Jarrett Wrisley and several distinguished beer fans sit down to do some drinking – and conclude that Shanghai’s beer scene is better than ever.

Shanghai is no longer pijiu purgatory. While there are countless adjectives used to describe local beers – and few are flattering – the state of beer here is thankfully changing, albeit at a rate similar to the time it takes to pour a pint of Guiness. But just like your pint, it’s worth the wait.

China’s brewing industry is still very much a regional one, with only a few larger, nationwide breweries. Even these adhere to a uniform style, however, with a lower alcohol content, no particular hoppy taste, a light color, and a personality that wouldn’t merit a second date. While they may often be refreshing drinks, so is water.

But all is not lost. America, which now produces world-class beers (but which, sadly, are rarely exported) once claimed an industry stuck in the same watery rut as China. Budweiser, Miller, and their ilk for a long time ruled the market, with a resultant variation that was as simple as choosing between  bottles or cans, light beer or regular. But pioneers in the micro-brewing industry emerged, blending old-world techniques and a distinct, aggressive style. It was, like thegrowth of good winemaking in the New World, an incredibly speedy progression.

Here in China, locally produced dark beers have been slowly appearing in bars, providing a sturdier alternative to the straw-colored stuff. Ales from Great Britain and Belgium now grace the shelves of supermarkets, and at places like Big Bamboo and Sasha’s, you no longer have to settle for cookie-cutters like Carlsberg or Tiger draught.

In the past months, I’ve tried some very respectable locally brewed beers too, made in places like Henry’s and Castle Oktober, which can hold their own against the imports. And so to celebrate our rise from beer backwater to an almost passable beer town, we sat down with avid beer drinkers, pitting a few locally produced beers against the best from abroad.

The group were invited to Castle Oktober on a sunny Thursday afternoon with the promise of free beer. Unsurprisingly, most people arrived on time. Tasters included Gary Heyne, the brewer at Henry’s Brewery & Grill; Ken Walker, proprietor of Bubba’s Texas Bar-B-Que and Saloon; father and son team Keith and Charles Isted of Oscar’s Pub; Alan Duffy of Sasha’s; James Fallows, journalist and beer fan, who once held his own beer tasting for American online magazine Slate; Kelley Lee, partner in the iiiit! and City Diner restaurants; Mark Williams, manager of Castle Oktober; Ryan Martin of American Craft Beer Partners; and finally, yours truly. SH intern Andrew Scully poured the beers (and sucked down the leftovers).

Our sample of beers, which was announced to the panel beforehand, included: Heyne’s own Pale Ale and his Shanghai Nights; Castle Oktober’s Wheat and Dark beers; Brooklyn East India Pale Ale and Rogue Dead Guy Ale, two American micro-beers recently brought to the Shanghai market by Ryan Martin’s company. These faced off against cans of Paulaner imported from Germany (Shanghai’s Paulaner was reluctant to join our unscientific tastdininging), Sam Adams Boston Lager, Reeb Dark, Sierra Nevada Pale Ale, British ale Old Speckled Hen, and a conspicuously blondTsingtao.

In the spirit of the Enlightenment, we laymen attempted to cloak our amateurish afternoon of beer drinking in an aura of scientific respectability. But the reader should only expect as much rigor as a clan sitting around drinking beer can muster. In addition to evaluating taste, beers were rated for drinkability and their hangover quotient, the former indicating how many of these you’d like to drink, the latter indicating how that might make you feel the next day. The tasters were each additionally asked to rate the Best and Worst of the bunch, and their answers were added together with Taste to give us our (highly subjective) “Best Overall Award.” A random selection of our thoughts from the afternoon follow, concluding with the top three scores.

1. Gary Heyne knows a lot about beer, particularly after he’s had a few of them. Yeasts, starters, hops, and breaking molecular chains were all heartily discussed. Here’s a question for all you beer buffs: which American town also has a strain of yeast named after it? I’m sure I was told, but I forget...
2. Tsingtao might be a good beer in bad company, but it doesn’t hold its own against, well, anything decent. Heyne on China’s big one: “ooooh, me no likey.” Fallows: “it has that Chinese je ne sais quoi – this is what’s wrong with local beer.” Charles Isted, the toughest overall taster, showed the pride of China some love, awarding it a 4/5 for taste and calling it “simple, but very tasty.”
3. Ken Walker is an amicable Texan, and an equal-opportunity drinker to match. Even the elsewhere derided Reeb Dark was given a three, and Old Speckled Hen was “Sierra Nevada for sure.” His average score hovered close to a generous 5/5.
4. Fathers and sons don’t necessarily agree on what to drink. The elder Isted picked the Old Speckled Hen he had brought to the party out of the bunch – and liked it the best, awarding it a five. His son, however, described it as “a bit bland.” But the young Isted also described Sam Adams as a “very traditional British ale.” The patriot rolls in his grave.
5. People who sell their own beer, make it, bring it, and drink lots of it sometimes can’t actually identify it. We’re not going to name names...
6. Support your local brewery. Henry’s Pale Ale, while not the highest scored beer in each of the categories, was listed as the overall best in the sample four times, making it the most popular beer of the bunch. Castle Oktober Dark fared well with two first place votes.
7. Drinking beers with a bunch of people who love them is not something you need to craft an elaborate occasion to experience. Next time we’ll just get together for happy hour. Blindfolded, of course.
8. The lightest beers fared the worst. Paulaner Munich Lager was the overwhelming dud in this twelve pack. Mark Williams, who faithfully identified his own Oktober Dark as the best, has this to say: “Champagne colored and clinical.” Wish I had thought of that.
9. The highest rated beer overall in each of the categories was Rogue Dead Guy Ale, which scored a 4.11, but no one picked it as their favorite. Following were Sam Adams, with 4.05, and Henry’s Pale Ale and Old Speckled Hen at 3.83.

Where to drink:

Castle Oktober, 39 Taojiang Lu, near Wulumuqi Lu. Call 6431 2668.
Henry’s Bar & Grill, 33 Sichuan Zhong Lu, near Yan’an Lu. Call 6321 7127.
Oscar’s, Oscar’s Pub, 1377 Fuxing Lu, near Baoqing Lu. Call 6431 6528.
City Diner, 146 Tongren Lu, near Nanjing Xi Lu. Call 6289 3699.
American Craft Beer Partners. Call 5465 0946 or visit www.realbeer.com.cn.