United Nations of Beer

Solana Beijing Summer Beer Festival 2009

by David Friesen
(Beijing, China)

Solana Beijing Summer Beer Festival 2009
Beijing, China

Beer festivals in China are few and far between. Whilst many beer enthusiasts have heard of the Qingdao festival, outside of Hong Kong the beer festival has yet to take off.

That is why it was imperative I check out the newest beer festival in China – the Solana Summer Beer Festival in Beijing. Set in the modern surroundings of the Western-style Solana mall, this beer festival advertised itself as the ‘most beautiful beer festival’ offering dozens of different beer brands and a family atmosphere.

As Beijing’s first attempt at such a large-scale beer festival and given the relatively new market for craft beers in China, the festival was fairly impressive. There was a good turnout when I visited the festival, which ran throughout July and August 2009.

The most impressive beers on offer were the German Franziskaner Hefeweizen and dark beers, as well as draft Tetley's, with English ale being somewhat of a rarity in Beijing.

Of course, the big brands were all there with some fairly typical offerings, although credit must be given to the Tiger stall for being the only one offering actual pints of beer, with all other stalls offering ‘pints’ that were decidedly smaller than normal.

The biggest disappointment was


probably the fact that hideous beer brands such as Coors even had a presence at a beer festival. It was tragic to see them desperately trying to peddle their four equally bland beers, and even more tragic to see people actually buy them. I don’t have a problem with brand beers really, but Coors Light is not something I ever want to see at a real beer festival! It would be like people opting for Lambrusco or Blue Nun at a wine tasting event.

Despite these little niggles, there was plenty of good stuff on offer. The food was all excellent beer accompaniments, including tasty chill-cheese fries, German hotdogs and Chinese lamb kebabs.

There was also some brilliantly tragic entertainment from skinny effeminate boys and awkward looking girls attempting a Michael Jackson tribute. After a few pints it was certainly a good laugh, particularly as a gangster of a toddler repeatedly ran in front of them and out-danced them.

Overall, this is a beer festival in Beijing I would love to see continue next summer, and hopefully expanded to include beers that the Chinese market would not usually be exposed to. It is family-friendly events like this that will help the Chinese craft beer market grow and help local people to appreciate real beer.