China
HONG KONG
RECOMMENDED BY Toby Cooper
The Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong rests on the southeastern coast of China. Its strategic location has made it an important trading center for countless generations. Hong Kong was maintained as a British colony until 1997, when it was handed back to China. Many reminders of Great Britain's 150-plus years of influence remain, ranging from architecture to streets named for British personages to the sound of English in sidewalk conversations. One facet of English culture that was missing in Hong Kong was good beer. But publican Toby Cooper has been working to right that affront since 2003.
"I've been in Hong Kong since 1996," he began. "For a number of years, the only good beer available was a few British and Belgian imports. As far as local people were concerned, beer was a working-class thirst quencher, a cheap drink that goes with a simple dinner. A few small breweries tried to make a go of it, but they never commercially caught on. There were a couple of beer bars, one being the Globe. When I acquired it in 2003, we had sixty beers. At that time, there were a few small importers bringing in product from Belgium, a few more British ales, but nothing from the States at all, apart from the big macros. And no local breweries. I started stocking some Aussie beers, including Coopers (which is close to my heart, for obvious reasons) and Little Creatures. Then a few Americans arrived in Hong Kong who were passionate about beer. They quickly realized that there was nothing from the States here, and they began importing some good American beers from Rogue, North Coast Brewing, Anderson Valley, and Anchor, to name a few. When this was well received, other importers came into the market. In 2010 or 2011, we began seeing an explosion of good beer in Hong Kong, abetted by a drop in the duties assessed on beer. There are now five good taprooms in the city and a handful of other bars with a good beer selection. The Globe now carries a hundred and seventy beers, with twenty on tap. Six years ago, when I rebuilt the bar, there was very little good draft beer available. Now I wish I could have left room for more taps."
Some of those taps would have likely been reserved for the local brews that have emerged in the last few years. "Right now, there are eleven breweries operating in Hong Kong," Toby continued. "Some were started by expats, some by Hong Kong natives who've spent time overseas and came back with an interest in beer. The first new brewery is called Young Master and was started by a former banker. Young Master has been doing some great beers using local ingredients, and they've done a good job of attracting attention to local beer. One of their creations—Cha Chaan Teng Gose—is a German sour wheat beer made with salted lime. [Cha Chaan Teng translates to "tea restaurant"; salted lime is often served in the tea shops with lemon soda.] The Hong Kong Beer Company is also doing good work. The owners bought an existing brewery that was brewing very little (and not doing it very well) and hired a fantastic brewmaster, Simon Pesch (from Pyramid Breweries, Inc.). The other brewers are very small. Of the smaller players, I especially like Moonzen. It's a husband (from Mexico) and wife (local Chinese) team, and they brew in very small batches—their production is two thousand bottles a month. Their beers also use local ingredients and are fantastic; past creations have included a smoked plum ale and Szechuan pepper porter. Product from nanobreweries like Moonzen end up being expensive because of the scale of their operations. But in Hong Kong, there's not much price sensitivity. If people think something is good, they're willing to pay for it.
"Something else I'll say for the people of Hong Kong: They're very open-minded about trying new things. Perhaps because they don't have a history of a beer culture, they don't have a preconception about what beer should be. We have many younger people coming into the Globe in groups of five or six to do tastings. They are very eager to learn. They'll buy a few bottles of our big-format beers, share them, and talk about them the way people talk about wine. There's no beer snobbery. At least not yet."
Toby's efforts to spread the gospel of craft beer in Hong Kong found a fruitful collaboration with Jonathan So and Curt Schmidt, two entrepreneurs who launched Beertopia in 2012. "With Toby's guidance, we went to distributors who were hoping to find a market for some lesser known beers they'd imported," Curt recalled. "They were more than willing to pay for a stand to help sell their stock before it had degraded. We secured a venue, a few bands to play, launched a Facebook campaign, and hoped for the best. We needed at least a thousand people to attend to break even. Two thousand people showed up. The nice thing in Hong Kong is that if you create something unique, people will come out of curiosity. Beertopia didn't attract just beer lovers." The 2014 festival attracted over eleven thousand attendees and featured more than five hundred different beers from around the world.
Given Hong Kong's steamy subtropical climate, many bars and restaurants are geared toward allowing people to enjoy the outdoors. The Globe is a bit different. "We're in a basement, and we come into our own in the winter," Toby shared, "though it's not exactly an English winter. At this time, you can enjoy something big and cheery—like an imperial stout—which doesn't work so well in hot weather. But during the summer, I love to get out on Victoria Harbour. Taking a junk boat ride out to an island to swim and enjoy the beach is a Hong Kong recreational institution. A Cha Chaan Teng is a perfect accompaniment for a junk ride."
TOBY COOPER is the owner of the Globe, Hong Kong's best known beer bar. Having grown up in the north of England, he quickly realized the importance of good beer. After wandering around Asia and Australia for a few years, he washed up on Hong Kong's shores in 1996, never intending to stay…
If You Go
Getting There: Hong Kong is served by most international carriers.
Best Time to Visit: Many people prefer the cooler, drier weather of the winter season. The two-day Beertopia (www.beertopiahk.com) event is generally held in October.
Spots to Visit: The Globe (+852 2543 1941; www.theglobe.com.hk); Young Master Ales (www.youngmasterales.com) and Moonzen Brewery (www.moonzen.hk) sometimes host open house events. The Beertopia website lists other craft beer bars around Hong Kong by neighborhood.
Accommodations: Discover Hong Kong (www.discoverhongkong.com) lists a broad range of lodging options in the city.
