What is Chinese Beer?

Ask someone what is a Hefeweizen, IPA, or Pilsner, chances are they can give you an accurate enough description, since these are common beer styles stemming from long brewing traditions. Irish Stout, Flanders Red Ale, and Vienna Lager, for example, have distinct characteristics that are also based on well-established beer cultures. No matter where they are brewed—Cigar City Patio Tools Dry Irish Stout, Driftwood Brewery Bird of Prey Flanders Red, Slow Boat Endeavor Vienna Lager—they remain an Irish Stout, a Flanders Red Ale, and a Vienna Lager.

When it comes to Chinese beer, however, the answer isn’t so clear. Most people outside of Asia, when asked what is Chinese beer, will probably say, “Tsingtao”. This is likely due to the fact that in 70 countries and territories outside of China, every Chinese restaurant carries this beer. Although Tsingtao Lager is a Chinese brand of beer made in China, is the beer really Chinese? If beer has only to be made in China to be called, “Chinese”, then wouldn’t that also apply to Budweiser, Carlsberg, Pabst Blue Ribbon, and Goose Island?

An Unexpected Turn

When I started planning the writing of The Great Hop Forward, I read that a successful Kickstarter campaign results from an audience built ahead of time. Therefore, the first thing I did was set up a Twitter account to do just that.

I like Twitter because I find it more conducive to establishing relationships than Facebook. I also like how Twitter allows you to create lists of those you follow in order to segment different audiences, communities, and information sources. And when you find suitable people or organizations to establish a relationship with, their followers are likely to be of interest to you, too, saving time hunting around for more followers.

To interest people in following you, you need to offer them something of value. My value proposition is to be the best information source in English for craft beer developments in China. I also want to encourage people to travel to China to experience the excitement of its economic and social transformation – craft beer being an interesting microcosm of that change.