When COVID-19 emerged in Wuhan and the Chinese city went into a strict 76-day lockdown, Wang Fan (王帆) resolved to commemorate the turbulent period in the way he knew best — through beer.
Wang is a leading figure in the burgeoning world of Chinese craft beer, and the Wuhan native in 2013 founded one of the country’s first specialized breweries, the No. 18 Brewery.
His business — which includes four bars and a brewery in Wuhan — nearly folded after the city of 11 million people was on Jan. 23 forced into a particularly tough lockdown that would drag on until early April.
Photo: AFP
Warning: Excessive consumption of alcohol can damage your health
Life is getting back to normal in Wuhan, where COVID-19 was first detected about a year ago before becoming a pandemic, but about 4,000 people died there, and the mental scars remain.
That traumatic period is recalled in a beer made by Wang and his team called Wuhan Jia Ha Zi You, or Wuhan Stay Strong.
Released in April, the beer was a way to “let people know our story” of what people in Wuhan endured, 36-year-old Wang said.
The cans have a label that peels back to reveal a chronology of those long weeks with haunting black-and-white photographs.
Pictures include medical personnel in hazmat suits, masked community workers and a deserted bridge crossing the Yangtze River.
There is also a poem inscribed on the wrap-around label by popular novelist Wang Xiaobo (王小波).
“If I can shine, don’t be afraid of darkness; if I am so beautiful, then all fear can be dispelled,” it reads.
Wuhan Stay Strong is a sweet, seasonal “sakura beer” inspired by the cherry blossoms that in spring give parts of Wuhan a pink hue.
There are about 30 craft-beer bars in Wuhan, and the scene is growing steadily, Wang Fan said.
His brewery is at the forefront locally and nationally, conjuring up beers that often incorporate features or ingredients that are particular to Wuhan and China.
They once made a “breakfast stout” that used black sesame seeds usually associated with a popular noodle dish usually eaten in the morning.
Another beer used Chinese tea, while another coconut.
Nine-Head Phoenix, an India pale ale, is named after a mythical creature once worshiped in what is now Hubei, the province that Wuhan is part of.
The No. 18 Brewery sells its beer, which has won an array of awards, not only in China, but also in Taiwan and Macau.
However, like many companies in Wuhan and beyond, the business has been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic.
For starters, they had to dump up to 12,000 liters of stock.
“It was devastating. We nearly collapsed. All of our bars were closed for more than three months,” Wang Fan said.
Life resumed only very slowly when the lockdown was lifted, but the summer months brought a welcome boom as the people of Wuhan let their hair down.
All 100,000 cans of Wuhan Stay Strong were snapped up.
“It sold out the minute we released it because everyone wants to support Wuhan in some way,” Wang Fan said.
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