Craft Beer Immigrates from Pennsylvania to Wuhan

Text by Xu Kuang 許曠

Photos by Su Zhuolin 蘇卓琳

Craft Beer Immigrates from Pennsylvania to Wuhan

精釀啤酒，從賓夕法尼亞到武漢

Text by Xu Kuang 許曠

Photos by Su Zhuolin 蘇卓琳

Compared with traditional beer, craft beer is a new arrival in the beer community of China. Brewed with stronger ingredients and created by the brewer on their own, the craft beer industry is distinguished from the large-scale industrialized breweries. The spectrum of various colors, flavors, and textures makes craft beer pleasing to the palate, which is glorified by the unique artistic brewing style of each brewer. Recent years have witnessed the rise of craft beer in Wuhan.

Integration of the Western and the Eastern

No sooner had we got to Devil’s Brewery than the tantalizing aroma of malt reached our nose. Walking into the brewpub, we found there stood a row of brewing facilities with equipment taller than a person on the left, and hand drawings on the wall. Taylor Armstrong was discussing when to add the hops to the next barrel with his brewmasters Li Min and Yang Boxu. There was a rumbling noise from upstairs —Taylor said they were having the bar redecorated for a second time and anticipated it to be fulfilled as conceived.

“Mayiput the hops now?” asked Taylor.

“In a minute,” replied Li Min, the brewmaster.

When the time was up, the brewmasters poured a bag of hops into the fermentation barrel. The fermentation of wort takes two weeks after the process such as crushing, feeding, saccharification, filtration, boiling, stirring, and inoculation with yeast. 300 liters of craft beer will follow in two or three weeks. Hardly had the hops been added when Dawn, one of the customers, loudly greeted a lady who just entered. Hearing this exclamation, Taylor turned around and encircled her withhis arms; it is Taylor’s girlfriend, Li Mei. She welcomed us in a friendly manner.

Taylor Armstrong, a 30-year-old American, graduated from The University of Memphis in Tennessee, with a degree in Seismology. The first time that Taylor visited China was to conduct a post-earthquake geological study in Yushu after the 2010 quake. He later travelled to Sichuan, Qinghai, and Yunnan to further study the effects of earthquakes. In 2012, Taylor continued to pursue a doctorate at the University of Memphis, during which he came to China University of Geosciences, Wuhan, in 2014.

There he met Li Mei, a lady from Hunan. Taylor then embarked on a more fruitful life, as they started up a brewery together in Wuhan.

After graduating from Wuhan Conservatory of Music with a degree in Drums, Li Mei, a native of Hengyang Hunan, worked reluctantly in a bank, where she quickly grew tired of the nine-to-five routine work. Subsequently, she resigned and partneredwith friends to work in financial consultation. Meanwhile, she took advantage of her professionalism to launch a training course on drums. At present, Li Mei doesn’t get involved in financial consultation any more. Except for that training course, she devotes most of her efforts to Devil’s Brewery.

Incubating Ideas

In June of 2015, Taylor invited Li Mei back to the United States where she had her first access to the craft beer industry. “Althoughilove drinking,iknew nothing about craft beer or Taylor’s brewing capabilities.” said Li Mei. Taylor headed to a favorite brewery with Li Mei. She had never seen such a place. “It is amazing that there exists almost three-storey fermentation barrels with more than thirty pour spots in a row.” What astonished Li Mei more were the malty beers with coffee and chocolate flavors.

“An idea crossed my mind: couldiopen such a kind of brewpub in Wuhan? ” In October of 2015, Li Mei spent three months studying English at the University of California, Los Angeles, on her own, during which she visited a number of bars there and browsed the guidelines on brewing. When Li Mei returned from America, she and Taylor, with the Armstrongs’years of experience in brewing, were ready for the business after purchasing mini brewing devices and referring to the videos shared by American brewmasters.

Craft beer (also homebrewing or microbrewing) has existed in the United States for hundreds of years, which was even included in the manuscript of George Washington, the Founding Father of the United States. The modern Craft Beer Movement in the United Kingdom and the United States began in 1970, and is characterized by a shift in preference from large-scale corporate breweries to small, independentlyowned, traditional, diversified, individualized and infinitely innovative breweries. The number of microbreweries has been increasing by 20% annually in the United States over the past two decades.

Pennsylvania, the home state of Taylor, is one of the most renowned places for craft beer in North America, whose top draws are Golden Monkey and Hopdevil, known to the beer enthusiasts/lovers all across America.

“As far asican remember, my mom made our own wine at home. It was a pleasure for us four siblings to help trample grapes during my childhood.” Around five or six years ago, Taylor found a mini wine kit when picking up a birthday gift for his mother. “It looks very cool and has a volume of about 30 liters.” Taylor bought it as a gift to his mother and he also became immersed in brewing at home. “It tasted great!”

Craft beer remains faithful to traditional brewing methods, which use malt, hops, yeast, and water only—and in principal, is free of artificial preservatives. Additional ingredients are added just to please the palate.

With all sorts of natural ingredients in season available, Taylor is able to create more than thirty different flavors of beer, such as strawberry, orange, chocolate, and lemon. These flavors are concocted to bring out distinctive aromas and textures. It is difficult to have complicated microbrews materialize in a production line.

The spectrum of various colors and textures in each craft beer is quite fantastic and artistic. “I never stop creating new tastes; andiam inspired by high end cuisine to satisfy my customers with updates.” said Taylor.

Dream Realized

It took Taylor and Li Mei almost one year to prepare for the business. They launched Devil’s Brewery on August 27, 2016—the 2nd anniversary of the day they met. They have gained much reputation since the brewery was unveiled six months ago.

“I left Shanghai for Wuhan by tracking the aroma of Devils’Brewery.” Dawn, an Indian, joked.“Well, craft beer is also available in Shanghai, but the recipes at Devils’Brewery are more attractive; the aroma pervades the bar.iwant to hang out here every day for authentic craft beer; it is somehow like walking on air.” Engaged in the R&D of artificial intelligence products in Optics Valley, Wuhan, Dawn haunts the Devils’ Brewery at leisure, eager for a fresh glass of craft beer. One type of craft beer, named Dawn of the Devil, was named after Dawn.

Besides the craft beer, the American snacks there are also widely recognized. Take for example, their Pulled Pork Sandwich, with pork slowly grilled over apple charcoal for more than 10 hours so that the fragrance of the fruit-tree wood is infused into the pork. It tastes tender and juicy with a roasted burnt flavor. The French Fries and the Sandwich’s mate are sliced by hand and fried twice for an intense flavor. Other favorites include BBQ Pork Nachos, Chips & Salsa, and Grilled Pork served with Mexican Chutney go well with beer.

All these snacks have been exclusively developed by Taylor.“I’ve put on quite a bit of weight since Devils’ Brewery was opened. It is hard for me to lose weight with all this good food and beer.” Said Taylor with a smile.

Li Mei prefers to enjoy the Chinese cuisine created by Taylor. “All his family ate the Chinese food cooked by him when we were in America.”Likewise, Taylor finds his stomach happier with Chinese cuisine.

When it comes to the future, Taylor hopes to stay on Campus as a teacher after graduation. Now their first priority is to set up some branches in the second half of the year to promote genuine American craft beer in Wuhan, said Li Mei.

Compared with traditional beer, craft beer tastes more strong and sticky, with higher alcohol and a higher price tag, which makes it difficult for Chinese to generally accept the craft beer. According to Taylor, coffee, when first introduced to China, was not popular with the Chinese, either. “People disliked the bitter coffee then; now various coffee bars have spread across China.”Taylor said the traditional beer is lighter, but in the U.S., the more bitter the craft beer is, the more popular it will be among customers. It will take some time to incorporate craft beer into the community of Wuhan. Only if someone has a try will he or she find its magnetism.

According to Li Mei, it is less proper to assume craft beer must be better than the traditional one. Some are more prone than others to be partial to craft beer.

“I am his brains as he is my hands.”Li Mei said with a smile. It is Taylor that makes her dream come true.

“精釀啤酒”，是相對于一般常見工業啤酒的一種啤酒類型。全部由麥芽釀制，從麥芽的糖化到發酵都由釀酒商自釀而成。與工業化流水線生產的啤酒截然不同，精釀啤酒色澤與質地的變化帶來豐富的口感，誘人非常，每個釀酒商都有自己獨具藝術感的釀造風格。精釀啤酒是徹頭徹尾的舶來品，近幾年，在武漢也漸漸流行起來。

中西結合

剛到小惡魔精釀啤酒屋門口，一股麥芽的甜香味兒撲鼻而來。走進酒吧，左邊是一排過人高的釀酒設備，墻上有大片手繪涂鴉。屋內，泰勒正在跟釀酒師李閔和楊博旭探討，下一桶該什么時候加啤酒花。樓上時不時傳來轟隆隆的裝修聲，泰勒說他們正在進行第二次裝修，希望與想象中的酒吧效果更一致。

“可以加啤酒花了嗎？”泰勒問道。“還有一分鐘。”釀酒師李閔說。

時間一到，兩名釀酒師將一袋啤酒花倒入發酵缸，經過粉碎、投料、糖化、過濾、煮沸、回旋沉淀、接種酵母后，麥汁經過兩周的發酵，兩到三周后，就能釀出300升精釀啤酒。

釀酒師剛加完啤酒花，客人Dawn大聲跟一個剛進門、身材高挑的女生打招呼，泰勒聽到聲音，立馬轉身迎上去摟住女生。這就是泰勒的女朋友李梅，李梅笑意盈盈地向大家問好。

30歲的泰勒是土生土長的美國人，畢業于美國田納西州Memphis大學地震學專業。2010年玉樹地震后，泰勒第一次來到中國，前往玉樹做震后地質研究，隨后，他來中國的次數增多，去過四川、青海、云南等地，考察古地震。2012年，泰勒在本校讀博，2014年，讀博期間，他來到中國地質大學（武漢）繼續從事地質研究。

在武漢認識了湖南姑娘李梅以后，他的人生變得更加豐富多彩。開精釀啤酒屋對兩人來說，是一個偶然。

李梅是湖南衡陽人，畢業于武漢音樂學院架子鼓專業。畢業后誤打誤撞，進入銀行工作，因不喜歡銀行朝九晚五按部就班的工作，她便辭職與朋友一起創業，做起金融咨詢。同時，她利用本專業，開辦了架子鼓培訓班。如今，除了架子鼓培訓班，李梅的大部分精力都放在小惡魔啤酒屋。

萌生想法

2015年6月，泰勒帶李梅回美國。那是李梅第一次接觸到精釀啤酒，“雖然我喜歡喝酒，但是我并不知道精釀啤酒，也不知道他還會釀酒。”泰勒帶李梅去買酒，她第一次看到像工廠一樣的酒吧，“差不多三層樓高的發酵罐，一整排三十幾個酒頭出啤酒，太大了！”更讓李梅吃驚的是，還有咖啡和巧克力味道的啤酒。

“當時有個念頭一閃而過，我能不能在武漢開一家這樣的酒吧？”2015年10月，李梅一個人去美國加利福尼亞大學洛杉磯分校學了三個月語言，其間特意去參觀了洛杉磯的很多酒吧，并閱讀大量釀酒方面的書籍。回國后，她和泰勒一起去采購小型設備，參考美國釀酒達人們分享的視頻，加上泰勒的家人們累積多年的釀酒經驗，開始了創業之路。

在美國，精釀啤酒已有數百年歷史，連國父華盛頓都寫過自釀啤酒的手稿。現代精釀啤酒是源于1970年代英國和美國的精釀啤酒運動（The Craft Beer Movement）的產物，是啤酒從超大規模工業化生產，回歸小型、獨立、傳統、多元化、個性化，乃至迸發出無限創新活力的一場運動。過去20年里，美國小型釀酒商數量正以每年約20%的速度增長。泰勒的家鄉賓夕法尼亞州正是北美精釀重鎮之一，最為啤酒愛好者熟知的Golden Monkey和Hopdevil就出自賓夕法尼亞。

“我小時候，媽媽會自釀葡萄酒，讓我們姐弟四人幫忙踩葡萄，這是件快樂的事。”五六年前，泰勒幫媽媽挑選生日禮物時，發現有一種小型釀酒工具。“容量大概30升，很好玩，可以讓媽媽在家里試試。”泰勒買回家送給媽媽，他自己也開始在家里研究釀酒，“我覺得味道不錯。”

精釀啤酒只使用麥芽、啤酒花、酵母和水，用傳統方式進行釀造，原則上不添加任何人工添加劑，加的其他輔料也只為提升口感。

泰勒可以釀造30多種口味的啤酒，季節時令不同，輔料也不同，包括草莓、橙子、巧克力、檸檬等，味道也各具特色。這些都是商業環境下無法進行的復雜手工藝。

每一款精釀啤酒色澤與質地的變化，都帶來豐富的口感，且獨具藝術感。泰勒告訴記者：“我不斷釀造新口味，也會根據大家的需求不斷創新，讓大家總能嘗到新啤酒。”

夢想成真

準備近一年，他們特意選在兩人相識2周年紀念日開業。2016年8月27日，小惡魔精釀啤酒正式營業。開業大半年，已經積累不少口碑。

“我聞到了小惡魔酒吧精釀啤酒的香味兒，所以從上海來到了武漢。”印度人Dawn開玩笑說。“當然，上海也有精釀啤酒，但是，這家的精釀太香了，我想天天在這里守著，能在這里喝到正宗的精釀啤酒，太讓人滿足了。”Dawn現在在光谷一家公司從事AI（人工智能）產品研發，閑暇時光幾乎泡在小惡魔酒吧，他總是眼巴巴地等著第一杯精釀，泰勒還以Dawn的名字命名了一款酒Don of the Devil。

除了精釀啤酒，店內的美式小吃也讓顧客贊不絕口。BBQ豬肉沙拉漢堡，豬肉用蘋果木炭慢慢熏烤10個小時以上，果木香氣浸入肉中，鮮嫩多汁，又焦香四溢。漢堡搭配的粗薯條，手工厚切，過兩道油炸制，根根焦香濃郁。芝士熏肉玉米片，脆脆玉米片、焦香烤肉再加上秘制墨西哥酸辣醬料，口感十分豐富，特別適合下酒。

這些小吃也都是泰勒獨家研制，“開店以來，我長胖了40斤，瘦不下來啦！”泰勒笑著說。

李梅說自己更喜歡吃泰勒做的中國菜，“我們回美國的時候，他們家人都一起吃他做的中國菜。”泰勒自己也覺得中國菜更適合自己的口味。

談到將來，泰勒希望畢業后能留校任教。李梅說，眼前最重要的就是下半年開分店，他們想在武漢大力推廣純正的美式精釀啤酒。

精釀啤酒口感較工業啤酒更為濃郁厚重，酒精度略高，且動輒幾十甚至上百元的價格，可能不被國人普遍接受。泰勒認為，咖啡剛傳入中國時，也不符合中國人的傳統口味，“他們不喜歡咖啡的苦味，但現在，中國各地遍布著大大小小的咖啡館。”工業啤酒偏清淡，而精釀啤酒在美國卻是越苦越暢銷。泰勒表示精釀啤酒在武漢普及還需假以時日，但只要是嘗試過的人，都會發現其有趣之處。

李梅認為，不能說精釀啤酒一定就是比工業啤酒更好喝，只是說，一定有人更偏愛精釀啤酒這種純手工釀造的啤酒。

“我是他的腦，他是我的手。”李梅笑稱，是泰勒把她的想法變成了現實。