Tsingtao Beer - China’s Most Famous Beer Brand

Originally founded in 1903 in Qingdao, Tsingtao Beer is a time-honored beer manufacturer and the most famous beer brand in China, having won many gold awards in China and overseas.
 

Tsingtao Beer or Qingdao Beer is made from high quality materials including barley, rice, Laoshan mineral water and hops. The beer yeast is also unique of its own qualities. It has a pure yellow color with purified flavor, refreshing taste, light hops and malty aroma. Generally speaking, the original wort concentration of Tsingtao Beer is of 9-12°P and its alcohol content is of 3.5-4%.

It takes more than 30 days to make Tsingtao Beer in general, adopting the modern brewing method and the unique long-time low-temperature post-maturation technique. At the same time, advanced beer preservation technology is used to ensure the fresh taste.
 

There are a plenty of products made each year in the Tsingtao Beer factories, containing draft beer and pasteurized beer, beer of different colors and different wort concentrations. The most popular are listed below.

Tsingtao Classical Series:
330ml cans: 11°P, 4.3%vol, CNY 4-6 per can
500ml cans: 10°P, 4.0%vol, CNY 5-7 per can
500ml bottles: 8°P, 3.1%vol, CNY 7-9 per bottle
600ml bottles: 8°P, 3.1%vol, CNY 6-8 per bottle

Tsingtao Draft Beer:
500ml cans: 8°P, 3.1%vol, CNY 6-8 per can
500ml bottles: 8°P, 3.1%vol, CNY 7-9 per bottle

Tsingtao White Beer made of whole malt:
330ml bottles: 11°P, 4.0%vol, CNY 8-9 per bottle
500ml cans: 11°P, 4.1%vol, CNY 7-9 per can

Augerta 1903 Beer made with German beer yeast and top Czech hops:
330ml cans: 12°P, 4.7%vol, CNY 5-7 per can
500ml cans: 12°P, 4.7%vol, CNY 9-11 per can

If you are in Qingdao, you can enjoy more types of Tsingtao Beer, such as the local Original Beer that has a quality guarantee period of only one day, Stout Beer with a flavor of burnt malt, and bitter IPA Beer, etc. One can enjoy them in most restaurants at about CNY5-20/glass. Along the roadside, there are also small shops selling Qindgao beer by weight. People can weigh some and take it away with plastic bags. It is usually CNY2-3/ 500g.
 

Tsingtao Beer is pretty expensive abroad, as its oversea market strategy concentrates on high-ended products with high price. The price of a bottle of Tsingtao beer is nearly twice as that of local beer in the United States, three times in Germany, and four times in Kazakhstan. For example, in Germany, a bottle of local beer is generally priced at 0.8-1 euro, while the same amount of Tsingtao beer is priced at around 3 euros. However, Tsingtao Beer is still very popular. In many countries, Tsingtao Beer alcohol ranks the first among Asian imported beer brands.
 

Tsingtao Brewery was founded in August, 1903 by German and British merchants to make pale beer and stout beer. In 1916, it was acquired by Japanese. In this period, the techniques and production volume had been improved. When the World War Ⅱ was over, local government took over Tsingtao Beer factory. In 1948, the beer was exported to Singapore for the first time. After the establishment of People’s Republic of China, Tsingtao Beer entered a new age of quick development. The products begin to be sold in Hong Kong in 1954 and in the United States in 1972.

Tsingtao Brewery established a European office in Italy in 1992, and it was officially listed on both Hong Kong and Shanghai Stock Exchange in 1993. Three years later in 1996, it was listed in America Stock Exchange. At present, Tsingtao Beer is the top beer brand in China and is exported to more than 100 countries and regions in the world such as the United States, Canada, Britain, France, Germany, Italy, Australia, South Korea, Japan, Denmark, Russia, etc. With its goal of “From Chinatown to Downtown”, it has become the fifth largest beer producer in the world.
 

Tsingtao Beer Museum was officially opened in the 100th anniversary of Tsingtao Brewery in 2003 in Qingdao, its birthplace. It is the only professional beer museum in China and has become a multi-functional tourist attraction, making full use of the century-old German architectures and equipment with the exhibition area of more than 6,000 square meters. There are mainly three exhibition halls: you can learn the Tsingtao Beer history at Hall A, the brewing process at Hall B, and enjoy a cup of Tsingtao Beer and buy some souvenirs at Hall C.
 

Qingdao International Beer Festival was founded in 1991 and has been held every year since then. It starts on the second weekend of every August and lasts for 16 days in Qingdao International Beer Town and becomes a grand beer event in Asia. Every year, beer manufacturers from dozens of countries and regions bring numerous beers to the Tsingtao Beer Festival, attracting more than one million tourists to taste. There are also various entertainment activities being held, such as folk performances, art parades, cultural and art matches, drinking competitions, trade exhibitions, and so on.

Further Reading
10 Most Popular Chinese Beers You Should Try

Snow Beer - The Best-Selling Beer in the World