---
title: "The Past and Present of China's Craft Beer!"
description: "This article provides an overview of the development of craft beer in China, from its beginnings in 2008 to the present, highlighting key breweries, events, and the cultural movement behind it. It also discusses the challenges and future prospects of the industry, emphasizing the importance of independence and diversity."
author: "高岩"
publisher: "New Distribution"
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published: "2015-11-03"
language: "en"
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---

# The Past and Present of China's Craft Beer!

> This article provides an overview of the development of craft beer in China, from its beginnings in 2008 to the present, highlighting key breweries, events, and the cultural movement behind it. It also discusses the challenges and future prospects of the industry, emphasizing the importance of independence and diversity.

Briefly introduce the current level of development of craft beer in China and some outstanding products.
China's craft beer industry began in 2008 with the emergence of the first wave of conscious craft beer enterprises. Although China's homebrew pubs started in the 1990s, they were limited in technology, style, and culture, and could only be called small beer pubs rather than craft breweries. Nanjing's Master Gao Beer (formerly Oufei Beer), established in 2008, is widely recognized as the first professional craft beer factory in China. The second, Chengdu's Harvest Beer Factory, was established in 2010. (These two factories do not operate restaurants; they only brew beer.) Shanghai's Boxing Cat, founded in 2008, was among the first craft beer pubs in China. After 2010, Beijing saw the emergence of Great Leap, Slow Boat, Jing-A, and other craft beer pubs. Shanghai saw the rise of Shanghai Brewery, Beer Doctor, TheBrew, and other beer pubs. In 2012, two craft beer pubs under Master Gao appeared in Zhengzhou and Xi'an. After 2013, Beijing added large craft beer pubs like NBeer Pub and Panda Brewpub. Craft beer pubs have sprung up across the country, now covering almost all major cities in China.
Since 2010, with the domestic release of the book "Drink the Beer You Brew," the first batch of homebrew enthusiasts appeared in China. This group now numbers in the tens of thousands. Almost every province has its own homebrew association, with Beijing, Shanghai, Chengdu, Nanjing, Wuhan, and Jinan being the most active. Each year, homebrewers hold national homebrew exchange competitions. From these homebrewers, many professional beer brewers have emerged, continuously supplying talent to China's craft beer movement.
Since 2012, beer festivals and competitions themed around craft beer have appeared across the country. Among the larger ones are the Shanghai Beer Week (initiated in 2011), Shanghai Craft Beer Festival, and Beijing Craft Beer Festival. In 2012, the "Master Cup" National Homebrew Competition and Shanghai Laomatou Beer Festival were held. In 2013, the China Craft Beer Festival in Nanjing and the Beijing Special Beer Enthusiasts Beer Festival were held, among other national exchange events. These activities are craft beer enthusiasts' unyielding way of showing their presence and voicing their opinions to society.
In 2008, Nanjing saw the publication of the first DM magazine introducing craft beer, "Beer Festival," which ceased after one issue. Around 2010, the magazine "Hops" dedicated to craft beer appeared, and in 2011, the online platform "Love Beer" was launched. In 2014, "Xi Pi Shi" was added. Since 2009, almost all major foreign media, such as The Wall Street Journal, The New York Times, and Forbes, have reported on China's craft beer movement. National media outlets have also begun reporting on domestic craft beer businesses since 2011.
In early 2013, after more than two years of preparation in raw materials and technology, Nanjing Master Gao Beer Company launched China's first bottled craft beer, "Baby Fat," which for the first time brought the concept of craft beer into broader beer distribution channels in bottled form. This beer has a strong Chinese character in both packaging and flavor design. It broke through the limitation of Chinese craft beer mainly imitating foreign styles and was the first to raise the banner of China's own craft beer industry. Subsequently, Slow Boat Brewery and Panda Brewpub also launched their own Chinese-style bottled craft beers, further expanding consumers' awareness of craft beer.
Beer pubs with more than two years of history each have their own traditional outstanding beers. For example, Boxing Cat's TKO, Great Leap's Mandheling, NBeer Pub's Li Gui, Panda's Kuding, TheBrew's Mash, and Master Gao's Yingshui Dijiang... all have formed their own characteristics. Some homebrew enthusiasts, with their genius creativity, have created beers using Chinese ingredients such as chili beer, durian beer, and Yunnan black tea beer, with an endless variety.
The most important thing about craft beer is its independent spirit. Diversity is the connotation we have always pursued. Diversity refers to the diversity of brewers and beer types. Only through diversity can craft beer develop long-term and widely in China, eventually forming China's own unique cultural characteristics and standing tall in the world of beer.
So, not all good beer is craft beer, but craft beer must be delicious. Many industry insiders still do not understand this concept.
The result of profit-driven craft beer is ultimately high-output products, price wars, market monopoly, and a mix of good and bad. Now many large breweries are eager to enter the craft beer market, not only to seize market share but also to strangle this infant in its cradle, stifling China's ongoing craft beer cultural movement. This would just change the taste of Chinese beer and return to the current situation of one company dominating the market.
The definition of craft beer should go beyond beer quality. This is a concept introduced by the United States and is globally embraced. Its purpose is to break the monopoly of large companies over the beer market. The American craft beer industry also restricts shareholder composition to ensure independence and diversity, which is why the United States has achieved its current success.
For years, we have been promoting China's cultural development, hoping to help people understand truth and a better life through the most ordinary beer. Since 2010, we have advocated independence and individuality, publishing books to decentralize the right to brew to individuals and families. In 2010, we proposed the slogan "Freedom to Brew," encouraging freedom of people and ingredients, calling for lenient laws, and encouraging everyone to strive for a better life. In 2014, we proposed the diversification of craft beer, advocating cooperation and competition while opposing monopoly. These efforts have played an enlightening role in defining craft beer for the Chinese people.
The post-80s generation, as the main consumer group, needs more personalized products. Therefore, craft beer meets their needs.
American craft beer has been rising rapidly since 2008, and Chinese craft beer started in 2012. I believe this is inseparable from the emergence of online self-media.
In 2008, Facebook and YouTube appeared in the United States, and in 2012, Weibo and WeChat appeared in China. Can you see the connection?
So, craft beer is not a mass-market product, but it can eventually become one, like in Belgium, where 40% of beer is craft beer.
Our company does not have its own QS production facility; we outsource to third-party factories. That's how Baby Fat was made. We have produced Baby Fat in five different factories. We are known as wandering brewers or gypsy brewers.
When our company was founded eight years ago, the post-80s generation was still striving, so almost no one recognized us.
After Baby Fat was launched in 2013, it has become the best-selling craft beer product in China over three years, with distribution channels nationwide. It is produced through contract manufacturing. Currently, our technical capability allows us to brew Baby Fat at any brewery globally, reflecting our positioning of brewing freedom.
We almost never calculate costs when making beer. The hops in Baby Fat are 30 times that of ordinary beer, and all are imported from the United States. Large breweries would be nervous hearing this. Traditional beer is more rigorous than us in terms of taste consistency, quality control, equipment, and personnel. High-end beer in China cannot find a selling point, often resorting to foreign names or imperial titles, which the post-80s generation simply does not buy. All our designs have high standards, and we have fan support, and women also like it. Half of Baby Fat's consumers are women, who are more impulsive.
Baby Fat has a strong first impression on women. The image above shows a tattoo of a Taiwanese girl.
This year, we plan to launch a jasmine tea lager, available in cans and bottles, targeting supermarket channels and the general public.
Jasmine is a derivative of Baby Fat, leveraging its popularity.
We are now preparing to build a professional team to promote draft beer nationwide. We are also in contact with other suitable breweries to launch more varieties and styles of the Master Gao series.
We are also preparing for traditional channels, because in the United States, traditional channels are almost entirely craft beer. China will soon follow.
Group discussion and comments:
**Fang Gang:**
  * 1. To be precise, Master Gao Yan is not only a craft beer expert but also a player. Only by loving this industry as life itself can you play it brilliantly! Craft beer is a niche industry. Compared to China's 50 million tons of beer market, its share is minimal, but the future is vast.
  * 2. Keywords: craft, niche, personalization, internet, fans, customization, OEM, high-end...
  * 3. The number of craft beer enterprises in the United States has exceeded 3,000, with one added every 15 minutes... This data shows that the era of consumer shift has arrived, and in the high-end market, individuality reigns!
  * 4. The channel differentiation of craft beer is obvious; in traditional channels, ordinary beer dominates! Special channels like the internet, bars, and customization are paradise for personalized products!
**Liu Chunxiong:**
  * Many industries were originally diverse and rich. Now they have compromised in the face of standardization. Industrial civilization has transformed the heritage of civilization beyond recognition, leaving only fast food. The direction of craft beer is to restore the original state of the industry, not just a return, but a restoration at a higher level. For industries that have reached their quantitative ceiling, it may be a quantitative ceiling at the industrialization level, not the industry ceiling. Many people are thinking about the future direction of industries. Can other industries also move towards the craft direction?
  * The socialized mass production of industrial civilization solved the problem of product abundance. But it also killed many historical heritages of agricultural civilization.
  * Industries from the agricultural civilization era, due to geographical constraints, were rich and colorful. This is also a heritage of civilization. In the era of industrial civilization, they faced two major problems: first, the low cost of standardized production overwhelmed diversity, such as Lipton tea compared to Chinese tea; second, when these industries crossed geographical boundaries, they encountered a lack of diverse soil, especially in countries without history like the United States, resulting in a poverty of taste and a lack of cultural appreciation. Thus, standardization prevailed. Hence, the saying that tens of thousands of tea enterprises cannot match Lipton.
  * The question is whether Chinese tea should enter the world in a centralized and bland way, like Lipton, or in a rich and colorful way. In the short term, Lipton's approach is more effective. In the long term, perhaps China's current approach is more sustainable.
  * French wine, German beer, and Chinese liquor are all highly fragmented. Because of fragmentation, they retain historical charm. When supply is abundant, this preservation is an important inheritance of cultural heritage.
  * Should Chinese wine also follow the French path, and not be harmed by standardized things? French wine estates produce a few thousand bottles a year and do well. Why must China follow the path of standardized low prices?
  * Wine estates entering China might focus on Chinese wine estates, just like the current Chinese craft beer.
  * Regarding Chinese liquor, I don't think it's a good thing that concentration will increase in the future. Chinese liquor is so rich and regional. Increased concentration would mean the loss of much historical inheritance.
  * China's liquid liquor, if it was understandable in the short term, is now a crime against history.
  * A few days ago, a liquor expert in Henan even questioned: What is the difference in molecular structure between liquid liquor and solid-state fermented liquor?
  * If we only talk about molecular structure, culture might as well disappear.
  * Craft brewing requires, first, craftsmanship; second, precise consumer marketing; and third, continuous cultivation of loyal customers. It cannot be marketed using FMCG methods.
**Fang Gang:**
  * Today, after listening to Mr. Gao's sharing on craft beer, I am deeply impressed. The mainstream in the Chinese market seems to be playing low prices, whether it's home appliances, cars, beer, or even clothing. The result is that product quality gets worse and worse, and the industry's sustainable competitiveness becomes problematic. Craft beer is almost the opposite of this mainstream! It focuses on brewing good beer, using good ingredients, brewing freely, and personalization. Who says this won't be the market mainstream in the future? Wine is the same! Brewing fine wines for those who understand and love wine, rather than falling into the trap of cheap and inferior products, will definitely become mainstream. - Group member Wu Ziran
  * The main purpose of automation, standardization, industrialization, and scale is cost. Cost is a double-edged sword. When it breaks through a node, it enters decline! Examples: instant noodles, ham sausages...
  * The mainstream marketing characteristic of beer is that territory determines brand, strength determines charm, and capital-driven big moves! A full-channel territory strategy. Niche products like craft beer often focus on cutting a certain level, with point-like fragmented layouts, seemingly present but not, which is unstoppable in territory wars!
  * "The Great Dao is above the Tai Chi but not high; below the six extremes but not deep; born before heaven and earth but not old; older than ancient times but not aged." Tai means great; Ji refers to the end, the extreme. When things reach their extreme, they change; change leads to transformation, so the source of change is Tai Chi.
  * The end of industrialization is handcraft, and the end of handcraft is industrialization.
  * Today's discussion on craft beer does not mean that traditional beer is problematic, but that non-mainstream alternatives are also living vibrantly. It doesn't mean everyone should make craft beer. Everything has a limit. New things need to be explored, and traditional ones should not be discarded all at once. The way of integration is very important!
  * Regarding red wine, my personal understanding is that it should return to its FMCG attributes. Experiencing price wars is inevitable. The past distorted pricing methods cannot be revisited. Floundering in the red ocean of traditional channels is not a bad thing! It's hard to define red wine as always high-end. Wine doesn't need overly complex education; drinking is the best education. Price is the best marketing tool for wine!
  * Liu Chunxiong's comment: Don't easily overturn; seek symbiosis.
**Yu Chaowei:**
  * That's why Chinese companies are often short-lived, only popular for a while.
  * Platform ideals, if rampant, will harm many people.
  * Jiuxian.com's platform dream has basically failed; they can't set their own rules and still have to buy traffic.
**Liu Chunxiong:**
  * In Nanjing this time, I focused on integration and symbiosis, integrating the internet with tradition, transforming tradition, and gaining competitiveness against e-commerce.
  * Platform e-commerce traffic costs are too high, making future growth difficult; vertical e-commerce struggles to survive in China; the future is distributed e-commerce after the integration of tradition and the internet. Integration is not a money-burning model but a money-saving model.
**Yu Chaowei:**
  * Internet-based information systems will completely transform domestic FMCG distribution channels. Efficiency and cost are the core; traffic is not important.
**Liu Chunxiong:**
  * Right, traffic already exists.
  * Internet transformation is about improving efficiency; traffic is already there. The internet money-burning model is for finding traffic.
**Yu Chaowei:**
  * Distributors will develop into trade logistics companies, surviving only by achieving the integration of four flows.
  * Commercial flow, logistics flow, information flow, capital flow.
  * In an aging society, labor costs rise significantly, which is a major problem for trading companies.
  * The emerging B2B model aims to solve the problem of high costs and low efficiency.
  * The number of distributors will decrease, and those that survive may become regional category distributors.
**Liu Chunxiong:**
  * China's distribution links are still fragmented; this cannot continue long-term. Integrating with the internet is a historic opportunity.
  * Self-media is not yet well understood in terms of usage.
  * Self-media is a small center; small centers resonating at the same frequency achieve big events.
  * Among the post-90s generation, the source of information with the largest decline is newspapers; television's impact is not significant.
**-END-**
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