We Live in Hop
From having only one real craft brewery just two years ago, Hong Kong now boasts as many as 10, with four more rumored to open in 2016.
Kowloon Bay Brewery
Kowloon Bay Brewery is the brainchild of brewer Mike Bardill and Ging Van, who noticed the lack of good craft beers all over Asia during their travels around the region. But that’s all changed in the past few years. “Just a few years ago, we had less than a handful of locally brewed craft beers,“ says Van. “Now we have 10-plus breweries around Hong Kong and the number is still growing! This city has been waiting for fresh, unpasteurized, locally brewed beer for a while.“ Van adds that it’s a growing market among expats and locals alike. “More and more local Chinese are appreciating our styles of craft beers,“ she says “We are even seeing a growth in the 20s-30s female market as well, which was a nice surprise.“
What to try: In terms of preferred styles, Van says the brewery’s Weizen wheat beer and its hoppy, grapefruity Pale Ale seems to be more popular with the Hong Kong Chinese crowd, while the classically hoppy American IPA and Amber Ale are most popular with the overall audience. Another special brew is the Gluten Free Copper Ale, Asia’s first gluten-free craft beer.
Gweilo Beer
Joe Gould of Gweilo Beer says that when creating its distinctive session-style ales, which range between 4 and 6 percent, he took two factors into account: Hong Kong’s heat and humidity, and the fact that the craft beer market here is still very immature. “We have tried to create beers that are crisp and refreshing with tropical aromas and tastes, while making them light, so that they are approachable and inoffensive to people who would normally drink lager-style beers,“ he says. Gould adds that while the most popular craft beer styles in Hong Kong tend to be New-World-style brews which are generally very hoppy with high alcohol content, Gweilo Beer has also produced English-style beers under 5 percent ABV, but that use tropical flavored hops to reflect their Hong Kong roots.
What to try: “Gweilo Pale Ale was created as the first stepping stone into the craft beer world for someone who would normally drink lager,“ says Gould. “We really hope it can be the catalyst to help redefine the craft beer
market in Hong Kong.“