Spring is here, the sun is out, the birds are chirping, and we are only three weeks away from Great Leap’s 5th Beijing Invitational Craft Beer Festival! What does that mean? After muddling around working hard and enjoying springtime for the next three weeks, you’ll finally be able to unleash yourself and taste all the fantastic beers brewed by over 40 different breweries from all over the world in one place! This week, allow us to introduce to you our honorable Asian breweries, the list of which is stronger (and longer) than ever.

AJB Co. (Japan)

AJB stands for Anglo-Japanese Brewing, which is based in Nozawa Onsen in Nagano, Japan. It’s their first time to attend the BICBF, and we couldn’t be more excited to have husband and wife team Tom and Emiko Livesey and their wonderful creations here in Beijing. We recommend trying their King Kong Knee Drop Imperial Stout as well as their Winter Berry Imperial Porter, both of which are aged in bourbon barrels.

Baird Brewing (Japan)

Founded in 2000 by husband and wife duo Bryan and Sayuri Baird, Baird has essentially defined Japanese craft beer since its inception by providing small-batch beers with painstaking care and passion. Baird Beer is one of our oldest friends and has been at every single BICBF (we also feature them on tap at all three of our locations). Even though they are bringing a whopping ten different beers, make sure to try their West Coast Wheat Wine. This seasonal (10%ABV) Wheat Wine is based on the British barley wine recipe and was created on the West Coast of the US in the 1980s.

Minoh (Japan)

Opened in 1997 in Osaka, Minoh is owned and operated by the Ohshita family, which had run a liquor retail shop for thirty years prior to the brewery’s opening. Kaori, the oldest of three daughters in the family, is the head brewer. With eight beers on tap, be sure try their Sanshou W-IPA (W means double), which has a 9% ABV and is brewed with sansho pepper from Japan.

Magpie (South Korea)

Magpie is one of the first craft breweries to emerge out of South Korea and has been making solid brews since their founding. Founder and owner Erik Moynihan will make his way to Beijing for the second time to attend the BICBF with nine of his beers. Be sure to taste the Last Train Baltic Porter and Sour Green Frog, which is a refreshing winter golden ale with green tangerines from Erik and Tiffany's (Erik’s wife and Magpie’s co-founder) house in Donghoecheon.

Young Master (Hong Kong)

Then we have Young Master, which opened in 2013 as the pioneering brewery in Hong Kong. Even now, Young Master remains one of the most well-known breweries in Hong Kong and their beers have been rewarded at various competitions around the world. It’s their third time to attend the BICBF and the founder, Rohit, and his team will bring some of their best brews, including their Days of Being Wild Raspberry, which is a single Foeder Sour Ale, and the Orange is the New Black Porter.

Heroes Beer Co. (Hong Kong)

Heroes will make their BICBF debut this year, and as a brewery they believe in “unleashing the hero within every beer lover to work together and create the most unique and inspiring beers to share with the world.” Chris Wong is bringing five of their best brews, including the 2017 AIBA Bronze medal winner – Cereusly IPA – as well as Berry Belly, which is a light and refreshing Berliner Weisse.

Pasteur Street (Vietnam)

Founded in 2014 and among the first craft breweries in Vietnam, Pasteur Street has been making waves since their very beginning. They’ll be making their second trip up to Beijing this year and pour you their 2016 World Beer Cup Gold Medal-winning Cycle Stout, along with Juicy IPA, Chocolate IPA, and four other beers.

Sunmai (Taiwan)

Craft beer wouldn’t exist in Taiwan if it wasn’t for Sunmai paving the way. Also in the five-time BICBF club, they are bringing six of their most popular brews this year, including their World Beer Cup Gold Medal-winning Honey Lager (5% ABV), their Rye IPA (6.5% ABV) that is dry-hopped with German Grüngeist hops, and their 2018 IBC Gold winner Coffee Stout (5.1% ABV). Make sure to let their brewmaster Chris Nueter know what you think about his beers, he loves the attention.

Brewport (China)

Located in Puko, Sichuan, Brewport provides western food and craft beer. Former Great Leap Brewing brewer XiaoDong will highlight five of his beers, including his spiced beer, fruit beer, nitro Stout, American amber, and American IPA.

Dao Brew (China)

Chengdu Harvest was founded at or around the same time as Great Leap Brewing (ask Geezer, he doesn’t remember either) and remains one of our closest friends in the Chinese craft beer industry, especially after we brewed our first collab together back in 2015. Geezer will be bringing five of their finest brews, two of which are completely new beers to be unveiled as a surprise for the festival.

Devolution Brewing (China)

Devolution is Dalian’s first craft brewery. They were founded in 2014 and continue to consistently make solid beers, providing a great representation for northern China in the craft beer world. They are brining five beers this time, and be sure to try their Devolver APA and their 8% Banna Belgian Dubbel.

DM Brewery (China)

One of China’s newer breweries and a good friend of Great Leap’s, DM Brewery is making their BICBF debut. They will be showcasing a barrel-aged barley wine, ginger and honey spiced beer, raspberry cider, milk stout, and American IPA.

Shang-ri-la Bee (China)

Founded by Sonny Gyalzur, Shangri-La Beer is based in Shang-ri-la, Yunnan Province and is famous for using Tibetan Mountain spring water, heirloom Qingker barley, and imported German hops. Founder Sonny will be pouring their Buddha’s Hand New England IPA, Afterglow Sake Gose, Sub-zero Hero Eisbock, and a fruit beer at BICBF for the first time.

Strong Ale Works（China）

Founder and brewmaster John Herrington has been a staple of not only the Qingdao craft beer community since he founded Strong Ale Works over 7 years ago, but is also a common thread of DNA through the history of Chinese craft. Great Leap Brewing is proud to have John back at the BICBF for a fourth time to pour his smoked Lager, IPA, Porter, Kettle Sour, as well as a brand new beer he doesn’t even know the name for yet!

There you go, 14 breweries from Asia. The tickets are selling fast, so make sure you grab your spot before you miss the chance to taste these delicious beers. All the breweries and beers we mentioned above will be at the fifth BICBF during March 29-31 at TRB Copper. Scan the QR Code or click Read More (link to 247Tickets) below to get your tickets. See you all there!