Musings: Alcohol

It isn't fair to say that this is my musing, since most of the content of this post came from a conversation with Joshua (better known as Mr.J, check out his facebook misterjishere), a Hong Kong-based performing artist with a serious interest in brewing alcohol. I chatted briefly with him during an event jointly held by him and Wooferten last Sunday, where participants roamed the neighbourhood handing out free alcohol to all sorts of people, which will  be discussed with more depth in the next post. Here the focus will be the musings about alcohol itself, so now, thinking caps and beer goggles on! 

The brewing maestro

Together with Wooferten, Mr. J created a batch of beer that can truly be called 'local'. Brewed locally, using local ingredients. For example, the process of fermenting alcohol requires sugar, but rather than use the boxes of powdery snow-like sweetener you see in the supermarkets and coffee shops, peen tong (aka brown candy that comes in slabs) was used instead. It isn't commonly known that the use of peen tong in the kitchen is confined more or less to the Southern Chinese provinces, Hong Kong included. These small details are a big deal, affecting the overall taste of the product.

And most people were surprised to learn that it was possible to brew alcohol right in the middle of a densely populated, space-sparse, and aging neighbourhood of Yau Ma Tei. If one is brewing as a hobby, and the product is intended for self-consumption, the amount you can brew inside the tiny flats of this city* is limited to how big of a bottle you can find to contain it all (based on what I've seen on Sunday, it looks as though the 4.5 litre distilled water bottles were the most popular.) The fermenting process can take as long as you like; Mr. J would let a brew sit for two weeks, though Wooferten managed to produce a batch in a week and a half. The Wooferten mixture was a little murky to look at, but based on the reaction of those who sampled it, the flavour was nice, and the alcohol wasn't too strong (a plus or a minus, depending on who you are.) 

And viola! The product that made its public debut last Sunday, coming in three flavours ranging from oolong and mint to something akin to lemon tea. The label reads as 'Yau Ma Tei beer', with a design from Wooferten that harkens to the good ol' days in Hong Kong history (though someone jokingly said it looks like a bottle of medicine instead of a beverage... ) Classy and humorous 

If one is asking why there is such an emphasis on 'local', maybe it is better to ask why we don't seek locally-made products instead of relying on imports? Asahi is from Japan, Tsingtao is from mainland China, Corona Extra is imported from Mexico, Heineken is from Amsterdam. Sure, Hong Kong has its own breweries for brands like San Miguel, and the production of Blue Girl in South Korea is monitored by a Hong Kong corporation, but the former is partly owned by overseas stakeholders and the latter retains its German roots through its formula and the brewing process. Both beers aren't even marketed as local; with the San Miguel commercial playing up its European appeal, and Blue Girl featuring a bunch of foreign youths climbing up a tree in a tropical rainforest trying to photograph multicoloured birds. So is there an alcohol that can be seen as representing Hong Kong? And what sort of traits will it have to distinguish it from other alcohol across the globe? It was a challenge undertaken by Wooferten and Mr. J this past Sunday, and I think while this effort is still nascent, it is a good showing. 


The 'localness' of a beer ignites a few musings, but getting involved in the production of beer itself leads to other tangents of thought. Mr. J evoked questions of what alcohol really is, and what meaning lies behind the terminological divisions between wine, beer, ales, etc.; a rather philosophical vein of inquiry. As for me, the production of individualistic and unique alcohol relates to a concern resonating throughout current Hong Kong society; specifically the lack of consumption choices presented to the population. Most of what is ingested comes from large corporations, notably the titans of Wellcome and Park'n'Shop that overshadow and oust the smaller grocers. We've become accustomed to being provided for by these retail chains that we've forgotten the actions of making, and are instead transformed into creatures whose only action is to open our wallets and hand our money over to a cashier. Our role in the production of our own foodstuff is greatly diminished in this city, and while I'm not saying that everyone should immediately run out of their office habitat and start ploughing the land, we shouldn't completely discard the agricultural past and knowledge in favour of everyday conveniences. So be it a hobby or a profession, growing peas in a pot or brewing alcohol in a bottle, any means of re-establishing or maintaining a direct link to the land (and our stomachs) is appreciated.


Hm, who knew that a post revolving around alcohol can result with all this text? 


*Before any alarm bells ring regarding the legality of home-brewing, the government states that no license is required provided  the brewer is of age (18 in this city) and that none of it is sold. One is also limited to a maximum of  50 litres of home-brew, but it is doubtful that this quota can be reached by most people. 


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Read more: 


-Government legislation page pertaining to home brews
-New York Times article on Local Brews (though granted, this was written back in 2009, and given the high turnover rates in Hong Kong, who knows if any of the listed establishments remain today?)