--- title: "Late Autumn in Shanghai Welcomes the 'Spring' of Craft Beer" description: "In October 2016, Shanghai experienced an unusually warm autumn, setting the stage for the grand China Craft Beer Exhibition co-hosted by Master Gao and BBC at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. The event, covering 16,000 square meters, featured nearly 50 craft beer exhibitors and over 80 equipment and ingredient suppliers, marking a feast for craft beer enthusiasts." author: "齐永刚" publisher: "New Distribution" email: "zhaobo258@gmail.com" telephone: "+8615854817671" published: "2016-10-17" categories: "Consumer & Categories" language: "en" canonical: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/late-autumn-in-shanghai-welcomes-the-spring-of-craft-beer-e6d3b707/" markdown: "https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/late-autumn-in-shanghai-welcomes-the-spring-of-craft-beer-e6d3b707.md" original_source: "https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FnAHM6oZRU__XaUS9EHT2g" translation: "https://xinjignxiao.com/zh/articles/%E6%B7%B1%E7%A7%8B%E7%9A%84%E4%B8%8A%E6%B5%B7%E8%BF%8E%E6%9D%A5%E7%B2%BE%E9%85%BF%E5%95%A4%E9%85%92%E7%9A%84-%E6%98%A5%E5%A4%A9-e6d3b707.md" attribution: "New Distribution — https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/late-autumn-in-shanghai-welcomes-the-spring-of-craft-beer-e6d3b707/" citation: "齐永刚. “Late Autumn in Shanghai Welcomes the 'Spring' of Craft Beer.” New Distribution, 2016-10-17. https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/late-autumn-in-shanghai-welcomes-the-spring-of-craft-beer-e6d3b707/" usage_policy: "https://xinjignxiao.com/ai-policy.txt" --- # Late Autumn in Shanghai Welcomes the 'Spring' of Craft Beer > In October 2016, Shanghai experienced an unusually warm autumn, setting the stage for the grand China Craft Beer Exhibition co-hosted by Master Gao and BBC at the Shanghai New International Expo Center. The event, covering 16,000 square meters, featured nearly 50 craft beer exhibitors and over 80 equipment and ingredient suppliers, marking a feast for craft beer enthusiasts. In October 2016, Shanghai's autumn was peculiar. In previous years, the wind would be chilly and biting, but this year, autumn lingered like a young woman still entangled with summer. People still wore T-shirts, and the young even sported shorts and slippers. At the Shanghai New International Expo Center, a grand China Craft Beer Exhibition co-hosted by Master Gao and BBC was held, covering 16,000 square meters, with nearly 50 exhibitors from China's craft beer industry and over 80 exhibitors of craft beer equipment and ingredients. It was a feast for craft beer. Beer is an imported product. In 1903, German and British merchants jointly founded the Germania Brewery in Qingdao, which later became Tsingtao Brewery. Using water, malt, and hops (and later rice, abundant in China), they brewed lager primarily for foreigners in Qingdao. As Tsingtao Brewery grew, beer became increasingly accepted and entrenched among China's upper class, who assumed beer meant lager like Tsingtao. After the founding of New China, thousands of breweries sprang up across the country. Because they followed Tsingtao's model—using locally sourced ingredients like rice and suitable for large-scale production—all Chinese breweries produced lagers with German techniques but a Chinese twist. Beer entered ordinary households and became entrenched among the middle and lower classes. In the late 1990s, Peng Zuoyi, known as "the daredevil," acquired and built dozens of breweries across the country in two years, exponentially increasing Tsingtao's output. Meanwhile, China Resources used its capital advantage to "sweep" the market, increasing its beer output from zero to over ten million tons. Through low-price dumping, market squeezing, and mergers, China Resources ignited an endless "arms race" to cut production costs. Corn starch and syrup were widely used, with proportions ranging from 20% to 50%, even 70%. Hop pretreatment, high-gravity dilution, enzymes, and flavorings were extensively employed, turning Chinese beer into a testing ground for foreign equipment and enzyme manufacturers. Whatever was lacking was added, resulting in monotonous beer: light, even lighter... Sometimes you wanted to shout, "This beer tastes like bird pee!" With rapid economic development, Chinese people, especially the younger generation, began traveling abroad and encountering Western, particularly American, brewing culture. Faced with various American craft beers (called Craftbeer, also known as handmade beer), they suddenly realized that beer could have so many flavors and be brewed in so many ways! Gao Yan (known as Master Gao), a preacher of Chinese craft beer, returned to China and, frustrated by the lack of craft beer, established China's first craft brewery in Nanjing's Pukou in 2008—Nanjing Oufei Brewery (renamed Nanjing Master Gao Brewery in 2012). He also published his book "Brew Your Own Beer" (now considered a bible in the craft beer community). From 2013 to 2016, China's craft beer experienced a boom, with major cities establishing their own craft breweries, and some provinces and cities even forming craft beer associations. However, compared to the over 40 million tons of industrial beer produced annually, craft beer is like a vibrant and energetic youth, destined to have its own spring! The cultural atmosphere for craft beer is forming. Why has China's 5,000-year civilization endured? Mainly due to its strong inclusiveness and integration. Now, the Chinese culture of moderation, going with the flow, and conformity is facing new external cultural impacts. Culture is built on an economic foundation. As material life improves, especially for the younger generation, they are no longer satisfied with lives arranged by their parents from birth, including marriages. They refuse to live in the shadow of the previous generation. They struggle, rebel, seek individuality and freedom, and desire recognition. They need a寄托 and an outlet. Music is the first to bear the brunt. Besides pop music, rock is making a comeback, and hip-hop is gradually being accepted. Beer, music's twin (since drugs like marijuana are illegal), must also change. The cultural soil for craft beer is quietly forming. Craft beer technology and talent are emerging. In recent years, with the rapid development of craft beer, enthusiasts are no longer satisfied with buying imported or domestic craft beer. Influenced by Master Gao's "Brew Your Own Beer," they have started brewing at home, leading to the rise of homebrewing. Hobbies and interests drive enthusiasts to explore and learn brewing techniques, continuously improving their skills. The "Master Cup" homebrew competition, co-hosted by Master Gao and Talos, attracts all craft beer enthusiasts, with fierce competition and high-quality brews featuring unique flavors. Talented brewers like Blood Hand, Bulou Team, and Apple Deep Forest have emerged. Some colleges and universities are not only participating in craft beer but also cultivating professional talent, forming an academic faction in craft beer, such as Qilu University of Technology and Wuhan Beer School. Additionally, due to the significant decline in industrial beer production, breweries have been laying off staff or even going bankrupt, driving a large number of beer technology, management, and sales personnel into the craft beer sector. They are shedding their industrial beer mindset and, leveraging years of industry experience, are improving craft beer technology, management, and sales. Craft beer equipment and ingredient supply are maturing. The "2016 China International Craft Beer Exhibition" not only showcased numerous craft breweries but also fully displayed the latest domestic and international craft beer equipment and ingredients. Previously, these equipment and ingredient manufacturers focused solely on industrial beer producers, continuously increasing equipment capacity: mash tuns from 50 tons to 80 or 100 tons per batch; fermentation tanks from 100 tons to 200 or 400 tons; packaging lines from 20,000 bottles per hour to 40,000 or even 60,000. Craft breweries often had to customize equipment and ingredients, significantly raising brewing costs. With the rapid development of domestic craft beer, these manufacturers have shifted their focus to craft breweries, offering mash systems that evolved from traditional two-vessel to three- or four-vessel setups, with increasing brews per day. Batch sizes range from 500 liters to 1 ton or 5 tons. Control systems have progressed from manual to semi-automatic and fully automatic, even connectable to smartphones for real-time monitoring of mashing and fermentation. Power systems include electric heating, steam heating (some with steam generators), and natural gas. GEA and Alfa Laval also provide small-scale centrifugal filtration equipment for craft beer. The number of suppliers for draft beer systems used in bars, one of the sales terminals, is also increasing, with more comprehensive services. Additionally, ingredient suppliers are beginning to focus on supplying the various malts, hops, and yeasts needed for craft beer, while continuously developing new and better ingredients. The four-day "2016 China International Craft Beer Exhibition" slowly came to a close. Perhaps you are still savoring the intense double IPA, the rustic sweet potato beer, the estery wheat beer, the chocolatey stout, or the light lager. Perhaps you are still lingering over the high-end MASTER GAO, the Tibetan-flavored Shangri-La, or the Australian Temple ale. The music has ended, but the crowd has not dispersed. See you in Nanjing in 2017! -END- Domestic best FMCG distributor learning platform Focusing on providing professional, practical, and actionable tutorials for enterprises and distributors Committed to helping Chinese FMCG distributors grow rapidly **The most professional and practical knowledge base in the FMCG industry** Reply with the red number below to get corresponding content Reply with number 1 to view the complete knowledge base | **001** Excellent article selection | **002** Distributor market operations | **003** Terminal visit management | **004** Sales supervisor skills | **005** Sales improvement techniques | **006** Channel expansion | **007** Managing distributors | **008** Distributor development | **009** Distributor internal operations management | **010** Team management | **011** Efficient distribution techniques | **012** Sales manager's eighteen skills | **013** KA operation methods and strategies | **014** First lesson for new salespeople | **015** Internet and brands | **016** Distributor B2B transformation | [Long press QR code to follow] --- ## Citation metadata - Publisher: New Distribution - Author: 齐永刚 - Published: 2016-10-17 - Canonical: https://xinjignxiao.com/en/articles/late-autumn-in-shanghai-welcomes-the-spring-of-craft-beer-e6d3b707/ - Original source: https://mp.weixin.qq.com/s/FnAHM6oZRU__XaUS9EHT2g ## Copyright and AI use This article is sourced from New Distribution. 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