A Whole Street Turns Into a Craft Beer Garden
For two days this April, one of Shanghai's most restaurant-packed streets will temporarily become a giant outdoor beer garden.
The BeerKraze Craft Beer Festival returns to Laowaijie on April 11–12, bringing together 20 breweries, 100+ craft beers, DJs, and street food for a weekend dedicated to hops.
Now in its 8th edition, the festival has grown into one of the more relaxed, and more drinkable craft beer events on Shanghai's calendar. Less trade expo, more neighborhood street party with a serious beer list.
This year's theme: Innovative IPA.
IPAs, But Not the Ones You're Used To
IPAs are already craft beer's most recognizable style, but brewers have spent the last decade reinventing them.
So this edition is all about experimentation:
juicy hazy IPAs, sharp West Coast classics, tropical double dry-hopped beers, and experimental versions brewed with unusual hop varieties, fruits, or modern brewing techniques.
Every brewery will bring at least one IPA specifically for the theme, alongside plenty of other styles for when your palate needs a reset.
Expect everything from crisp lagers and Belgian ales to bright fruit sours and even hopped cider.
Rare Beers You Don't Usually See in Shanghai
One reason the festival draws beer nerds every year: a large share of the breweries are visiting from outside Shanghai.
Which means taps you normally wouldn't find around the city. Among the highlights:
• Yardley Brothers Craft Brewery: One of Asia's most awarded craft breweries, known for bold hop-forward beers like their tropical Machine Men pale ale and creative farmhouse saisons.
• CRAFT HEAD Brewery: Early pioneers of China's modern craft scene, bringing hazy IPAs, sessionable hop beers, and their distinctive hop cider hybrid.
• HEY SOUR Brewery: Specialists in fruit-forward sour beers, including passionfruit, pink guava, and yuzu creations.
• Punk Cat Craft Beer: A rebellious craft label pouring juicy New England IPAs and fruit-driven beers.
• Short Tail Cat Craft Brewery: A Shanghai brewery known for balanced, drinkable beers like citrusy ales and bold West Coast IPAs.
In short: plenty of beers you probably haven't tried before.
More Than Just Drinking
The setting helps.
Laowaijie's long pedestrian-friendly street, lined with restaurants, bars, and terraces, naturally turns into a full open-air festival zone.
Expect:
• Brewery stands lining the street
• Outdoor seating areas to settle in with friends
• Food from surrounding restaurants
• DJs playing throughout the afternoon and evening
• Plenty of wandering, sampling, and "just one more" beers
It's the kind of event where you start with a tasting glass and end up staying until sunset.
The Basics
BeerKraze Craft Beer Festival – Innovative IPA Edition
📅 April 11–12, 2026
🕑 14:00–22:00
📍 Laowaijie, 3338 Hongmei Road
🎟 Free entry
Two days. Twenty breweries. More than 100 beers.
Spring weather, outdoor drinking, and a street full of taps.
Tickets for tasting packages are running out fast, get yours in advance on SmartShanghai here:
BEERKRAZE Craft Beer Festival at Laowaijie - Innovative IPA Edition (8th Edition)
