When Hitachino Nest, the famed Japanese craft brewery, announces that they are going to pull production out from Hong Kong, what would you, as the head brewer who helped build and operate the brewery for the past 3 years, do?

Well, convince the owners of the brewery to give you a shot at creating a really cool all-Hong Kong craft beer brand of course!

At least that's what Chris Wong did in 2018, which created Carbon Brews.

Chris Wong is perhaps the very essence of Hong Kong's craft beer scene.

Chris Wong is someone you definitely ought to know about if you ever find yourself on the topic of Hong Kong's craft beer scene - he is the man behind numerous major craft beer brands (like Heroes and Carbon Brews) and also some of the most important craft beer institutions, from Hong Kong's first homebrew store (which also houses an academy to train aspiring homebrewers), HK Brewcraft, to helping to helm the Craft Beer Association of Hong Kong. And on the side, he runs one of the most popular craft beer taprooms, The Ale Project, or TAP. If it's to do with craft beers, you name it, Chris has done it.

And so after having helped one of Hong Kong's largest drinks distributors, the Owlsome Group, get the Hitachino Hong Kong brewery up and running, when faced with its eventual closure, Chris had total conviction in the brewery and the team running it - and so he would go on to convince the owners that he could create something uniquely Hong Kong with it. As the brewery was located in Fo Tan (火炭), which loosely translates to "Fire Carbon" in Chinese, the new craft brewery would be called Carbon Brews.

Carbon Brews' brewery in Fo Tan.

As a seasoned craft beer person, Chris had ready on hand several key principles that he wanted the newly inaugurated Carbon Brews to have. For starters, the brewery defines its goal as "We try to make people who do not think they like beer, to get them to try something new.” “The reaction we are looking for people to try our beer and say, I did not know that beer could taste like this, I did not know that beer can be this cool.” says Chris. And so you can already guess what sort of wacky beers are going to come out of the place, for example the brewery makes a vegan matcha milkshake IPA. But there are limits of course "We are not making a durian truffle gasoline-style beer!” assures Chris.

And then secondly, although this ties in quite neatly to the first principle, the brewery wants to be employee-driven. “When we create new products, we have a very extensive ideas submission process. We have a voting system on our labels, beer concept, recipes, and all the way down to the beer name. There is not one founder or boss; everyone is contributing. The submission process relying on employee-driven ideas and the equal bolts each employee has influenced our brand to consistently bring in new ideas for the Hong Kong beer scene. Because of our very open system we have these really crazy young guys that come in with crazy ideas that we need to consider as part of our brand because that's what we do!” says Chris.

This has allowed Carbon Brews to pursue more out of the box creations that aren't quite available in Hong Kong - which is also why their logo of intersecting grid squares was chosen to enshrine their simultaneous commitment to the science of brewing, whilst also pursuing creativity.

The good folks of Carbon Brews.

When it comes to ingredients and marketing, Carbon Brews has always sought to source and partner locally, from working with coffee chain Fine Print in using their signature Espresso Blend for the Cool Beans Coffee Stout, to creating a beer for popular venue Fringe Club, and even collaborating with esteemed director Christopher Doyle. 

Yet ultimately, Carbon Brews hopes that above all, it is able to stay true to its Hong Kong identity. "The identity of Hong Kong we wanted to feel is a real Hong Kong that you see every day, not the sailboat, not The Peak, not the tram, no kung fu costumes, but the actual people who live in Hong Kong. What our team see and do in Hong Kong represents what the drinkers in Hong Kong would like to see. Their lives and take in the food creation process [are] what [drive] the brand to create what truly Hong Kong is, a fast-moving city in terms of trends and with the highest quality standards for food and beverages. With our branding, identity, and recipes, we did not want a play on words. [We are] just people in Hong Kong and we brew beer.” elaborates Chris.

And so today we'll be trying Carbon Brews' flagship Crazy Rich Lupulins Double Hazy IPA! Let's go!

Beer Review: Crazy Rich Lupulins Double Hazy IPA, Carbon Brews Hong Kong, 8.2% ABV

Tasting Notes

Colour: Hazy Orange

Aroma: Bright and aromatic citrusy scents immediately come through, with all these really fresh oranges, grapefruits and pomelos, freshly harvested and freshly juiced. It feels like walking into a greenhouse, with all these really crisp and fresh vegetal aromas as well, of green leaves and grass. There’s a slight touch of that dankness of diesel as well that almost lightly veils the aromas. 

Taste: Really rich and plush here, it’s pillowy and creamy. More of those citruses pour forth, of oranges, grapefruit, apricots and pomelos. It’s just lightly sweet, yet really fruity. It’s quite pithy too, along with more of that dankness coming through, of diesel and pineapple leaves. They’re all really harmoniously integrated into the body. There’s a slight bitterness, yet it’s not overt.

Finish: The richness carries through to the finish, with more on orange and grapefruit juice. Lightly pith-y, with just alittle bit of cut grass here. It’s soft and plush into the finish.

My Thoughts

Really aced it with this one! It was so incredibly aromatic and evocative on the nose, coming off like freshly harvested citruses on the farm, on a walk through a greenhouse. It's thoroughly expressive and well-integrated and balanced. On the palate, this was pillowy and velvety, with such a richness and lifted-ness, again super harmonious and elegant, really fresh too, with also again such great balance, being neither outrightly sweet nor bitter. This rich plushness carries into the finish, where here we get shots of grapefruit juice - that concentration of fruit! - and then some dankness. The entire tasting is fun and engaging, keeping things tasty and exciting all along the way, with such a great composition and elegance in how all the flavours are placed and how expressive they were. 

This is absolutely awesome! My first from Carbon Brews - and I am a fan already!

Kanpai!

@111hotpot