Juicy and tropical, Pacific Pineapple rolls ripe Costa Rica golden pineapples into fresh-pressed Northwest apples. This refreshingly juicy and easy drinking session cider will relax your state of mind, no matter your locale!
ABV: 5%
Vol: 355ml
Tart & complex, Crimson Bliss is full of berry charm. Bright cranberries and black currants make this the perfect compliment for gathering around the fire this season, so take some time to kick back and enjoy a moment of bliss.
ABV: 5.2%
Vol: 355ml
Grapefruit Rosemary Cider - Made with Rio Grande Ruby Red Grapefruit - Rio Grande ruby red grapefruit brings a bold burst of uplifting flavor, with sophisticated rosemary notes. This medium-dry, full-flavored cider is unfiltered, a little sweet, a little
Brave Old World is a new series of 8 Wired beers, historic styles brought back to life in modern New Zealand. This is the fourth beer in this series, a Scotch Ale, inspired by the rich, malty brews that emerged from Scotland in the 1800's.
This deep co
We are proud to be part of the Bract Brewing Project, testing out experimental varieties grown by NZ Hops.
NZH-105 gives our growers an interesting option as the latest harvested hop. It won't be a big yielding variety for farmers but it fills a spot t
A refreshing, light, hoppy, sour and very fruity tasting beer inspired by traditional Berliner Weisse ales. Naturally soured by live cultures and hopped with American and New Zealand hops. It's Juicy, dude.
Style: Berliner Weiss
ABV: 4%
Vol: 330ml
Hopwired was one of the first, true new world IPAs made exclusively with unique NZ hops. Although there is plenty of malt sweetness, this beer is all about the hops. Punchy, aggressive, New Zealand hops that all add up to create wonderful, tropical flavou
The "i" might be in lower case, but beware - this is a capital beer. Brimming with luscious roasted coffee and chocolate malt flavours drizzled over a scoop of velvety ice cream. iStout Affogato is balanced by a brisk bitterness and bold hoppy freshness,
The "I" might be in lower case, but beware - this is a capital beer. Brimming with luscious roasted coffee and chocolate malt flavours, iStout is balanced by a brisk bitterness and bold hoppy freshness. As with all our beers, this beer is a very modern in
Black as jet but easy on the ABV. This sessionable stout tempts you to land with big roasted malt notes but then soars to another level with the citrus kick from Centennial hops.
Style: Stout
ABV: 5%
Vol: 330ml
An indulgently decadent imperial stout, enhanced by the addition of miso paste and vanilla. To create this culinary delight, we've curated a complex malt bill, with plenty of chocolate and roasted malts. Additional chocolate in the form of roasted cocoa h
A very special "Imperial Gueuze" inspired blend of selected barrels from our library. One third each of spontaneously fermented 8, 6, and 4 year old barrels create a perfect marriage of funk, fruit, acidity and sherry-like aged flavours.
We barrel age
A hoppy, malty and characterful Texas Style Brown Ale. A little rough around the edges and brewed in homage to classic western movies, that relished in the perfectness of imperfection.
"You see in this world there's two kinds of people, my friend - tho
For our latest seasonal hazy, 8 Wired Brewing is proud to present: Snakedriver - an all Kiwi hop line-up inspired by a song from a Scottish band. For this track we've layered in Motueka with rising star Nectaron and extra NZH 105 hops. Distort the senses
Every now and again you just want to have it all, so in this spirit we created Tall Poppy. This ale is not afraid of standing tall among other great beers, and head and shoulders above mass market mediocrity.
It is intense, with a sharp and fruity hopp
THE LAW is out beer release for the annual WCIPA Challenge at Malthouse. Inspired by our action movie briefing, we've brewed THE LAW as a nod to the 90's Judge Dredd film. Unless of course you're an IP lawyer from a big film studio. In that case: "It's a
Desperate Glory is a sour brown ale inspired by Flanders Fields. The base beer is Three On A Match, a rich and complex Belgian Amber Ale with notes of dates, brown sugar and sweet spice. This spent a year resting in bourbon barrels to bring out rich oak a
Whats this? A big Yuzu twist on an old 8 Wired favourite?
Join us on a wild beer journey; it begins with a hyper rush of Yuzu Sweetness, overtaking Bold, punchy hops before turning of the main route towards a tart set of twisty flavour tunnels. It's ti
Our very first imperial stout was a big one. Hannah and I (Andrew) bought back 20kg of Vietnamese coffee from our honeymoon and decided to make a big imperial stout out of it. We fell in love with Vietnam, the people, the food and the coffee. This is pret
We have a special treat for you, introducing our decadent limited release Pōkeno Gold Whisky Barrel Aged Imperial Stout
This Imperial Stout has a huge depth of flavour from a comprehensive malt bill, dark chocolate, roast barley, and coffee flavours. Wit
We’ve put together a delicious NZ Pilsner to complement our range of non alcoholic brews. With its brilliant clarity, bitterness, malty sweetness and the floral hop aromas. We bring to you, for your sipping pleasure, Pre-gaming - Non Alc NZ Pilsner. No ne
We at Behemoth believe in bigger tasting beers; big on flavour and fun! This is why the majority of our beers have big percentages and big full-body flavours. But we're also not afraid to try something new...
So! We are releasing Responsibly Non-Alcoho
Become immersed in a daydream of tangerine, Simcoe and Mosaic hops. We’ve put together an awesome combination of tangerine and hops in our latest Brut IPA. Pour yourself a glass and be carried away in the reverie as the flavours of mango, pineapple and pi
Brewed for the NZ IPA Challenge 2020 at Smiths Craft Bar Queenstown, New Zealand. Hazy IPA brewed with new season Nelson Sauvin, Riwaka, Hort 4337 and Motueka and with a touch of hemp from Hempfarm New Zealand.
Style: Hazy IPA
ABV: 6.9%
Vol: 440ml
At The Bottle Shop, we select our craft beers based on their flavours. When we started our import and distribution service in 2012, craft beers were defined by the volume breweries produced annually. The definition of craft beer has changed over the past two decades, and the term has gotten murkier as smaller breweries are acquired by large beer companies. Craft beer in Hong Kong has come a long way. New world varieties were scarce, and most craft beers in Hong Kong were English bitters and Belgium sweet fruit beers. Nowadays, one can find beers from all over the world.
Our store focuses on award winning beers, both local craft beers, and those imported internationally.
Below are a few types of craft beer that are popular in Hong Kong:
Commercial beers certainly have their place in the market. At (rare) times we enjoy a commercial lager as much as the next person. But even within the selection of craft beer in Hong Kong, not all commercial ones are created equal. Some beers can be mistreated during its transportation and storage, and suffer from oxidation, UV light, over-heating, and the list goes on. Some beers have an overwhelming amount of esters that contribute to banana flavours, which isn't really pleasant.
Synonymous with craft beers are Pale Ale, and Indian Pale Ale (or IPA). From these two styles come variations, including Extra Pale Ale (XPA), American Pale Ale (APA), Imperial IPA (IIPA), Double IPA (DIPA), Double Dry-Hopped IPA (DDH IPA), Triple IPA (TIPA), Hazy Pale Ale, Hazy IPA, Milkshake IPA, Black IPA, and the list goes on. What sets them apart are mostly the malt bill (the level and character of sweetness), and the hop bill (the amount and variety of hops). Traditionally, craft beers have higher levels of bitterness because the more hops are in the beers, the more bitterness there is. Recent IPA trend is less bitterness and more hop fruitiness (think Sauvignon Blanc but in beers). Local craft beers in Hong Kong are also hoppy forward, with low bitterness.
Since The Bottle Shop began operation ten plus years ago, the number of local craft beer brands has gone from zero to close to twenty - all thanks to hop forward IPAs.
Sour beers have been one of the biggest trends in the craft beer Hong Kong movement, especially ones with very big fruit dominant milkshake style sours. Sour craft beers are much like sourdough bread, it's a re-conceptualisation of old techniques popularised by Belgium naturally fermented beers. Contemporary sour beers are deliberately spiked with lactobacillus to lower their pH.
The most popular styles of sour craft beers include Berliner Weisse, Gose, Flanders, Lambics, and Geuze. Many contemporary Gose or Berliner Weisse have loads of fruits added to them, along with other adjuncts like lactose or salt. Sour beers are great for summer sweltering weather for refreshment, but they're also amazing as companions to a meal, or even with vanilla ice-cream.
Dark beers include Porter, Stout, Brown Ale, and so on. Dark beers are dark because brewers add heavily roasted barley in the brew, imparting roasted barley notes, coffee notes, chocolate, and nutty flavours. Craft beers that are dark doesn't necessarily mean they're bitter. Contemporary dark beers can in fact be sweet. You may have heard of pastry stouts, mud-cake stouts? These craft beers can have weird and wonderful adjunct ingredients, with equally exotic names, like imperial Porter brewed with Toasted Coconut and Maple Syrup, or Blueberry Hazelnut Coffee Cheesecake Stout. I guess you can't say craft beer is boring!!
The craft beer Hong Kong scene has been a dynamic and ever-changing environment. From its anemic beginning, to now an international hub of choices and an incredible array of local craft beers and breweries. Let us know if you can't find a craft beer you're looking for.