital of Liaoning province. Located in central-north Liaoning, it is the provinc ...
Manchurian Beer Manchurian may refer to: * Manchuria, a region in Northeast Asia ** Manchurian people, a Tungusic people who originated in Manchuria (today's Northeastern China) ** Manchurian language, a Tungusic language spoken in Northeast China * Manchurian ...
, which later became Shenyang
Snow Beer Snow ( simplified Chinese: 雪花啤酒, literally ''Snowflake beer'') is a brand of lager beer from Shenyang, China. It is brewed by CR Snow, that (until October 2016) was a joint venture between SABMiller and China Resources Enterprises. W ...
and then acquired in 1994 by China Resources Enterprises.


Emergence of Craft Beer in China

The emergence of craft beer in China started in the large metro areas including Beijing, Shanghai and Guangzhou. Once primarily of interest to expat drinkers, local consumer interest in premium brands and local and imported craft beers is currently on the rise. However, Chinese government regulations have been cited as an obstacle facing new breweries or those wishing to expand bottling distribution.


Brewing ingredients

Chinese beers often contain rice, sorghum and sometimes rye in addition to
barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley p ...
. Some beer is produced that uses
bitter melon ''Momordica charantia'' (commonly called bitter melon; Goya; bitter apple; bitter gourd; bitter squash; balsam-pear; with many more names listed below) is a tropical and subtropical vine of the family Cucurbitaceae, widely grown in Asia, Af ...
instead of hops as the bittering agent. Chinese media reported in 2001 that as many as 95% of all Chinese beers contained
formaldehyde Formaldehyde ( , ) ( systematic name methanal) is a naturally occurring organic compound with the formula and structure . The pure compound is a pungent, colourless gas that polymerises spontaneously into paraformaldehyde (refer to section ...
, to prevent sedimentation in bottles and cans while in storage. Though, the amount did not exceed that of foreign beers, much of it was produced during fermentation and was not in the consumer product (read page two of the article you linked rather than dishonestly presenting anti Chinese narratives) This practice has now been made illegal.


Economy

Despite being a country where more than one in three Chinese people are estimated to genetically have Asian flush syndrome, China is deemed the world's largest beer market in terms of global consumption, followed by the United States and Brazil. Snow Beer, produced by
CR Snow CR Snow (officially China Resources Snow Breweries Ltd.) is a brewing company with its headquarters in Beijing, China. Originally known as Shenyang Snow Beer Company before acquired by China Resources Enterprise, it was a joint venture between Ch ...
is the best selling beer in China, holding 21.7% market share, having recently overtaken Tsingtao Beer, produced by Tsingtao Brewery, which is the brand most widely exported to other countries. Tsingtao Beer is brewed in the city of Qingdao (formerly spelled ''Tsingtao'' in EFEO Chinese transcription) which was a German base in the time of unequal treaties and late-colonial western influence in China. The Germans needed beer for their sailors, soldiers and traders, and production continued after they lost the city to the Japanese in
World War I World War I (28 July 1914 11 November 1918), often abbreviated as WWI, was List of wars and anthropogenic disasters by death toll, one of the deadliest global conflicts in history. Belligerents included much of Europe, the Russian Empire, ...
. Apart from Tsingtao, other major Chinese brewing groups include China Pabst Blue Ribbon, Yanjing, Sie-Tang Lio and
Zhujiang Beer Zhujiang Brewery (Zhujiang Brewery Group Co., Ltd) () was established in 1985 and is a large state-owned enterprise which deals mainly in beer and related products such as labels, cartons, crates, etc. The brewery is one of the largest single site ...
. Many major international brewers now have interests in, or joint ventures with, Chinese breweries, and popular international brands such as Carlsberg are now produced in China. This gives them access to the Chinese market while providing capital and expertise to help upgrade local brewing standards, albeit at the cost of variety. Brewpubs are gaining popularity in China, primarily in major cities which have a resident western community, though there are a few exceptions in more remote locations lik
Bad Monkey Brewery
in Dali Old Town, Yunnan
Shanghai BreweryBoxing Cat Brewery
The BREW and Dr. Beer are some of the more prominent craft breweries in Shanghai. In Beijing, several craft breweries such as Great Leap Brewing
Jing-A Brewing
Panda Brew Pub, and Slow Boat Brewery have become staples in the local nightlife scene. Another popular brewpub is Kaiwei Beer House, a chain based in Wuhan. Craft beer festivals have been popularized since the early 2010s in Beijing and Shanghai. Two popular beer festivals in Shanghai
Shanghai International Beer Festival
an
Shanghai Beer Week
were both started in 2012. In 2015 market share of imported beer reached 1.14% and volume increased by 58.9% to 538.5 million litres.


List of major Chinese beers

Note: This is a partial list of China's major breweries. The vast majority of China's breweries serve only their local vicinity. * Gleckes Beer (格力森啤酒)-北京格力森酒业有限公司 * Hangzhou Qiandaohu Beer Co., Ltd. (杭州千岛湖啤酒有限公司) - producer of Cheerday Beer * Harbin Beer (哈尔滨啤酒) * Reeb (力波啤酒) *
Snow beer Snow ( simplified Chinese: 雪花啤酒, literally ''Snowflake beer'') is a brand of lager beer from Shenyang, China. It is brewed by CR Snow, that (until October 2016) was a joint venture between SABMiller and China Resources Enterprises. W ...
(雪花啤酒) *
Tsingtao Beer Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd. () is China's second largest brewery, with about 15% of domestic market share and also accounts for half of China’s national beer exports. It was founded in 1903 by German settlers in Tsingtau ( Qingdao), Kiautschou ...
(青岛啤酒) *
Yanjing Beer Beijing Yanjing Brewery () is a brewing company founded in 1980 in Beijing, China. Yanjing Beer was designated as the official beer served at state banquets in the Great Hall of the People in February 1995. The company produced 57.1 million hecto ...
(燕京啤酒) *
Zhujiang Beer Zhujiang Brewery (Zhujiang Brewery Group Co., Ltd) () was established in 1985 and is a large state-owned enterprise which deals mainly in beer and related products such as labels, cartons, crates, etc. The brewery is one of the largest single site ...
(珠江啤酒) * China Pabst Blue Ribbon (蓝带啤酒) * Wusu Beer (乌苏啤酒) Xinjiang * Kingway Beer (金威啤酒) * Lushan Beer(庐山啤酒) * Shangri-La Beer(香格里拉啤酒)


Hong Kong beers

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China (abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a List of cities in China, city and Special administrative regions of China, special ...
has a large brewery owned by
San Miguel Corporation San Miguel Corporation, abbreviated as SMC, is a Philippine multinational conglomerate headquartered in Mandaluyong, Metro Manila. The company is one of the largest and most diversified conglomerates in the Philippines. Originally founded ...
of the Philippines, as well as a microbrewery producing several beers for the local market.


Non-Alcoholic Beer Market in China

There is a growing consumer inclination towards less strong beer in China as health conscious millennials are seeking wholesome and lower caloric options in their choice of beer, and consumers who want low alcohol and healthier drinks are noted to be mainly young women. According to a study by market intelligence agency Mintel, China has the highest amount of product launches of low or zero alcohol beer (below 3.5 percent ABV) in the Asia Pacific region in 2016, and over one in four (29 percent) beers launched in China in that year, were of low or non alcoholic beers.
Qingdao Beer Tsingtao Brewery Co. Ltd. () is China's second largest brewery, with about 15% of domestic market share and also accounts for half of China’s national beer exports. It was founded in 1903 by German settlers in Tsingtau ( Qingdao), Kiautschou ...
s launched the first non-alcoholic beer in China in 2012 with its product, 'Qingdao 0.00', that is brewed from Czech hops and Australian barley. Jonny Forsyth, a global drinks analyst of Mintel firm, stated "..(the) research indicates that Chinese consumers, in general, prefer less strong beer in terms of ABV, compared to the global market". Consumers in china tend to gravitate towards tried and trusted brands for their purchases in low or non alcoholic beers, with big companies like Heineken and Qingdao enjoying massive support from consumers based on sales and annual profits.


See also

*
Beer and breweries by region This is a list of articles and categories dealing with beer and breweries by region: the breweries and beers in various regions. Beer is the world's most widely consumed alcoholic drink, and is the third-most popular drink overall, after water an ...
* Shangri-La Beer


References


External links


Fermented beverages of pre- and proto-historic ChinaBeer-Drinking Etiquette in China (Archived copy)5,000-Year-Old Chinese Beer Recipe Revealed
National Public Radio {{Beers of the world Chinese alcoholic drinks Industry in China