Wang Rui, often called Geezer by his foreign friends, is a brewer from Chongqing. I’m pretty sure quite some of you know this awesome fellah from back in the early days – Xiongmao, Hemp House, Music Festivals or other great occasions. He started his first small beer workshop in Chengdu 2010 and named it “Chengdu Harvest Brewery”.
After two years and lots of hard work, the brewery expended to a 200 liter capacity. In 2013, the breakthrough came when he and his wife upgraded the brewey to a 2000 liter system using equity from their family. Within craft beer circles Geezer is a pioneer. He’s a kind spirit and has always been ready to generously help others. His wisdom, humour, diligence, creativity and even sometimes his silliness has inspired all of us and many good moments were shared together.
Unfortunately, the journey of pursing their passion for beer has never run smooth. Apart from experiencing ups and downs in their business, they had to deal with being fined and shut down by the Food and Drug Administration. Despite all of this, they managed to overcome these challenges together.
Last year, they experienced the joy of becoming parents to a baby boy and their passion for beer led them to give him the nickname 桶桶 (tǒngtong – Little Keg). In April 2015, they finally passed all the administrative formalities and were ready to devote themselves to their beer career.
However, just at the very moment that they thought the frustrations of the past were behind them, a tragedy happened. On April 11th 2015, only three days after they received all of their required documentation, a fire from a nearby building burnt down and destroyed every inch of their factory as well as their hopes and dreams.
We, brewers and bar owners, often share the same destiny and have to weather through the tough times together. We’ve all started our businesses from nothing and have worked hard to build up our dream – with the support of many people around us. Therefore, during these hard times for Chengdu Harvest Brewery, there’s an ongoing beer promotion to help Geezer, and in turn help China’s craft beer scene along.
Master Gao’s Brewery (Nanjing) is going to release a special beer called Phoenix. The Phoenix, or Fire Bird, is a symbol of burning fire and refers to the mythical bird rising from the ashes to be reborn; it is brewed using smoked malt, pepper and heavy-flavoured bitter hops.
For every 100 RMB received, you will receive a 330ml bottle of this special edition beer. The full amount of donation money will be directly transferred to Chengdu Harvest Brewery and we will not take any costs or fees out of the donation. Bars and local associations it would be appreciated if you could organize your own donation. We hope Chengdu Harvest Brewery will be reborn after the fire and, like the Fire Bird, able to fly again higher than before. At the same time, we would like to show our teamwork and unity within the Chinese Brewers’ Society. Every individual is always welcome to join this big family.
Ways of donation (you might need to seek help from your Chinese friends and all your efforts will be sincerely appreciated):
*Visit Master Gao’s Taobao/ WeChat shop
*If you’re in Chengdu, contact The Beer Nest (13730871837 or info@thebeernest.com) and tell them you would like to donate for Chengdu Harvest Brewery; you can pick up the goods at the bar in the end of May.
Other bars or factories are encouraged to plan your own donations and we promise the same beer donation system accordingly.
