Craft beer: It's like a thing now. And has been for a little while in Shanghai. Here's a big whack of suggestions for your next pint in the city.

Craft Breweries: The Locals

8PINTS

Located in downtown Shanghai, 8Pints offers up an open kitchen set-up and and sixteen different craft beers in tap, like the Moonlight Witbier or their award-winning Old Driver IPA. They've also got some zany options to for bar snacks: shrimp crackers served with liquid nitrogen (29.9rmb) smoky Sichuan pepper chicken wings (19.9rmb) and a jianbing served with Wagyu beef and jalapenos (45rmb). The company that owns it is the Chinese brewery that's also responsible for Jiuhuar. Prices are capped at 29.9rmb per 330ml glass. Thrifty!

Happy Hours: N/A.

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Mad Dragon

Mad Dragon is the Mad Dragon brand-specific brewery from Shanghai Brewery. Not the biggest beer selection in the world, and if you're looking to try out their main thing, you're ordering the "Mad Dragon IPA". Due to its location right in the center of downtown, and the fact that it's just a pretty easy place to end up at, it's busy basically all the time. Lots of sports screens, a fine street-side terrace, and the standard USA-style bar food to round out the IPA.

Happy Hours:Daily, 4-7pm. Alcoholic drinks get special discounts. Start from 25rmb/glass.

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Beast of the East

Sliding into that busy corner with Funkadeli, Cantina Agave, and Jax Bistro comes Beast of the East Social House - the new "we're doing everything" concept from the people behind Big Bamboo, Pistolera, Blind Pig, and more. The concept comes from Canada's social houses. So this is Shanghai's first."Beast of the East" is their craft beer brand with 15 taps. Try their Never Quit IPA as an intro to their selection, or Thirsty Beast, which has a more balanced and crisp flavor. Decor is a bit on the clubbier side — marble tables, mirrors, purple lighting — but approachable enough to serve as a fine environment to knock back a few pints. On their menu: sharing plates and BBQ - stuff like sandwiches, burgers, New York pizza. They've also got five giant TVs for sports and DJs in the evening keeping the party and kitchen going late. People come here, and they hang out for hours.

Happy Hours:Daily, 3-7pm. 35% off for selected drinks.

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Boxing Cat (Yongfu Lu)

At the outset of the craft genre's Shanghai inception, there was Boxing Cat, a craft brew bar that has stood the test of time since 2008. A typical in-road to their craft beer menu is the Contender IPA but they've got lots of seasonal and special one-offs on tap on a given visit. The menu features southern 'Merican comfort food with Southwest accents. A most decent pulled pork sandy comes to mind./ There is also and a pair of small outdoor terraces and a fireplace.

Happy Hours:

Discount 1: Mon, all day; Tue-Sun, 4-8pm. 35rmb for a 500ml beer glass;
Discount 2: Daily, free flow beer for 2 hours at 150rmb.

BEER&SPACE

Open for only a few months, Beer & Space is a modern, no-pressure craft beer bar on Wuyi Lu, around the corner from Lotus Eatery and Yuyintang Park. The place is pretty spacious with two floors, low-key, minimalist design, with the requisite beer bar wood furniture and brick walls. They've got in-house and guest craft beer on taps and a menu of Western plates — burgers, pastas, and salad — to match. Opens early at 10am and is a nice spot to study or work alongside a few cold ones in the afternoon.

Happy Hours: Mon-Thu, 5-8pm. Buy one beer, get one free.

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Shanghai Brewhouse (Jing'an)

Shanghai Brewhouse has staked out two stories of Wheelock Square right across from Jing'an Temple, and built a gastropub for the chic pub-goers downtown. Infinity mirrors in the bathroom? Foil-coated ceiling like the inside of a moon lander and a glowing pipework roof sculpture? Very retrofuturist. Plenty of warm yellow light but points docked for no Edison lightbulbs. It has enough craft-beeriness in it to avoid being a soulless bar chain, but not so much that they feel they can charge an arm and a leg for a pint. Most 500ml beers hover around 50rmb. Friendly, reliable option for a hearty lunch and a beer. The terrace looks out at Jing'an Temple.

Happy Hours:Daily, 3-8pm. Buy one drink, get one free.

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Birrotecca

Italian bar and restaurant nestled in Mix 320, Birroteca serves simple yet hearty brunches, such as sandwiches, pizza, risotto, etc. It's a casual spot perfect for a quick lunch and for group gatherings. They have 12 types of craft beers by post wave. Small glasses are 40-50rmb each; large glasses start from 45rmb. Outdoor seating is also available for a sun-kissed afternoon.

Happy Hours:

Discount 1: Mon-Fri, 1-6pm. Buy one beer, get one free.

Discount 2: Mon-Fri, 9pm-1am. 99rmb for free flow beer.

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The Brew

Australian-designed craft brewery, featuring signature beers brewed on-site by a resident brew master, a menu of classic pub favorites and nightly live music entertainment. If you live in deep Pudong, this is your go-to for craft beer. Even if you don't live out that way, it's worth the 30 minute ride on Line 7 just to sample their beers. It ain't cheap, but the patio and beer garden are huge, the bar food is solid, and their brewery has been making quality beers for years. Solid wheat beer and IPA, and a few more experimental varieties like a sour beer.

Happy Hours:Daily, 3-8pm. Buy one beer, get one free.

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Shanghai Love

The first brick and mortar location for a home-grown Shanghai craft beer success story, Shanghai Love. Shanghai Love takes an inspiration from Cali-style craft beers — plenty of adherence to the new American tradition of doing things — and rounds out the standard offerings with their own variations of porters, IPAs, and more. A mix of delicacies on their menu — things like sashimi, grilled pork belly, Scotch eggs with prawns, served in a mod-ish space.

Happy Hours: Mon-Fri, 3-7pm. Buy one beer / cocktail, get one free.

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Zapfler

The physical outpost for German craft brewery Zapfler down in Found 158, it's a beer bar with 12 beers and cider on tap, as well as being the only place in the city you can get draft Heike Mate. They occasionally do some experimental brews, like a low-carb beer, but most of the staple Zapfler beer goes for 50rmb a pop nor so, and they have some exceedingly beer-friendly German pub food; curry wurst (28rmb), schnitzel (38rmb), goulash (128rmb, comes with Swabian noodles), the works, well-executed and sticking close to their German roots.

Happy Hours: N/A.

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Brewlosophy

Laidback three-story beer bar with a third-floor terrace facing onto Yanping Lu. This one's right in the heart of the action in that F&B heavy area of northern Jing'an, and is worth a stop in on a bar crawl. Run by a couple of exceedingly friendly craft brewers, pouring from a chalkboard selection of their own brews, with rotating taps and seasonal options. Small snacks, decent atmosphere. Good for groups of friends looking for a pub night out.

Happy Hours:Mon-Thu, 5-8pm. 25% off for drinks.

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Tap House (Yongkang Lu)

A place called "Tap House" that, of course, specializes in craft beers, poured from the tap. They've got 18 beers on offer, and a cider, and serve them in ways made for the beer aficionado: beer flights, snack pairings, and so on. Flatscreens show sport. Stools and high tables and some outside seating comes out in the summer.

Happy Hours: Daily, 2pm-1am. 150rmb for 4 glasses of craft beers and ciders.

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Craft Breweries: The Internationals

Goose Island

Goose Island is a two-storey brewery, boasting 29 taps serving the Goose Island beers you've probably seen everywhere around town, as well as house-crafted brews. They've also got an "urban craft kitchen" rustling up grub like aged cuts of steak, house-cured pastrami, homemade sauce and various beer-infused dishes. Goose covers all the craft beer bases — IPAs, Porters, and more — and is a real popular one with a general drinking public, dipping their toes into craft beer for the first time.

Happy Hours: Mon-Thu, 4-8pm. 25% off for selected beers.

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Brewdog

The long-awaited China debut of famed Scottish brewery. It's big, it's wooden, it has Edison bulbs, and 28 taps pouring both the brand's own beers (Dead Pony Club, Punk IPA, Elvis Juice) and several guest taps. Prices for the daily taps go up to 65rmb for the 500ml glasses, and there's a big menu of hearty pub classics and some decent salads. Of special note: lots of vegan burger options. And shuffleboard.

Happy Hours:N/A.

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Beer Barrel

A neighborhood favorite. Beer Barrel is a craft beer spot on West Jianguo Lu, serving an area without too many other options. This one's fine enough. Indoor and outdoor seating, a range on taps, and most bottles are going for around 60rmb.

Happy Hours:N/A.

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Atlas

ATLAS Brewery is one of the lifestyle brands under ATLAS, offering its own craft beers, brewed onsite. It also curates a selection of quality beers from around the world. Food-wise, it offers international-style cuisine, with a focus on light and healthy dishes.

Happy Hours:N/A.

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Commune Reserve

This big, airy tap house on Yuyuan Lu is both the physical and spiritual successor to a popular Californian craft beer brand that occupied this space before it. Following the closure of Stone Brewing in March 2020, Commune Reserve (part of a country-wide chain of craft beer bars) took over the space. They barely touched the distressed industrial interior, but the beer taps now also pour non-Stone beers, and the menu has been updated a bit. Still the same space, still the same atmosphere, basically Stone Brewing. Good for groups, good for boozy lunches.

Happy Hours:N/A.

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Paulaner (Binjiang)

The OG German beer bar right here. The Paulaner empire might be shrinking a bit since its heyday in the ‘00s and ‘10s but you've still got this one here in Pudong if you're looking for the classic German beer bar experience and the schnitzel to match. All your standard German dishes are available herein as well as ample outdoor seating for when the weather is nice. Happy hour is 4pm to 7pm, daily, and you get those giant German pints half off.

Happy Hours:Daily, 2-5pm. Half price for alcoholic glasses.

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Mikkeller Tasting Room

Much anticipated China-first for Copenhagen microbrewery Mikkeller. It's located down the alley that's just next to the the 7/11 on Yanping Lu, in a gigantic new complex. Sleek, modern Scandi atmosphere, blonde wood and 20-some taps of the good, good Danish stuff. 35rmb for a 20cl glass, 65rmb for 40cl. The variety is diverse as heck, from the approachable Pils, Wit and Sout that's always on tap, up to a bunch of experimental, weird and limited production stuff that can cost 75-105rmb for a glass. Bottles upstairs (where there is also a merch store) start at 42rmb. No kitchen, but some snacks available.

Great Selections

Lenbach

The Shanghai debut of the German chain serves higher-end German food (butter-aged steak) and a huge range of German and international beers. Lenbach's big, with seats for nearly 160 at both booths and tables. TV's showing sport hang on a central pillar and there's ample terrace seating overlooking leafy Fumin Lu; a nice place to enjoy an afternoon beer on into a dinner if you've got the cash. A meal here will probably set you back about 200-300rmb unless you have one of the steaks, which run as high as 880rmb for a hefty 800g ribeye.

Happy Hours:N/A.

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Beer Lady

With locations all over the city, Beer Lady is Shanghai's beloved homegrown beermart. There're plenty of dark wooden tables and seats, crazy bright lighting and music selection, and about 50 refrigerators lining the walls with over 3,000 brands of beer chilled therein. Basically, your whole night is starring into these fridges picking out labels you've never heard of or seen before. The one on Kaixuan Lu is the best one in terms of a huge, drunken, and variously wonderful experience.

Happy Hours:N/A.

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