Welcome to Hong Kong and Spring is in the air. Breathe it in, deeply, but not too much lest you fill your lungs with fluid and Nitrogen Dioxide. It seems as if breathing in water is possible. Jacques Cousteau must have lived in Hong Kong for a spring or two in his lifetime. Google it.
Yet in a brief respite we had, on this past Saturday, a touch of sunshine. So, what do we do? To the BEERS! Saturday marked the Second Annual Beertopia in HK, and my first attendance. The place was freakin amazing. Set up on Kowloon West Promenade, same location as Clockenflap, My Lovely Lady and I went to the evening edition, and were shocked to find ourselves victims some sort of newfangled, ass-backwards, ticketing system.
In order to get into the land of many beers, we first had to line up in the online ticket collection line. This line ran about 100m. I began the walk to the end, but my better judgement and lack of patience overwhelmed this upstanding mode of action. I walked about 15m, and then sidled up next to a random group, where the wait was minimal - only 10 minutes. Meanwhile, Courtney had waited in the second and similarly sadistic line for the drink "tokens." Why weren't the lines combined? you might find yourself asking. Why not just give the tokens and the tickets together you ponder? Having lived in Hong Kong now for a year and a half - I don't ask these questions anymore. Logic absconded with frugality and left chaos and consumerism to run the show.
Once in, we were surrounded by beers and people. It was hard to tell who had the greater numbers. In the end, I would say the beers were outnumbered, but for each drink consumed, two more were there to take its place. I pictured myself Hercules fighting the Hydra. The reality of the story is that the Hydra only had one head and good old Herc just got hammered and couldn't get it - so he made up a better story about a crazy creature with tons of heads that grew back. Consider that Greek Myth explained free of charge.
The beer list included over 200 different beers and marks a stark departure in Hong Kong from the regular beer selection - namely Carlsburg, San Miguel, Asahi, and Tsing Tao. The big beers of HK have got some fresh competition - based on quality, not quantity. Some of my favorite beers came out of Seoul from Craftworks Brewing Company. The Moon Dog IPA and the Oatmeal Stout were some of the top contenders in winning my palette - a prestigious award. My patronage in our next trip to Seoul is assured.
New distributors here have opened up the world of Craft Brews to the populace of HK. now, through the helpful endeavors of Hop Leaf and Americraft, access to the delightful brews of Imperial Stouts, American IPA and Anchor Steam among others abounds. The success of Beertopia excites me to think that soon there might be microbrew bars springing up all over the SAR , bringing a little bit of something from home to the far east.
and the sun for a day was an added bonus.
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