Hong Kong’s Gweilo Beer have announced that they intend to set up a new brewery and taproom in the troubled territory.
Gweilo Beers’ seasonal brews have been a popular addition to their portfolio
Launched in 2015 without a permanent home Gweilo eventually set up their own brewing facility in the Fo Tan neighbourhood in 2018. However, since then they have seen demand grow both domestically and overseas .
Now, finding themselves short of brewing capacity they have decided to open up a new brewery in an as yet unspecified location in Hong Kong.
Speaking to the Asia Brewers Network, Gweilo co-founder Joseph Gould revealed how the tough and unpredictable year has let to a lot of inward reflection on their business “the year has forced us to look deeper into our business and ask ourselves how we want to change and evolve, resulting in a whole series of new goals”.
He continues that the brewers have several huge projects in the pipeline, the brewery being only the first to be publicly announced.
Renowned California brewer Charlie Johnson was brought on earlier this year to head up the Gweilo brewing team and will help handle the new brewery build. He is the founder of Ronin Fermentation Project in California and has previously worked for the Yakima Chief Brew School and consulted on over 100 brewery projects internationally.
Charlie Johnson joined Gweilo Beer in June 2020
“Bringing Charlie on board has been awesome” says Joe “he’s great to work with and has added a new dimension to what we do. We’re now developing a calendar of continually progressive beers, something we’ve always dreamed of achieving.”
The new brewery in Hong Kong is due to open some time in 2022 and will include a fully licensed bar, restaurant and experience centre, as well as an experimental brew lab where tours and brewing seminars will be a regular feature.
Joseph explains “one of our main objectives with the new brewery is to offer our customers a full brewery experience, something we haven’t been able to provide at our current setup. With a licensed bar, restaurant and brew lab, we’ll bring a series of exciting new craft beer experiences to Hong Kong.”
In an announcement made through their Facebook page Gweilo also noted that in order to keep up with the growing demand for their beers they shall be brewing at Heart of Darkness Craft Brewery in Vietnam and Rocky Ridge Brewing Co in Australia as well as in Hong Kong.
Gweilo’s collaboration with Rocky Ridge has helped them introduce their beer into the Australian market, it return they also help distribute Rocky Ridge’s core range in Hong Kong.
