Microbrewed Adventures - Charles Papazian [101]
The Chinese government actively encouraged consumption of beer and wine over distilled spirits. Developing the market for female beer drinkers was of much interest. Why? Asian women’s capacity to drink alcohol is greater than that of Chinese men, because Asian men have less liver enzyme activity than Asian women to detoxify alcohol. Price rules. Market share rules. Volume rules. There is little brand loyalty. Welcome to the Wild East.
We enjoyed Oktoberfest-style lagers at a brewpub in Shanghai called the Bund Brauhaus Festhaus and visited and sampled at a microbrewery in Hong Kong. Perhaps if you are a contrarian, offering quality microbrewed beers that express beer culture and passion, you may succeed where others are bound to fail.
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QINGDAO DARK LAGER
Tsingtao light lager is brewed in China by the well-known Tsingtao brewery, whose beers are served at most American Chinese restaurants. Their dark lager is a beer type you don’t see exported to the United States. Worthy of your brewing efforts, this complex and flavorful dark lager is light and crisp, yet maintains a certain roasted malt complexity and full flavor beer enthusiasts will enjoy. The recipe can be found in About the Recipes.
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The city of Qingdao, home of Tsingtao Brewery #1, was of interest to all of us when we heard that the city hosts the largest beer festival in China every year in late August and early September.
American beer? We encountered several Budweiser and Corona billboards in Shanghai, but rarely encountered the beer. In Hong Kong, Samuel Adams Boston Lager was the American beer featured at our hotel. And mind you—it tasted fresh.
Bula! Vale Vakaviti
Fiji Homebrew
AS ALL of those places I have been become special to me because I’ve been there; so it has been with Lakeba, a tiny island of the Lau group, one of the 300 islands of Fiji. On a globe it is a tiny speck in the South Pacific surrounded by blue, just west of the International Date Line.
From the main Fijian island of Viti Levu, my decision to embark on an adventure to the outer island Lakeba was unplanned, made on a whim. The most important thing I had going for me was what I had already found to be the overwhelming friendliness and generosity of the Fijian people.
Lakeba was to be full of surprises. On first impression, it seemed just one of those South Sea copra islands surrounded by the quiet, clear, blue-green ocean, gentle hills and sandy and sometimes rocky coast. Five small villages were scattered along the encircling coastline. In 1978, there were no hotels nor any other type of “tourist accommodations.”
So where did I make my stay? I didn’t. I admit that having gone to Lakeba so blindly, I had psychologically prepared myself for the worst. I could very well not have been graciously accepted into the community of these islands. In such faraway places, I could expect this to be the case for any number of reasons or circumstances.
As it turned out, I fortuitously found myself given the most gracious Fijian hospitality by the Vabula family in the tiny village of Tubou. Suffice it to say that a simple series of chance acquaintances the morning of my arrival led me to Johnny Vabula. For 10 magnificent days I lived an intimate Fijian lifestyle. In Fiji, you don’t hurry.
Within hours of settling in the household, my thirst for beer overwhelmed me. I asked, “Johnny, would there be a place nearby where I might buy some beer?” I never really expected an encouraging answer.