Neolithic Beer
Wednesday, Randy forwarded me a story he saw on the website of CNN about a new limited-edition beer produced by local micro-brewery 京A. The beer was called Mijiaya Neolithic Ale, and it was based on a 5,000-year-old Chinese recipe. I was intrigued; how did they find a recipe that was 2000 years older than the earliest Chinese writing?
About ten years ago, evidence of beer brewing was discovered at an archeological dig site in Shaanxi province. The clay vessels and clay fragments that were unearthed still held residue that lead the archeologists to conclude that a kind of beer was brewed at Mijiaya. They were also able to recreate the recipe, down to the surprising ingredients that included barley, millet, and Job's tears. Of these, barley may have been the most unexpected component as it was not widespread in China at that time, and wouldn't be for some thousands of years yet. There were no hops, of course.
Both 京A and Hong Kong's Moonzen Brewery worked with the archeologists at Stanford and the Shaanxi Institute of Archeology to formulate as accurate a brew as they could. The website of 京A has a very good summary of how they went about this. My favorite part is how they went about to collect the wild yeast from the Mijiaya area. I am hoping that there is more to the story of their meeting the farmer, Mr. Huang Maohuang, and his fermented millet beverage called hunjiu. There has to be, with a Chinese farmer and urban foreigners sampling his home-made alcohol.
When Randy and I read about the Mijiaya Ale, we wondered how quickly we would have to act to get a try. In the CNN story we saw that only 350 liters was going to be brewed by the Beijing brewery. I emailed 京A, asking at which locations we would find it, and how soon they expected to run out. The response came in only a few hours from Richard Ammerman, their marketing guy. In Beijing we could find it at the 京A Taproom, and while they only produced 350 liters, they expected they would still have it on tap for about two more weeks. Additionally, Richard advised that the Mijiaya was "an acquired taste, quite sour and funky/earthy/vegetal... but it's interesting for the historical nature of the ingredients used." I knew we would be in for flavors unlike other beers, but it was interesting that he offered this caveat.
We considered waiting until the weekend or the May 1st holiday, but we both envisioned that history buffs and beer connoisseurs would be lining up outside the door just to try something so rare. Fortunately, after lunch Thursday Randy had to go visit his bank in the Kempinski Hotel, only two subway stops from the 京A Taproom. We didn't think we would have another opportunity to go to Sanlitun together again in the next two weeks, so carpe diem!
While I had 京A beers at other locations around Beijing, I was still yet to visit their Taproom. It was not what I expected. I couldn't get over the setting in the 1949 Courtyard, so close in proximity to the chaos of Sanlitun, and yet so far in feeling.
Randy and I quickly ordered Mijiaya Neolithic Ale. Our waiter warned us it was very sour and offered a taste before we committed to full glasses. I appreciated his caution. However, we hadn't come all that way for a tiny taste.
The first sip was sour. So very sour. Like, how-am-I-going-to-finish-this sour. But then, as I tried some more, and my mouth stopped expecting some other beer flavor, I started to like it. Five thousand years ago something like this beer was brewed to be enjoyable, and here it is today. Mijiaya wasn't just a curious experiment, but a beverage worth having.
I wondered what kind of food should accompany it. The menu had some lovely salad and supper options, but we really only wanted some snacks and starters. My instinct was not to order anything sour, but the pickles and marinated olives really tempted me. It was a complete surprise when I discovered that some of the picked vegetables (especially the green beans and the cauliflower) really went well with the Mijiaya Ale. It didn't seem that I should pile on so many sour tastes, but I did, and I liked it.
Brigid claimed not to be hungry but still munched on potato wedges. Myles, who is frequently hungry, was in awe of the Mala Popcorn Chicken. He even photographed it. The seasoning was Chinese 麻辣 málà, numbingly spicy, and Myles ate until he lost sensation in his cheeks and bottom lip. Yes, this is a valid way of enjoying food.
Randy was such a fan of the Mijiaya, he ordered a second glass and a liter bottle to bring home. I thought perhaps that because of the limited quantity, a take-home bottle would not be permitted, but it was.
I was then a little embarrassed at our urgency to try the Mijiaya. While the Taproom filled with customers during our time there, I didn't notice a lot of people clamoring for the ancient beer. I saw samplers and beers in many other shades brought to tables around us, but there was no line out the door like I imagined. For us, this was a rare opportunity that we had to seize, but for the normal clientele, it must be just another exotic beer in a line of exotic beers at 京A. They had the luxury of repeat visits in the immediate future if they want to try Mijiaya.
The caution I received twice about Mijiaya was that it was sour. And it was, especially on that first sip. If anyone dismisses it based on only one tiny taste, they will miss out. It took me a couple of mouthfuls to get acclimated to what was going on with this beer.
This wasn't the first time a 京A beer garnered international attention. Among their regular taps is a beer called Airpocolypse Double IPA. My friend Adam made it up to Beijing a couple of years ago to sample it and he contributed this to Bloomberg View about it. I have not tried it, and not even the sliding pricing scale inversely proportional to the AQI has tempted me.
About ten years ago, evidence of beer brewing was discovered at an archeological dig site in Shaanxi province. The clay vessels and clay fragments that were unearthed still held residue that lead the archeologists to conclude that a kind of beer was brewed at Mijiaya. They were also able to recreate the recipe, down to the surprising ingredients that included barley, millet, and Job's tears. Of these, barley may have been the most unexpected component as it was not widespread in China at that time, and wouldn't be for some thousands of years yet. There were no hops, of course.
Both 京A and Hong Kong's Moonzen Brewery worked with the archeologists at Stanford and the Shaanxi Institute of Archeology to formulate as accurate a brew as they could. The website of 京A has a very good summary of how they went about this. My favorite part is how they went about to collect the wild yeast from the Mijiaya area. I am hoping that there is more to the story of their meeting the farmer, Mr. Huang Maohuang, and his fermented millet beverage called hunjiu. There has to be, with a Chinese farmer and urban foreigners sampling his home-made alcohol.
When Randy and I read about the Mijiaya Ale, we wondered how quickly we would have to act to get a try. In the CNN story we saw that only 350 liters was going to be brewed by the Beijing brewery. I emailed 京A, asking at which locations we would find it, and how soon they expected to run out. The response came in only a few hours from Richard Ammerman, their marketing guy. In Beijing we could find it at the 京A Taproom, and while they only produced 350 liters, they expected they would still have it on tap for about two more weeks. Additionally, Richard advised that the Mijiaya was "an acquired taste, quite sour and funky/earthy/vegetal... but it's interesting for the historical nature of the ingredients used." I knew we would be in for flavors unlike other beers, but it was interesting that he offered this caveat.
We considered waiting until the weekend or the May 1st holiday, but we both envisioned that history buffs and beer connoisseurs would be lining up outside the door just to try something so rare. Fortunately, after lunch Thursday Randy had to go visit his bank in the Kempinski Hotel, only two subway stops from the 京A Taproom. We didn't think we would have another opportunity to go to Sanlitun together again in the next two weeks, so carpe diem!
While I had 京A beers at other locations around Beijing, I was still yet to visit their Taproom. It was not what I expected. I couldn't get over the setting in the 1949 Courtyard, so close in proximity to the chaos of Sanlitun, and yet so far in feeling.
Randy and I quickly ordered Mijiaya Neolithic Ale. Our waiter warned us it was very sour and offered a taste before we committed to full glasses. I appreciated his caution. However, we hadn't come all that way for a tiny taste.
The first sip was sour. So very sour. Like, how-am-I-going-to-finish-this sour. But then, as I tried some more, and my mouth stopped expecting some other beer flavor, I started to like it. Five thousand years ago something like this beer was brewed to be enjoyable, and here it is today. Mijiaya wasn't just a curious experiment, but a beverage worth having.
I wondered what kind of food should accompany it. The menu had some lovely salad and supper options, but we really only wanted some snacks and starters. My instinct was not to order anything sour, but the pickles and marinated olives really tempted me. It was a complete surprise when I discovered that some of the picked vegetables (especially the green beans and the cauliflower) really went well with the Mijiaya Ale. It didn't seem that I should pile on so many sour tastes, but I did, and I liked it.
Brigid claimed not to be hungry but still munched on potato wedges. Myles, who is frequently hungry, was in awe of the Mala Popcorn Chicken. He even photographed it. The seasoning was Chinese 麻辣 málà, numbingly spicy, and Myles ate until he lost sensation in his cheeks and bottom lip. Yes, this is a valid way of enjoying food.
Randy was such a fan of the Mijiaya, he ordered a second glass and a liter bottle to bring home. I thought perhaps that because of the limited quantity, a take-home bottle would not be permitted, but it was.
I was then a little embarrassed at our urgency to try the Mijiaya. While the Taproom filled with customers during our time there, I didn't notice a lot of people clamoring for the ancient beer. I saw samplers and beers in many other shades brought to tables around us, but there was no line out the door like I imagined. For us, this was a rare opportunity that we had to seize, but for the normal clientele, it must be just another exotic beer in a line of exotic beers at 京A. They had the luxury of repeat visits in the immediate future if they want to try Mijiaya.
The caution I received twice about Mijiaya was that it was sour. And it was, especially on that first sip. If anyone dismisses it based on only one tiny taste, they will miss out. It took me a couple of mouthfuls to get acclimated to what was going on with this beer.
This wasn't the first time a 京A beer garnered international attention. Among their regular taps is a beer called Airpocolypse Double IPA. My friend Adam made it up to Beijing a couple of years ago to sample it and he contributed this to Bloomberg View about it. I have not tried it, and not even the sliding pricing scale inversely proportional to the AQI has tempted me.
Comments