Chengdu has a reputation for doing pleasure well and at length, and craft beer fitted straight into it. The city now has a brewing scene with dozens of small producers, and taprooms where their beer is poured, scattered through the old residential districts, the bar streets and the converted industrial quarters. It is not a niche for expatriates: the customers are mostly local and young, the prices are moderate, and the beer is brewed here.
What is brewed
The best of the local brewing takes Sichuan's own ingredients seriously. Sichuan peppercorn appears in pale ales and saisons, giving the citrus-and-numbness lift that the pepper has in food; tea - both green and the fermented brick tea of the province - is used in lagers and dark beers; chilli has been tried, sometimes successfully, in stouts and amber ales; and local fruit such as pomelo, plum and hawthorn turns up in sour beers and ciders. American and European styles are also brewed straight - IPA, wheat beer, pilsner, porter - and there is a healthy trade in collaborations between Chengdu breweries and visiting ones.
Where to drink
The taprooms cluster in a few areas: the older residential streets on the southern and western sides of the centre, where rents are low and small bars fit into ground-floor rooms; the bar street along the river, which is louder and later; and the converted factory art quarters, where large taprooms with outdoor seating sit among galleries and clubs. Most places have ten to twenty taps, menu boards in Chinese with the style written in English, and food either from their own kitchen or from the noodle and barbecue stalls next door. A flight of small glasses is the normal way to try several at once.
Practical notes
Bars generally open in the late afternoon and close around midnight, later at weekends. Tipping is not expected, cards are often accepted in the bigger taprooms but not everywhere, so have a mobile payment app set up. If you want to visit a brewery, some of the larger producers run tours and tastings and can be reached by taxi from the centre. Beer is also sold in bottles and cans in supermarkets and convenience stores, which is why the taproom scene is genuinely about fresh draught beer rather than supply.
