Crafting a new beer boom

Hundreds of varieties of craft beer flood Chinese metros as demand for niche beverages rises

One hot Saturday afternoon mid-September, Li Hao, a 29-year-old researcher with a chemical company in Shanghai, binged on a dozen varieties of craft beer. He helped himself to all those drinks at a beer fair at Pudong Kerry Center in Shanghai. More than 50 stalls were selling hundreds of brands, both global and local. Li wished he had a pair of bellies to take them all in.

"I had never imagined beer-drinking could produce varied experiences of tastes wildly different from one another. Until now, beer was just an economical refresher for me, particularly on scorching summer days. All those cans and bottles of different brands tasted the same more or less. But craft beer - phew, it's different, and like wines now ... high-end beverages, with qualities that match their high price," Li said.